How to Become Flight Attendant Part 2: The Pros and Cons

If you read the previous post ‘How to Become a Flight Attendant Part 1’, then you must be interested in learning more. This post covers a few of the pros and cons of being a flight attendant. If you find that you’re still interested, be sure to check out the next post, Part 3, which covers how YOU can go inflight.

Being a Flight Attendant Pros:

• Schedule/Flexibility – Most United States domestic airline attendants only work 3-4 days per week. Depending on the specific carrier contracts, some flight attendants may work more or less. Additionally some airlines do not have a minimum amount of required hours, which allows the flight attendants to manipulate their schedules and have more time at home, to travel and maintain other jobs, hobbies etc. The quality of life is a major pull for many who have chosen this career path.
• Travel – Everyone pretty much knows that employees who work for an airline receive free flights on that airline. However, did you know that flight attendants can also fly on MANY other airlines world wide? Yep! Airlines have interline agreements that allow flight attendants, and their families, to fly on multiple airlines if there’s space available. This is free for flight attendants traveling domestically. Flight attendants traveling internationally only have to pay for taxes. That means a flight from Atlanta to Tokyo could cost as little as $140 for flight attendants.
• Networking – People travel for a multitude of reasons, and many flight attendants have diverse backgrounds; therefore you can see the probability for major networking opportunities. Attendants have been known to score tickets to events, unique experiences and even better job opportunities – all from just talking to passengers on planes. The chance to meet your favorite celebrity is always there too.
• Flight Privileges – Tying in with the pro mentioned above, family members of flight attendants, including the attendants parents, usually get to enjoy the flight privileges as well. Immediate family members can fly for free domestically on the carrier that the flight attendant works for, and they pay the taxes on any other airline. Additionally flight attendants can get buddy/companion passes for their friends. So bring your family and friends – solo travel is NOT required!
• Career Opportunities – If you’re wanting to be in the aviation industry, but not sure where, being a flight attendant could be a good start for you. It takes more than a pilot and a few stews to run an airline and there’s a diverse range of career opportunities within each airline. Whether you want to be on the front lines or work in the office, there’s probably a position and end-goal waiting for you to achieve it. Being a flight attendant gives employees the opportunity to see many facets of how their airline is run. So not only would it give you insight, but since many airlines hire internally, it might help give you an edge over the competition.

Being a Flight Attendant Cons:

• Pay – Contrary to what some believe, being a flight attendant can be a decently lucrative career. Although the pay depends on the airline and the amount of tenure one might have, topped out attendants can reach six figures a year. The downside is that you have to start at the low pay, and it can take years before flight attendants reach the higher end of the pay scale. Another downside is that while airlines like Delta & Southwest start out in the mid twenties for hourly pay, other smaller airlines can sometimes start out around $9 per hour.
• Health Risks – Flight attendants are constantly at risk of exposure to infectious diseases and radiation. We also experience jet lag, dehydration and of course everything causes cancer now and days, so there’s that too.
• Misbehaving Passengers – Although I hate to say it, we are living in a day where people flat out don’t respect each other as much any more. Everyone has an “all-about-me-right-now” mentality and are usually quick to record and publish one-sided stories. These two facts alone do not make the flight attendant job any easier. Flight attendants must exercise patience at all times to avoid career conflicts in an industry where the customer is always right – even when they aren’t.
• Loneliness: This career can be a lonely one. Friends always think you are flying and fail to invite you to things. Significant others sometimes don’t understand the career, job and rest needs associated with the position, and crew members don’t always want to hang out on overnights. There are ways to work around anything of course, but these are things to think about, especially if you are an extrovert.
• Being on Call: New flight attendants usually have to sit something called “reserve” for a certain amount of time. This means that instead of having preplanned trips, these flight attendants are on call, and at the mercy of the operational needs. Sometimes they are on call for 20+ hours and have to be ready to work in a moments notice. Talk about stressful. Additionally, it is a little trickier for new flight attendants to manipulate their schedules when compared to stewards with tenure. It must be mentioned that ALL flight attendants are subject to unexpected changes in their flight schedules due to weather, delays, contract compliance etc. These are all aspects of the job that impact flight attendants’ home lives.

Interested in becoming a flight attendant? Know someone who would be a great fit? Check out Part III and IV of this post series to see what the process looks like and how YOU can join the flight life! Don’t forget to post your questions and comments below – I’ll be sure to answer.

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