Originally Posted by
Christopher
The official terms, in both the UK and Australia, would be "flight attendant" or (in the collective sense) "cabin crew", I imagine.
Dunno about the UK, but being European like we are I suspect they stuck with stewardess (or their own air hostess) just like we did over here. None of that American crap. If you say flight attendant here you will get weird looks and people will have to think about what you're referring to, where stewardess causes no such confusion.
The word "purser" would not be used — in ordinary speech — of the senior member of the cabin crew on a plane. (It would be used by members of the general public of the senior passenger-facing crew member of a cruise ship.) It might be used officially by airlines, although they now seem to refer to these people as "in-flight supervisors" or "senior flight attendants".
Purser is used here by crew to passengers. ('Hello, My name is blah and I will be your purser for this flight.') Again, none of this American crap for us.