How to Become a Flight Attandant

Flight attendants spend much of their time traveling or preparing to travel.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were nearly 100,000 flight attendants in 2008. The focus of this position is to help the flight crew and passengers on commercial and private flights. Flight attendants usually spend 65 to 90 hours a month in the air and another 50 hours on the ground doing related preparation and paperwork. They should expect to be away from their home base about a third of the time. The BLS reports that median annual pay for flight attendants was $35,930 in May 2008; entry-level flight attendants had median annual earnings of $16,191, according to the Association of Flight Attendants.

Instructions

1. Acquire at least two years of postsecondary education or training. Many airlines prefer a flight attendant school. Airlines also look for people with a background in communications, nursing, travel and tourism, hospitality, psychology or education. Once hired, flight attendants will receive three to six weeks of training in emergency procedures--such as evacuating an airplane, firefighting and dealing with medical emergencies--and security procedures mandated by the FAA and the Transportation Security Administration for FAA certification.

2. Obtain a passport. Most major airlines fly internationally. Flight attendants must have a passport in order to work on these flights.

3. Meet certain physical requirements. Flight attendants must be a certain height to reach into overhead bins. The specific height requirement is set by each airline. Most airlines also require that weight and height be proportional so that flight attendants are able to comfortably walk down aisles to assist passengers and crew. Flight attendants must have eyesight that can be corrected to at least 20/30. If you require corrective lenses, your uncorrected eyesight cannot be more than 20/200.

4. Pass a thorough background check. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires all air crew members, including flight attendants, to pass a comprehensive 10-year background check. This will include all previous positions and any gap in employment history along with criminal and school records. If any discrepancies appear, you will not be hired--or, if already hired, you will be terminated.

5. Meet citizenship requirements. FAA regulations require flight attendants and other crew members in the U.S. to be citizens or legal registered aliens.

Tips & Warnings

• You must be over 18, but some airlines require you to be 21.

• You will probably need to relocate when you begin working for an airline. Airlines have major points of entries, called hubs, and require that flight attendants live nearby.

• Even if you follow these steps, you may not be hired by an airline. The airlines themselves make decisions on whom to hire. On average, you will only get hired by one out of every three to four airlines you apply to.

References

• U.S. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Flight Attendants
• Flight Attendant Facts.com: Flight Attendant Qualifications
• Flight Attendant Facts.com: How to Become a Flight Attendant