Cathay Pacific assistant cabin crew base manager, 49, once housed passenger & child who had nowhere to stay in S’pore

In 2005, Janet Jothi encountered a Sri Lankan mother and her daughter stranded at Changi Airport.

The young child was in tears, and Janet would soon find out that the pair had encountered difficulties with their hotel accommodation during their stay in Singapore and were unsure where to turn to for help.

The woman spoke only Sinhalese, a language no one in the airport at the time was fluent in.

Then an airport duty supervisor under Cathay Pacific, Janet leapt into action.

Using a combination of sign language and Google Translate, she did her best to communicate with the pair until a translator arrived.

The pair had only about S$20 remaining and were unable to afford another place to stay before their flight back to Colombo in two days.

In response, Janet decided to invite the mother and daughter to stay in her own home for the next 48 hours, covering their food and transport costs in the meantime.

The story of Janet’s extraordinary service soon earned her the Outstanding Service Provider Gold Award 2005.

It wasn’t Janet’s first rodeo, though – and neither would it be her last.

As Cathay marks its 80th anniversary in 2026, Mothership spoke to Janet about her own 26-year journey with the airline, from airport services and cabin crew operations to her current role helping to lead and mentor a team of around 70 cabin crew members.

While her responsibilities have evolved over the years, one thing has remained constant: aviation might be guided by strict procedures and standards, but understanding people’s needs and going the extra mile to meet them is the heart of her work.

The early years

The first time Janet saw a group of impeccably dressed Cathay Pacific ground staff striding around Changi Airport, she remembered wondering what their job was with so much walking required.

But the iconic red uniform was also the first thing that attracted her to the airline.

In 2000, Janet joined Cathay Pacific’s airport services team in Singapore.

It was her first full-time job, fresh out of school, and she was assigned to man the airline’s check-in counters.

Since then, Janet, 49, has spent 26 years at the company and has taken on a range of roles.

She has worked on the frontline in airport services, briefly did a stint as a stewardess herself, and now mentors a team of about 70 cabin crew members.

Other roles have included filling in load sheets, being a ramp coordinator, going into Human Resource (HR) and cargo as well.

But supporting passengers was the part she seemed to remember the most — perhaps because it came with its own particular demands.

In fact, Janet admitted with a laugh that during her first few months, difficult interactions with passengers would sometimes leave her overwhelmed. “I would go to the toilet to cry,” she admitted wryly.

Choosing coffee over confrontation

The early years came with a steep learning curve.

In one instance, after a particularly tense interaction with a customer, Janet chose to respond with empathy and composure, even treating him to coffee as a gesture of goodwill.

It worked, and the passenger returned 30 minutes later with a change of heart.

The pair parted ways on friendly terms. Before long, he was asking for Janet, or “JJ,” as she’s affectionately known to her regular passengers , whenever he passed through the airport.

It was one of her memorable encounters during her years in airport services.

Once, she, alongside a colleague, assisted an American passenger from San Francisco whose wife had fallen ill in Singapore.

Throughout the woman’s five days of hospitalisation, Janet visited her daily with food and drinks.

She stayed in touch with the couple and assisted in arranging their return journey to San Francisco.

As an airport service crew member, she had a knack for building relationships with her passengers.

Many of those who crossed her path became friendly faces who would seek her out whenever they passed through, often just to say hi. Her dedication did not go unnoticed.

In 2002, Janet, then a customer service officer, was presented with a silver award at the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore’s (CAAS) Service Personality and Outstanding Service Providers Award by then-Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong.

Cathay Pacific was then the only airline represented among the 26 recipients.

In those years, she also picked up a collection of accolades, including the Cathay Pacific Airports Worldwide Staff of the Year Award in 2002, the Cathay Pacific Service Excellence Award in 2004, 2005 and 2007, the CAAS Outstanding Service Provider Gold Award in 2005, and the Betsy Award in 2009 and 2010, the highest accolade given to Cathay Pacific staff in recognition of their people and service excellence.

The cabin crew years

Later, an opportunity came to transition into being a cabin crew. Janet took it, wanting to “know all of it”.

While her stint ended after two years, when she decided to settle down and get married, the experience gave her insights into the work of cabin crew – something that has come in handy since assuming her latest role as an assistant cabin crew base manager.

Unlike caring for passengers, which often involves helping them in the moment, supporting cabin crew in their growth is a journey that unfolds over a much longer period of time.

“Every day you see them, you get the opportunity to motivate and grow them. It's not just a matter of coming for the flight and then saying “okay bye, take care, see you”, and then off they go,” Janet explained. Instead, she tries to mentor each cabin crew member to take on bigger responsibilities.

A lot of Janet’s work involves supporting and mentoring her cabin crew, helping them to navigate the demands of their work and build connections with customers and colleagues.

Her days start at 8am, which is typically the time cabin crew members gather for a pre-flight briefing that covers safety/service topics and any latest updates.

It is not just work-related conversations that the cabin crew have with Janet during this time before she sends them through immigration. Some have also sought her advice on personal matters as well – a reflection of the trust they have built with her over the years

After that, she spends the day working in the office until the next wave of cabin crew arrives. Then the routine repeats itself.

A relationship based on mutual respect

Over the years, Janet has come to realise that supporting the cabin crew requires a different approach from serving passengers directly.

When asked about what she has learnt about managing cabin crew over the years, Janet laughed and mentioned that communication styles have shifted and evolved, and that she, too, has had to learn to adapt over the years.

Much of her role today centres on communication, trust and helping her team understand the bigger picture.

For Janet, that means making communication a two-way conversation. Janet added that while she will always raise what she wants to say, and remain clear about operational requirements, she would also ask her team to share their perspectives and consider how they would approach a situation in her position.

“We have an open kind of communication. It's not about whether what you say is right or wrong. I want to understand their perspective, and I also want them to understand where I’m coming from,” she said of her communication approach.

More importantly, their working relationship is one grounded in mutual respect. “It doesn’t mean (just because) I’m a manager, then everybody (must give respect). It’s not that way,” she added.

Still, her team knows she means what she says.

It’s all about the people

One way or another, Janet’s work has always been people-centric: from serving passengers to mentoring her team.

But it’s precisely this factor that has kept her in the line for so long as it has allowed her to discover her love for service.

Each role has also given her a deeper appreciation of the challenges faced by different teams across the organisation.

She said, “Much of that enjoyment comes from getting to understand people better and helping them navigate their own challenges.”

Mentoring others remains one of the most rewarding aspects of Janet’s role. Through it, she has learnt one lesson that continues to shape how she leads today: not judging people before taking the time to understand them. “It’s easy to make an assumption as to why someone from another team is taking longer to reply to an email, or why something is done in a certain way.

As I got to experience these roles myself, I began to understand the different challenges that everyone faces, and this has allowed me to become a more empathetic leader today.”

She was inspired by her own leader, a general manager who, throughout her career, took the time to offer her guidance and support at pivotal moments, including stepping in during a rocky interaction with a difficult passenger and managing the situation with poise.

She also credited her manager with seeing her potential and encouraging her to become a cabin crew member.

The experience showed her that “the people at Cathay truly care about one another”.

Janet’s grown as a person too, becoming more confident and patient over the years, though she laughed that age probably played a part as well.

Reflecting on the past 26 years, Janet said that one of the most important lessons she has learnt is the value of understanding people.

As Cathay celebrates its 80th anniversary, Janet's journey reflects the relationships, acts of kindness and moments of mentorship that have shaped both her career and the people around her.

This branded article by Cathay Pacific made this writer appreciate service staff much more.