From Cabin Crew to Customer Service Manager

At school I was known as "the future flight attendant" because I was so sure that's what I wanted to do. As a kid I'd be given toy cars as gifts and I'd fly them around the room, so my parents worked out pretty quickly that aviation was a real passion of mine. I've always wanted to work with Qantas.

My career with the company started in 2014. I was working as a cabin crew member for QantasLink and studying a Bachelor of Mass Communications at university at the same time. In 2016 I was given the opportunity to join the International Team as a Business and First Class attendant, then as a customer service supervisor. Recently, I've become a customer service manager.

My duties start the night before a flight. I'll check customer numbers, who's on board, email the captain and check on crewing. In the morning, I'll get up early, check for any changes, reach out to the onboard supervisor and talk about how we'll run the flight. At the airport, I'll conduct a crew briefing. When we're all onboard, we're busy with technical and safety checks. Then it's time to welcome our customers - that's when the fun starts!

The customers are my favourite part of the job. Airports can be stressful and maybe they'll be tired when they get on the flight, but we can make it a good experience. It's so rewarding when I tell the crew all the lovely comments our customers have made about them. It's been an amazing career - I'm nine years in and hope I can fly for another 90.

Christopher Marchioro
Customer Service Manager, Qantas International