Flight attendants are chosen through a rigorous, competitive process involving online applications, assessment days with group activities and interviews, height/reach tests, and background checks, focusing heavily on customer service skills, personality, language proficiency (especially English), and cultural fit, with a final conditional job offer leading to intensive airline-specific training. Selection prioritizes soft skills like teamwork, adaptability, and communication over just experience, though relevant hospitality/aviation background helps.
The assigned base is where the flight attendant will start and end all their trips. New hire Flight Attendants can request to transfer to a different base after completing their probationary period of 6 months as an employee. Transfer requests are awarded based on company need and in seniority order.
The 35/7 rule for flight attendants limits Reserve Flight Attendants to a maximum of 35 flight hours in any seven consecutive days, primarily for scheduling purposes to manage fatigue and ensure safety, although actual operations can sometimes exceed this if waivers are used and regulations are met. While Lineholders often work to a 30/7 (30 hours in 7 days) limit, they can also complete trips exceeding 35 hours if they waive the rule. This rule, alongside recent FAA mandates for longer rest periods (like 10 hours after 14-hour shifts), aims to provide adequate recovery for cabin crews.
Flight attendants don't get to choose their 'base' cities — inside the intense process and what happens if you work somewhere you don't live. While training, flight attendants rank their preferred "base cities" where they'll fly from.
Short answer: It's moderately competitive but not unusually difficult if you prepare deliberately. Employers hire for a blend of soft skills, appearance/presentation, safety aptitude, and logistical fit (location, availability). Success depends more on fit and preparation than pure academic credentials.
PERMANENT DISQUALIFYING CRIMINAL OFFENSES
Treason or conspiracy to commit treason. A federal crime of terrorism as defined in 18 U.S.C. 2332b(g), or comparable State law, or conspiracy to commit such crime. A crime involving a TSI (transportation security incident).
9/11 flight attendants' last words included Betty Ann Ong's "Pray for us" and Madeline Sweeney's "Oh my God, we're flying way too low," relayed during their final calls from American Airlines Flight 11, providing crucial info to ground crews before the plane hit the North Tower; CeeCee Lyles on Flight 93 left a message saying, "I love you," before passengers fought back.
With experience, senior flight attendants may make around $80,287 annually, and some can earn as much as $115,000 or more per year. Pay is typically hourly and starts when the aircraft door closes, meaning preflight work (like boarding and prep) is often unpaid.
The 3:1 rule in aviation is a rule of thumb for descent planning: for every 1,000 feet of altitude to lose, you need 3 nautical miles (NM) of horizontal distance, assuming a standard 3-degree glide path, making it easy to calculate when to start descending. For example, to descend 6,000 feet, a pilot starts descending 18 NM out (6 x 3 = 18). It helps maintain a consistent descent rate, critical for passenger comfort in older planes and for fuel efficiency in modern jets, and aligns with standard approach systems like ILS/VASI.
On some planes, crew rest areas are tucked above the passenger cabin, accessible by a narrow staircase behind an unmarked door. On others, they're located below the main deck, near the cargo hold, requiring crew members to descend a ladder to reach their bunks.
We have flight attendants who are 30 years old and have to move back in with their parents because they can't afford to live with this job. “Most of our passengers have no idea that we are only paid from the time the door closes until the door opens.”
While height is often associated with the ability to become a flight attendant, it's not just about physical appearance—it's about ensuring safety and accessibility for both the crew and passengers.
That's why flight instructors teach a timeless checklist known as the “Five C's” — a set of actions to help pilots remain calm, regain situational awareness, and navigate back to safety. The 5 C's are: Climb, Conserve, Call, Confess, and Comply.
Flight Attendant Hiring Tips: How to Stand Out and Succeed
Do flight attendants ever get days off? Yes, they do. On average, flight attendants get between 11 and 18 days off per month!
Gender and Inclusivity: The term “stewardess” is explicitly gendered and historically referred exclusively to women. In contrast, “flight attendant” is a gender-neutral title. This inclusivity mirrors the values of today's workforce.
The requirement for large aeroplanes is that the aircraft must be fully evacuated in 90 seconds or less with only half of the exits usable – an impressive feat, but necessary, as time is crucial in such events. To support this, the emergency exits need to be opened and the slide deployed in not more than 10 seconds.
Toothpaste—because it's considered a gel—falls under this regulation just like shampoo or lotion. Key points to remember: 3 – Size limit: Each bottle, tube, or stick of paste or gel must be 3.4 oz or less. 1 – Bag limit: All eligible liquids, gels, and aerosols go in one transparent, resealable plastic bag.
The "4 laws of flying" actually refer to the Four Forces of Flight: Lift (upward), Weight (downward), Thrust (forward), and Drag (backward). These forces constantly act on an aircraft, with lift opposing weight and thrust opposing drag, and understanding their balance is crucial for flight.
This is not a healthy mindset. It is possible to live on this minimum wage pay, but it requires discipline, and awareness. It's not always fun, but if you are able to find a balance for yourself between spending, and saving, living independently on what a flight attendant makes, you will give yourself a gift.
Working Hours
A flight attendant can expect to work 30–40 hours a week, but they can do more or fewer hours depending on the airline, the length of the flights they work on, e.g. short, medium or long haul and whether any problems arise. There are typically more regular hours on short-haul flights.
To this day, none of the bodies of the 239 passengers and crew members aboard have been recovered.
[and] insensitive," actor Mark Wahlberg has now apologized for saying he would have stopped 9/11 hijackers if he had been on one of the planes, Reuters reports. Mark Wahlberg.
The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center complex killed 2,753 people, according to the city's official count. Yet 40% of those victims — 1,100 people — have not had any of their remains identified by authorities.