Who is a Flight Attendant?

Flight attendants are people who travel onboard planes and serve the passengers. A flight attendant is someone who tends to the needs of anyone who is travelling onboard the same flight as themself. But a flight attendant’s main job is to ensure that all the passengers are safe. If safety was not such a big issue, there wouldn’t be any flight attendants, which means no food or beverages.

The life of a Flight Attendant

A flight attendant’s daily life is very different to any ordinary person. A flight attendant could go on trips lasting various amounts of time. Some trips a flight attendant might go on re naps, day lines, two day trips, three day trips, four day trips, and sometimes even longer. Some of the types of trips a flight attendant would go on could be domestic flights, whereas other trips could be international trips which make those trips quite different from others.

Flight attendants have a routine to go through before they are ready for their trip. A flight attendant might be scheduled for a trip in the late morning for a flight. They will have to check in via a sign in sheet or a computer, to show that you have arrived for your trip. They would have to go through each section and make sure all the details are correct.

They would then look for and locate their plane and see if it is on the ground. They would go to their plane for their pre-flight tickets and to meet the crew they will be working with on that particular trip. They would do their pre-flight by checking to make sure that all of the emergency equipment are there and operational.

They would check the cabins to make sure that everything looks good and during the flight they would also do cabin checks every 25 to 30 minutes.

They would also check their galley to make sure they have everything they need as far as snacks and drinks.

They would complete all the other routine onboard jobs that they must complete as well.

30 minutes before their flight has landed, them and their crew would fill out a catering form for anything that their next flight will require. Afterwards they would make their final approach announcement and do one last cabin check.

The plane will land and they will make an arrival announcement before the seat belt sign turns off and they will open the boarding door(s). The passengers will deplane and they would say goodbye and thank you to all the passengers. They will help their crew to make sure everyone has deplaned and nothing was left behind by any of the passengers. They would then continue on with your normal life until you must repeat this process for their next flight.

The Pay Rates      

For all this work a flight attendant would be payed a salary depending on what airline hired you. The bigger the airline, the higher you would expect your salary to be. Some may start at $14 per hour, and another may start at $20 per hour. On average, a flight attendant will work for 75 hours per month. So even if they are payed at $14 per hour they will earn $1050 per month meaning they earn $373800 per year. They are payed for more than just the hours the flight took, they are payed ‘per diems’ from the moment they duty-in to the time that you duty-out for you to go home. The average ‘per diem’ payment is approximately $1.50-$2.00 for an hour. Flight attendants work for anywhere between150-400 hours of time away from base each month on average. For this, they are making the $1.50-$2.00 payment an hour on top of the flight hour pay. Even if they earn $1.50 for 150 hours per month, they are being payed $225 extra per increasing their monthly pay to $1200 which rises their yearly earnings to $427200. Flight attendants are some of the people with the highest earnings in a year.

Becoming a Flight Attendant

To become a flight attendant, you must be at least 18-21 years old depending on the airline. You need to have your High school diploma or equivalent. You must have experienced at least 2 years of college or 2 years of customer service experience. Height requirements also vary from airline to airline. Basically you have to be tall enough to reach the overhead bins but also be short enough to move around in the plane without having to bend your head down. You must be able to lift a heavy window door which weighs some 40-75lbs. You must be able to relocate and you must be able to speak English fluently and other languages are a plus. One vital thing that you must have to be a flight attendant is a valid passport. You will do lots of training and will need 90% or above to pass each of the exams included in becoming a flight attendant. Flight attendants will also be trained and taught what to do in various situations and emergencies.

Becoming a flight attendant could be a great opportunity to many people. Many people though, don’t spend the time to research what it really takes to become a flight attendant, and the lifestyle that a newly hired flight attendant can expect. Without learning about flight attendants before hand, a lot of people that get into this industry end up leaving during training, or shortly after starting reserve. Most of the people who will leave will probably leave within their 1st year of working.

Uniforms

Like most other workers, flight attendants also have special uniform requirements that they must meet. Some airlines might require you to wear a uniform that they will provide whereas other airlines will require you to wear anything suitable. Some of the clothing items you might choose to wear could be any of the following or you might want to wear something different. You could wear a blouse and skirt, a polo shirt and shorts, a blouse and slacks, a dress, a vest, and if you like, a blazer would go well with any of the previously named outfits.

Why should you become a Flight Attendant?

• If you have an interest in flying or you just happen to love travelling by plane, but you don’t want to do anything technical, flight attendant is the job for you
• If you love planes, you’ll love to do this job
• If you like the idea of being paid thousands of dollars for travelling the globe
• If you’ve always wanted to be the waiter of a famous restaurant
• If you were someone who is overcautious, then this is for you because flight attendants are all about safety