Position Overview
A gate agent is hired by airports, or airlines, to assist passengers when they are enplaning, or deplaning.
The work of a gate agent involves a lot of skills, the most important of which is communication.
Working at this position means that you have to possess exceptional communication and interpersonal skills so that you can effectively talk to people from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and countries.
Position Requirements
Usually, a high school diploma or a GED equivalent is sufficient to work as a gate agent. But apart from this, you will need to possess the ability to handle many passengers at the same time, ensuring that they are provided with the best services.
As far as inherent abilities are concerned, gate agents must be polite and patient, as they have to ensure the comfort of all assigned passengers at all times. As a gate agent, you will be expected to perform many duties, including answering passengers’ questions regarding flight delays and expectations, and the right gates according to the information on their tickets.
Also, you will be responsible for checking passengers’ tickets, and boarding passes to ensure that they correlate and that passengers have arrived at the right gate.
To see what specific duties are particular to the position of a gate agent, have a look at the following list:
Gate Agent Duties & Responsibilities
• Greet passengers as they arrive at their assigned gates, and politely ask to see their tickets and boarding passes.
• Look through tickets and boarding passes to ensure that the information in both correlates to each other.
• Provide passengers with information on which gate to enplane from, and assist them in locating the right gates.
• Check passengers’ tickets to ensure that their names and identities correspond with master lists.
• Assist the elderly, and the disabled by providing wheelchair assistance so that they can enplane and deplane properly.
• Provide support to unaccompanied minors, by ensuring that they embark and disembark to and from planes safely.
• Make use of the public addressing system to make announcements regarding flight statuses, and call out missing or late passengers.
• Post the flight information on the board, and ensure that it is updated on a constant basis.
• Open gates for passengers to walk down jetways, onto awaiting planes and assist passengers disembarking from flights.
• Direct passengers to baggage claim areas, after confirming which conveyor belt their luggage will be on.
• Respond to passengers’ queries and concerns regarding enplaning and deplaning, and booked luggage.