flight attendant?

[twojo21]

considering going for a flight attendant position. i enjoy traveling & am debating something different for a career. i currently work in insurance & am finishing up my rn. im looking for something different for the next 5 years while my dh is in grad school & before we have kids. out of curiousity what is the typical pay for flight attendants? is anyone on the dis a flight attendant for a domestic airline? what do you make roughly (you can pm too)? do you enjoy your job? any insight?

thanks!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My friend was a flight attendant for many years. It was relatively tough once she had children.

She hopped to Atlanta (that was her base)--she was responsible for making sure she was there for her flight. If she flew up the night before or had to stay the night before being able to catch a flight home, it was at her expense.

She maintained it for the flight benefits and insurance and finally gave it up.

But she LOVED doing it.

She lives near a small airport and wasn't able to make that her base--so had to go to the hub in Atlanta.

A bad note--their pay was decreasing so that Delta could stay profitable and that was a hard thing to deal with. I don't know what her final pay was and I regret that I am not comfortable asking her. I'm sure your pay will be contingent upon the airline that hires you.

Also--you will have to go through training of course. I don't know if that is paid or not, but often it is at a hub.

 

[ntburns22]

My sister is a flight attendant for USA 3000.She makes somewhere around $20 an hour give or take I really don't remember. It is crazy hours, but she loves it.

 

[DebbieB]

I was talking to a Northwest flight attendent last week, she was commuting from her home in MSP to her first flight in Detroit. They only get paid for flight time. While you are waiting between flights, no pay. It used to be they were away for 3 days in a row, now it's 4 or 5.

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

Southwest is currently hiring flight attendants. According to their site, they make 18.53 a trip and a trip is considered 240 miles. There is a careers link.

You do have to go through 4 weeks or so of unpaid training in Dallas for SW.

 

[Daxx]

Have you ever watched "Flight Attendant School" on the Travel Channel? They took you along as a group of 18 (?) flight attendants were in training. It looked like they enjoyed their training although it seemed v. stressful. If I recall correctly, you could get booted for being late for class and you could only fail 2 exams. The show took you to the v. last testing phase where they were on an actual flight and were being evaluated. It was v. educational as they showed you how they taught the flight attendants to do sea-landing evacuations, how they taught them how to work emergency landings, how to handle beligerant people, how to fight off terrorists, etc. It was a good show and quite an eye opener into what it takes to be a flight attendant.

Good luck w/this ... you'll have to keep us posted!

 

[ntburns22]

Have you ever watched "Flight Attendant School" on the Travel Channel? They took you along as a group of 18 (?) flight attendants were in training. It looked like they enjoyed their training although it seemed v. stressful. If I recall correctly, you could get booted for being late for class and you could only fail 2 exams. The show took you to the v. last testing phase where they were on an actual flight and were being evaluated. It was v. educational as they showed you how they taught the flight attendants to do sea-landing evacuations, how they taught them how to work emergency landings, how to handle beligerant people, how to fight off terrorists, etc. It was a good show and quite an eye opener into what it takes to be a flight attendant.

Good luck w/this ... you'll have to keep us posted!

My sister says the show is pretty much on.She did have a girl get fired for being late to a class. Her training was in PA somewhere. They were told not to leave for the weekend. One girl left and between the weather and traffic she was late to class. She was let go soon after.

The least amount of hours she can have is 60. A lot of her trips consist of round trips to Punta Cana, Cancun and St. Petersburg. She never steps foot off the plane.

 

[MrsPete]

considering going for a flight attendant position. i enjoy traveling & am debating something different for a career. i currently work in insurance & am finishing up my rn. im looking for something different for the next 5 years while my dh is in grad school & before we have kids. out of curiousity what is the typical pay for flight attendants? is anyone on the dis a flight attendant for a domestic airline? what do you make roughly (you can pm too)? do you enjoy your job? any insight?

thanks!

If you're looking for inexpensive travel as a job benefit, don't limit yourself to flight attendant jobs. When I was young, my mom worked in airline reservations (this was pre-internet, so the job probably required more people then). We -- the whole family -- could fly anywhere, anytime as long as space was available, and we always flew first class. Because she worked in reservations, she could predict which flights would have room for us, and we never had problems. I know that she was well-paid for a woman with only a high school diploma in that time period (late 60s), and I've heard her say she wonders what she could've done with that job if she'd not quit when my brother was born.

Jobs like this would probably be a better fit once you have kids too -- you wouldn't be traveling for business, just pleasure.

 

[grlpwrd]

If you're looking for inexpensive travel as a job benefit, don't limit yourself to flight attendant jobs. When I was young, my mom worked in airline reservations (this was pre-internet, so the job probably required more people then). We -- the whole family -- could fly anywhere, anytime as long as space was available, and we always flew first class. Because she worked in reservations, she could predict which flights would have room for us, and we never had problems. I know that she was well-paid for a woman with only a high school diploma in that time period (late 60s), and I've heard her say she wonders what she could've done with that job if she'd not quit when my brother was born.

Jobs like this would probably be a better fit once you have kids too -- you wouldn't be traveling for business, just pleasure.

That is true. I worked in reservations, too. My older brother is a manager at an airline and my younger brother works in cargo. I moved around to international sales and was about to work as a ticket agent.

Job transfers are possible so yes, definitely don't limit yourself to being a flight attendant.

I didn't apply to become a flight attendant because I didn't meet their height/weight proportion requirements. I love to eat too much to give it up, I guess.

 

[Beca]

I was a flight attendant for Southwest for 8 years. It was a good job, but the lack of control over my own life REALLY got to me a lot. Plus, passengers can be PRETTY crazy (Airline has it pretty dead-on....oh, the stories I could tell.)

Know that, unless you are willing to move to a base city, you will probably not be based in your home town. That means, either getting a "crash pad" with classmates (depending on how many you share it with...$200-500 per month), or renting an apartment in your commuting city.

You will usually start out "ready reserve", which means being "on-call" 24 hrs a day for 4-day periods. You get "per diem" for every hour that you fly, plus bonuses if your plane is full, so if you are not used on ready reserve...expect your checks to be even smaller.

I'm glad to see that SWA's initial rate is higher now. When I started, it was $13.10 per "trip" (appx. one hr in flight...each day's travel can be 4-8 "trip" pay). When all was said and done, flight attendants in Oakland qualified for (and many received) food stamps.

So, if you are commuting to a base city to do ready reserve, you will have to travel non-rev the day before your reserve starts, stay at alternative housing, and non-rev back the day after your duty ends. Expect to be gone for 6 days a week when you first start. Depending on the seniority of your base...that could last anywhere from a few months, to many years.

Over the 8 Christmases that I was a flight attendant, I NEVER had a Christmas and Christmas Eve off. The first few years, I was usually scheduled to be gone Dec 23-26. Then, I would hold trips that got me home for Christmas evening, and then I would get trips that would get me home on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, one of those years, many flight attendants were calling in "sick", and I got JA'd when we touched down at my home base. My dh was waiting for me in the airport (I actually did have a 102 fever, and desperately needed to be relieved). I had to "kiss him goodbye" and go back out. It was pretty tough. If you get JA'd....it can be an immediate dismissal to refuse the assignment...even if you are sick. I also knew a girl who got JA'd from home on her dd's 5th birthday...that was tough, too. My b-day is July 3rd....so, I never got my birthday off in eight years, either.

I am not trying to discourage you from becoming a flight attendant. I enjoyed my years as a flight attendant, and had I stayed, I would be making over $40 per trip right now...that's pretty good pay!!! But, I knew when to get out. I went out on maternity leave in July 2001, and after 9/11 knew I would never be returning. One look at my dd...and, I was DONE!!!

As far as benefits...interline specials are great (they even have great discounts to WDW). Your parents will get to fly free (although, non-reving is not all what it is cracked up to be), and you will get to see a LOT of the US, or world depending upon what carrier you choose.

But, the job is a lot of work, and not much glamour. Just know what you are getting yourself into, so your expectations are realistic.

Feel free to pm me, or email me if you have any more questions!!



Beca

 

[RNMOM]

Why if you are finishing up your RN degree would you want to not use that? THe pay for nurses is better than flight attendants and you would be able to go into a travel nurse program if you wanted in a couple years, depending on your experience.

 

[Jynohn]

I was a flight attendant briefly but had to stop because of an inner ear problem that made me unable to fly frequently. I have to tell you that being a flight attendant is a LOT harder than it looks. We went through a 6 1/2 week unpaid training course, and out of the 21 people who started the class with me, 13 ended up graduating. This is typical of all classes. The airlines purposely invite more trainees to each class than they need knowing the high drop out/failure rate.

During the 6 1/2 weeks of training, we had one day off a week, the rest of the week was 8+ hours a day in a classroom or mock plane. And to the poster who compared it to the show "Flight Attendant School" yes, that show is pretty much dead-on. I was also surprised just how little time was spent learning the customer service aspects of the job. We spent literally just a day or two going over that part, while the rest of the training was spent on first aid, CPR, evacuations, fire prevention, etc. This was also pre-9/11, so I imagine that a lot more time is spent on that aspect of flying now too. I imagined a fun, glamorous job, and the reality was not that at all! It's hard not to resent being treated like a glorified cocktail waitress on board, after all the rigorous training that you've been through to be prepared to save someone's life.

With that said, there's a lot about the job that I really miss. I loved traveling to new places that I would never have gone in my "real life." I also loved new friends I made and the camraderie between your fellow F/A's. It was fun and exciting, but could also be lonely at times. It was sometimes sad staying alone in a luxurious hotel room in a beautiful city without my DH with me to share it.

If my kids were grown and I didn't have the ear trouble I would consider being a flight attendant again, but I'm not sure if I would want to go through all that training and the reserve thing once more.

Good luck with whatever you decide, and feel free to PM if you would like any additional information or advice!