Today's flight attendant is a dedicated safety professional responsible for the safety and well-being of every passenger on his or her airplane. Today's flight attendant is much more than just a smiling poster advertisement she or he must be chef, bartender, trauma specialist, fire fighter, customer service representative, shrink, baggage handler, tour guide, and nursemaid all rolled into one.
So, what skills does one need to be one of these "super-people"? Even more importantly, why would anyone want to? The flight attendant profession is one of hard work, grueling schedules and unrelenting stress. It is also one of the most rewarding and satisfying careers a person can choose to undertake. And all one needs to be successful is a positive attitude, a willingness to work as part of a team, and a healthy dose of gumption.
The Rewards: Harold and Flexibility
The most obvious benefit to a flight attendant career is the tremendous opportunity for travel. For someone who wishes to see the world, the life of a flight attendant may definitely be right. The job itself is constant travel, but not always to the places one wishes to go. The average flight attendant goes out for three or four day trips, landing in as many as ten cities with an overnight stay in a different place each night A trip could include exotic cities in foreign countries or small cities dotted across the Midwest Each trip is as different and exciting as one chooses to make it, no matter what the stops.
Besides the travel involved with the job itself, there's also the benefit of travel afforded to each flight attendant as an airline employee. Flight attendants are allowed to "pass ride," or fly for free, on their airline in their off time. This travel is on a space available basis, so it may involve waiting for a less than full flight, but it's fairly easy to get wherever one wishes to go. Additionally, many airlines have agreements with other carriers that allow flight attendants to fly very cheaply on an airline other than their own. This means that one's travel options aren't limited to one's own airline's destinations.
Another significant benefit to the flight attendant profession is a very flexible work schedule. After a four day trip, one usually has five to six days off. Many flight attendants use this flexibility to spend time with their families, to travel for pleasure, or to pursue other educational or career goals. Flight attendants who work their way through college or graduate school while flying often don't want to give it up the airlines have several doctors, lawyers, and dentists who balance dual careers, flying trips while still maintaining an active practice.
All trip scheduling for flight attendants is done on the basis of seniority, so beginning attendants may find themselves working a less than flexible schedule at first This fledgling period is over quickly, however, as one accumulates the necessary seniority.
While flight attendant salaries still aren't commensurate with the rigors of the job, they have gotten much more equitable in the last decade. The first few years of a flight attendant's career are usually at low wages, but the average salary becomes much better as one gains experience. As a rule, the major airlines offer higher salaries, but are usually much more competitive when it comes to hiring.
The Drawbacks: Stress
A flight attendant must be ready to deal with any emergency from a crash to a passenger heart attack to a terrorist threat at any moment. Being prepared for any eventuality while the flight attendants are dealing with the situations is the cause of stress - the most common drawbacks to their profession.
Commercial air travel is safer today than it's ever been, but accidents still happen. And a flight attendant must be prepared for the worst every time the plane takes- off or lands. Just being ready for an accident at any time causes a high level of stress that becomes routine to the veteran flight attendant. Actually being in an accident and carrying out the safety professional's responsibility to the passengers aboard is something that can't even be measured in terms of stress. It's something every flight attendant hopes never to experience, while constantly being ready for it
But that stress is only part of the equation. The everyday stress of weather delays, hundreds of hurried and often cranky passengers, and gruelingly long hours on one's feet, are a flight attendant's normal world. It is stress that never really lets up, and it makes for a career that requires a very special candidate.
While stress has always been a byproduct of life as a flight attendant, the other advice from major drawback is much more recent. The advent of airline deregulation in 1978 made this pro's for the volatile airline industry of today, and unfortunately, job security has become a thing of the past. The demise of countless airlines, including Eastern, Panama, and Midway, has meant thousands of flight attendants and other airline employees have been put out of jobs. While employment opportunities at surviving air carriers are still good, the situation changes on a day-to-day basis. While some potential flight attendants still look at the job as two or three year proposition, the average flight attendant of today is looking for a long term career. Deregulation has made this quest one often difficult to fulfill.
Tough Training Is a Requirement
Every flight attendant goes through an initial four to six weeks of rigorous training that includes safety and emergency procedures, as well as service methods. Fighting in flight fires, performing evacuations, handling medical emergencies, and dealing with terrorist threats are all part of the curriculum. Additionally, flight attendants must go through an annual refresher training of these safety skills.
Currently, flight attendants in the U.S. are not licensed or certified. Many European countries do have certification, however, and we have long been fighting for it here. Certification would give flight attendants the same credibility held by other safety-sensitive occupations, such as pilots and mechanics, and anyone considering a career as an attendant should be prepared for this to happen in the near future.
What Background Do You Need?
While a college degree isn't a requirement, almost half of the flight attendants currently on the line hold a four-year degree, and almost 70 percent of all flight attendants have some college experience, growing globalization of today's airline industry, fluency in a second applicants a definite advantage, but is not usually mandatory.
While most airlines don't have strict educational requirements, the highly competitive nature of today's industry means that everything counts. Because of the varied, often cosmopolitan nature of the flight attendant's customer, higher education is very definitely a plus.
Some physical qualifications are necessary to become a flight attendant. One must be fit enough to carry out one's safety and emergency responsibilities aboard an airplane. Additionally, most airlines have height and weight standards that must be met?
Leading Foreign Destinations for U.S. Air Travellers
- Mexico
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- Bahamas
- Japan
- France
- Dominican Republic
- Jamaica
- Italy
- Netherlands Antilles
Once one decides that the advantages of being a flight attendant outweigh the drawbacks, where does he or she start to look for a job? If an airline is headquartered near one's home, that would be the obvious starting point. If not, the Future Aviation Professionals of America keep an accurate listing of employment opportunities at all the airlines across the country. Once again, deregulation has made landing a spot as a flight attendant very competitive. But as air travel becomes more and more common, the opportunities will be there for the committed applicant.
A Unique Lifestyle Awaits You
Being a flight attendant is much more than flying from city to city, serving drinks and meals, and smiling at passengers. While the plane's captain has the authority of the law in the air, the flight attendant is in control of the cabin and the safety and well-being of every passenger on that plane is her or his responsibility. The flight attendant's presence on that plane is mandated by Congress and required by law.
Flight attendants often speak of belonging to a subculture. The lifestyle and world of a flight attendant is one very few people are truly cut out for the rigors certainly aren't for everyone. For this reason, flight attendants are most comfortable talking about their careers, their problems, and their joys with other flight attendants.
DEE MAKI is a 28 year flight attendant and the National President of the Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO, the world's largest flight attendant union, representing 33,000 attendants at 20 different airlines. During her tenure as a safety professional and labor leader, she has flown for three different airlines, and survived the mergers, acquisitions, and calamities of airline deregulation.