What does a flight attendant do? If a typical 9-5 job is not your thing, then you’re in luck. Flight attendants don’t work on a traditional schedule. What you can expect from your flight attendant career:
- Crazy, erratic hours, flight delays or cancellations, and working through weekends and holidays
- Amazing travel opportunities
- A demanding, yet notoriously satisfying job
You will be in charge of making life on the plane safe and enjoyable for passengers.
- Meet with the flight staff to perform routine onboard safety checks.
- Prepare the inflight beverages and food carts.
- Socialize with the passengers and make sure they are doing fine.
- Depending on your level of seniority, you may get to help with new hires.
- You may have to administer some emergency services such as CPR.
- In times of flight turbulence or other concerning matters, be reassuring to nervous passengers.
- Your most important, huge responsibility is to take care of passengers in the event of any type of emergency. That’s really why you’re there.
- After the plane has landed and passengers have left, you’ll inspect the cabin again.
- If anything out of the ordinary happened on the flight, you fill out and submit the appropriate paperwork.
How do I become a flight attendant?
With some of the major airlines, only one percent of interviewers make the cut. It’s allegedly harder to get a job with Delta than it is to get into an Ivy League college. In order to secure a flight attendant position, you must:
- Have a high school diploma or GED
- Be at least 18, have a valid driver’s license and passport, pass a medical and drug exam, and be eligible to work in the United States
- Have vision that’s 20/40 with or without corrective eyewear
- Meet airlines’ height and weight requirement
- Have no visible tattoos or piercings, and no unusual hair or makeup styles
- Complete some college, if you want to be in the preferred pool of candidates
Education
- You must get your training either through your employer or through a certified Federal Airline Association program.
- If you’re going to work international flights, then you may be required to know a foreign language.
- One to two years working in customer service is necessary.
- Once you’re hired, you will have a training period of 3-6 weeks; it’s required to become certified.
- After you’ve completed your training, you must take and pass a certification exam.
- You must be certified for each specific craft you’ll be working on.
- To keep your certification current, you’ll have to get recertified every year.
What benefits do they have?
Not only do flight attendants have a great career, there are many benefits that come along with the job.
- Constantly meeting new and interesting people
- A very flexible schedule
- Very often, food and housing will be provided for you
- Excellent healthcare coverage including dental and eye
- Some airlines offer 401ks and profit-sharing
- Free and discounted travel for you and your immediate family
What is a flight attendant’s salary?
The median salary for flight attendants is $48.5K per year. This isn’t including the meal allowances and housing. You’ll have to pay for your first uniform, but generally, the airline will provide the upkeep. You’ll typically spend about 75-100 hours per month in the air, and another 50 on the ground catching up with paperwork or completing other assigned duties.
Are there flight attendant jobs out there?
The employment outlook for flight attendants is predicted to be 10 percent through 2026, which means there will be almost 12K jobs opening. Be warned: There are always way more applicants than there are available positions. So, you’ll need to really shine during the interview process, plus have a college degree—because yeah, that’s what’s going to give you a better chance of being hired. That states with the greatest concentration of flight attendant jobs are Texas, California, Illinois, New York, and Florida.
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