How do flight attendant jobs work

However, many will only hire candidates who have taken college classes or who have an associate or bachelor's degree. Degrees that will prepare you especially well include hospitality, communication , tourism, and public relations. Employers often prefer job candidates who have work experience in a related field.

If you want to become a flight attendant, consider gaining relevant experience in customer service by working in a hotel, resort, or restaurant. Flight attendants must also meet specific physical requirements. Airlines typically have minimum and maximum heights. They also require attendants to be able to sit in a jumpseat and complete a range of physical tasks, like pushing, pulling, bending, and lifting with reasonable accommodation.

You will also need to pass a background check and a pre-employment drug screening. Visible tattoos are typically not allowed unless they can be concealed with makeup. Be prepared to complete multiple interviews.

For example, the airline may start with a phone screening or group interview before proceeding to a one-on-one interview. Dress professionally, and be prepared to discuss why you would be an excellent choice to represent the airline. What you learn during your training will prepare you for the technical aspects of your job as a flight attendant, but your soft skills are just as important. You will need excellent communication skills, because you will spend a lot of time interacting with passengers and other members of your flight crew.

Stressful situations call for strong customer service and problem-solving skills. Good listening skills will allow you to understand and meet customers' needs. Once an airline hires you, the company will provide formal training at its flight training center. During the three to six weeks you will spend there, expect to receive classroom instruction on flight regulations, job duties , and company operations.

Airlines will typically arrange for lodging and transportation to the training center, but you may be responsible for meals. Training may be paid or unpaid, depending on the airline. Along with the other new hires, you will learn how to handle emergencies, including procedures for evacuating an airplane and operating emergency equipment such as evacuation slides, oxygen masks, and flotation devices.

As you near the end of your classroom instruction, you will take practice flights, and you will be evaluated on your skills. In addition to serving the customers, flight attendants must conduct regular safety checks and listen for unusual noises. Once the plane begins its descent, attendants must ensure all trash has been removed from the cabin and seats are in their correct positions before performing a final safety check.

After landing, attendants assist passengers in safely deplaning the aircraft. Flight attendants have distinct personalities. They are dominant, persuasive, and motivational.

Does this sound like you? Take our free career test to find out if flight attendant is one of your top career matches. Since airlines operate day and night and year-round, flight attendants must have a flexible schedule.

Generally, they work no more than 12 hours per day, but may in some cases especially in the event of oversea international flights work 14 hours or more. Attendants also work on holidays and weekends and typically fly for 65 to 90 hours per month, with another 50 hours spent on the ground preparing or waiting for flights.

A flight attendant's in-flight duties keep them on their feet most of the time. They stand, walk, push and pull equipment, kneel, bend, reach, stoop, and lift heavy objects from the floor to above shoulder-level heights. Flight attendants typically need to work quickly in order to finish all their tasks during the few hours in the air.

They often serve meals and pour beverages under rough flying conditions. Passengers can be annoying and demanding at times, and it is the flight attendants responsibility to be patient, remain pleasant, and provide quality service. Once a flight attendant is hired, airlines provide their initial training that can last six weeks to three months, depending on the country in which you live.

New flight attendants are then placed on call or reserve status , and must be able to report to the airport on short notice to staff extra flights or fill in for absent crew members.

Flight attendants usually remain on reserve status for at least one year, but in some cities it could be up to several years. After this stretch of time, flight attendants gain enough seniority to bid on monthly assignments. Flight attendants rank in the 68th percentile of careers for satisfaction scores.

Click here to get started! Upon successful completion of the training course, new flight attendants begin work on a probation basis for approximately six months. During this time, flight attendants are on call to work extra flights or as replacements for flight attendants who are ill or on vacation.

During probation, work is periodically observed by the airlines management staff. If the probation period review is favorable, the new flight attendant can advance in time to become a senior flight attendant, supervising flight attendant, or an instructor.

Flight attendants also may be considered for positions with the airline including reservations or ticket sales, public relations, or personnel recruiting depending upon qualifications for such positions. Experience qualifies flight attendants for numerous jobs involving contact with the public.

However, once hired, very few flight attendants leave or change jobs. The average tenure is now more than seven years and increasing. Today, flight attendant jobs are viewed as a profession for career-minded individuals. FAA regulations require one flight attendant for every 50 seats on board an aircraft. Competition for flight attendant positions will forever remain strong.

The perceived glamour of the airline industry and the opportunity to travel will continue to attract job applicants. Deregulation of the airline industry, which began in the mid's, resulted in the expansion of many carriers, particularly the regional airlines. A side effect, however, has been a certain amount of instability. Some airlines have prospered while others have failed or merged with other carriers. This has caused some dislocation of airline flight attendants.

Individuals considering a career as a flight attendant should consider the possibility of downturns in the economy. When fewer people travel, flight attendants with low seniority could be put on part-time schedules or laid off. Job growth through the year is expected to grow faster than average, or increase by 21 to 35 percent. Just because you have been selected for training does not guarantee you a position with the airline.

Training must be completed successfully before a position is offered to you. Training is intense and conducted in a way to "weed out" candidates that are not cut out for the position. Airlines operate flight attendant training programs on a continuing basis or as needed.

Training classes are usually made up of trainees. Airlines often invite more candidates to training to compensate for typical failure rates. Large airlines have schools with campus-like facilities for training flight attendants. Training periods typically range from three to eight weeks and training hours vary.

Methods of instruction differ from airline to airline, however, much of the training is provided in a classroom with some homework. Successful completion of training is essential for employment. Trainees typically learn about the following subjects: Federal Aviation Regulations, FAR's , the theory of flight, components of an airliner and their functions, airline terminology, air traffic control, airport codes, first aid and CPR, evacuation drills and commands, airline routes and regulations, serving methods, time calculations-adding and subtracting hours and minutes using the 24 hour clock, cabin service, meal and beverage service procedures, company history, policy and procedures, Federal Aviation Administration safety, emergency, and evacuation procedures, aircraft equipment familiarization, personal grooming, oral presentations and announcements.

Training is provided on the various types of aircraft the airline operates. Customer service experience is generally required, and therefore, briefly touched on in training. Today, airlines also focus on security and bomb threat procedures. Grooming regulations will be provided at training and must be strictly adhered to while employed. Trainees are often evaluated on appearance reliability throughout the training course. Trainees that will fly international routes receive additional instruction in passport and customs regulations, as well as methods of dealing with terrorism.

Progress is often observed by written and practical evaluation. Trainees are drilled on all aspects of future duties including emergency evacuation procedures, first aid, CPR, hijackings, FAA regulations, food and beverage service, assisting unaccompanied minors and handicapped passengers, company policies etc.

Trainees must perform many drills and duties alone, in front of the training staff. Tests are given throughout training to weed out any unsuccessful applicants. At the end of training, students must pass an FAA emergency procedures test successfully. Trainees may be allowed to retake one test, with the exception of the final exam. Some airlines allow retakes, some do not.

Airlines want only the best candidates. Each year flight attendants are also required to go through recurrent training and pass an FAA safety examination in order to continue flying. Training is often not paid.

Room and board, room and school supplies are provided free, as well as air transportation from the trainees' homes to the school.

The value of the airlines' flight attendant training program amounts to several thousand dollars per student. After finishing initial training, flight attendants are assigned to a base chosen by the airline. New attendants are placed in reserve status and are called on either to staff extra flights or fill in for attendants who are sick or on vacation.

Reserve attendants on duty must be available on short notice. Attendants usually remain on reserve for at least one year; at some cities it may take five years or longer to advance from reserve to permanent status. To locate educational facilities with programs related to this position, search Avjobs Aviation School Directory.

The Avjobs Aviation School Directory makes researching and finding an aviation college, university, flight school or professional training facility simple. Everything in the aviation industry is based on seniority including bidding for schedules, vacations, length of reserve, and transfers.

Flight attendants frequently work nights, weekends and holidays. There's a lot of flexibility as a flight attendant, but our seniority dictates where we can fly and on what days. Our scheduling is computer-based, so I can give the computer up to 40 criteria, for example: start times, aircraft type, weekends off, international versus domestic destinations, long layovers, etc.

With those criteria the computer will attempt to build a schedule with as many of those choices satisfied as possible — dependent on my seniority. Right now, I generally choose to work a one-day trip to Mexico and back on Mondays. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I will work a three-day trip and spend the night in places like Chicago and then San Francisco, flying to a number of destinations in between. The best part is being able to have dinner in San Francisco one week and go to the beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in winter, the next — all while getting paid.

Delta is a global airline, and we fly to destinations halfway around the world. Changing time zones takes a toll on your body at times, but we have strategies to mitigate the effects, and long layovers in select destinations certainly help readjust your body clock. The training we go through when we get hired and recurrent training we have to take and pass on a yearly basis — it is both intense and difficult. The classes refresh our memory on how to handle different types of fires, medical issues, evacuation drills, and security, to name a few.

Customers are often surprised to know the backgrounds of many of our flight attendants. I have flown with flight attendants who are also attorneys, real-estate agents, nurses, court translators, teachers, pilots, and many other professions that require advanced degrees. September 11, was the most memorable moment. We were leaving Caracas, Venezuela, for Atlanta and just about to make our takeoff roll. A Continental Airlines jet got off the ground in front of us, and I understand they were immediately diverted.

US airspace was closed for reasons unknown to our captain, and that was unprecedented. The tone in his voice put me on immediate alert. He told me we were going back to the gate and to get passengers off the aircraft as quickly as I could. The authorities knew there were threats to US airlines but obviously did not know to what extent.

We stayed in Caracas for an additional four days we had already been gone for three days , and we eventually ferried the aircraft home. On an Atlanta to Orlando flight, a 6-year-old girl named Lindsay, in a wheelchair with Cerebral Palsy, was wheeled down the Jetway by her mom who had another child and luggage to bring on as well.

While the mom was collecting her things I offered to carry Lindsay to her seat and was taken up on my offer immediately. I didn't want to scare Lindsay and needed to establish a rapport with her, so I asked if she was going to see Mickey Mouse. Although nonverbal, her reaction told me she was beyond excited. She put her arms around my neck, and on the way to her seat I talked to her about what fun she would have. When I carried her back to her wheelchair after landing in Orlando she didn't want to let go of my neck, and that gesture completely melted me.

I'll never forget little Lindsay, and it was absolutely a favorite moment of mine. Over the years, the airline industry has gone through some challenges, but we've seen a lot of very positive changes in the last several years. I have a lot of confidence in our leaders and in my 80, colleagues to continue making Delta a strong company and a great place to work.

We're commonly thought of as waiters and waitresses on a plane, but training and our real purpose for being on board goes far beyond service.