Sky High Careers: Your Guide to Becoming a Flight Attendant

11Apr08

 

Part One: 

Understanding the Job 

 

 

 

 As the tour bus rounded the coliseum my heart skipped a beat. How 

amazing to be here! I couldn’t get over how blessed and lucky I was to have such 

a wonderful experience. If anyone knew what I really did they would be so 

envious.  

 The eight-hour flight I worked from JFK was worth the afternoon I spent in 

Rome that day. When would I have ever come here on my own? And have seen 

so much? I stopped off at the Vatican and bought my mother-in-law a rosary, 

knowing how much it would mean to her. The peddlers on the street tried to 

beckon me over to buy one of their knockoffs. I browsed through their selection 

and decided on a purse for a friend of mine, whose birthday was coming up. 

 The pasta I ordered for dinner from a quaint out-door restaurant was 

unlike anything I’d ever tasted before and I thought for certain I would have to 

move here. I rode the bus back towards the hotel and stopped at Trevi Fountain 

and had one of Italy’s famous ice creams.  

 I soaked in my surroundings, thoroughly enjoying myself and started to 

walk back to the hotel.  

 “Wow,” I said to myself, “I love my job.” 

 

 

Yes, yes, the rumors are true! You can see the world and get paid for it! 

This is indeed a glamorous job and I admit I love being able to cut to the front of 

the security line; get picked up at the airport in a car that is waiting just for me 

and take me to my exotic layover in Budapest, or Rome, or Paris! I love the 

airline crew discounts at Starbucks and shopping for the most innovative luggage 

in crew stores. I love, on a whim, being able to hop on a plane to San Jose to 

pick up my favorite Asian chicken salad that I’d been craving all morning; or, 

bringing home gorgeous flowers from Amsterdam; spending my layovers on the 

beaches in Hawaii, Florida or France. I love the travel benefits and the fact that I 

can be creative with my schedule. I love shopping for shoes in Italy and perfumes 

in France, enjoying a waffle in Brussels, and the wonderful dairy products in 

Ireland. I love that I can take a month off on PLOC (personal leave of 

convenience); fly as much or as little as I want; and I love that when I’m home, 

I’m home. I love the socialization with other Flight Attendants, meeting new 

people from all over the world and from all walks of life. I love challenging myself 

to use the conversational foreign language I have learned, and I love having the 

time to read, and spending a quiet evening in a quiet hotel room with room 

service. I love being able to talk about my career, knowing how fascinating it may 

seem to people. I love it! I love it all. 

 This job seems to attract a certain personality, and those of us who have 

spent any time with a Flight Attendant have probably found ourselves listening to 

their stories with envy and awe and perhaps even wondered aloud, “how can I get into this profession?” To understand how to get into the profession of a Flight 

Attendant, one must also come to understand the Flight Attendant’s world. 

 Flight Attendants view their schedules from a monthly standpoint, not 

necessarily daily or weekly. Everything in our lives hinges upon our bid award, 

the day our schedules come out. We are always thinking a month ahead and it is 

typical to have little memory of what has transpired in our lives two weeks ago, 

two days ago, or even two hours ago. We’d have to refer to our calendars for 

that. Nor are most of us able to remember with whom we flew or where we went 

on our last trip, without difficulty. Our minds are in the future and we walk around 

with our calendar books in our pockets and purses, as nothing can be agreed 

upon until we confirm our schedule, which will change from day to day as we 

continue to adjust them to our liking. 

 This may seem tedious or tiresome to those who are used to showing up 

to work at the same time, doing the same things, every day. But, we like it this 

way. Our schedules are under our control, as much as possible, and considering 

how many things we have to keep track of in our work lives, our personal lives 

become equally as organized. We are people who take care of things. 

 Flight Attendants have also perfected the “eat-and-go” dining tactic. Some 

trips have busy days and the only time we find to eat is either in between flights 

or right before we land. Many of us pack our own lunches, complete with the 

emergency can of tuna – in case there is nothing else available. Instant oatmeal 

is a favorite; energy and protein bars are great for those times we are in a rush. 

Sometimes we eat on our feet – stealing a few quick bites here and there. Sit-

 

down meals have become a form of self-pampering and, of course, we love room 

service! All in all, meals are carefully planned and most Flight Attendants are 

very health conscious and happily share their health and beauty secrets with 

each other.  

 This is also a job that is really a full-time, part-time job. There is no work to 

bring home with us and when we are home we are really home! Many Flight 

Attendants are able to have second careers thanks to the time off this job affords 

us.   

 A Flight Attendant’s career is laced with interesting and often amazing 

experiences. It presents a lifestyle mostly unknown to others who are outside the 

industry, but it definitely satisfies the inner adventurer!  

 So, to set out to become a Flight Attendant, you need to know what it is 

that makes a Flight Attendant. 

 

Section 1:  

The Qualities of a Flight Attendant 

 

 

 

 I sat on my jumpseat facing the front of the airplane, hands tucked solidly 

under my legs, feet flat on the floor. My heart was racing as my mind frantically 

tried to organize the chaos of thoughts that were zipping in and out. My ears 

were tuned to the sound of the engines, anticipating the crash landing we were 

about to experience.  

 Was it get up, get out? Or unbuckle seatbelts? Where’s my flashlight? Do I 

call the cockpit or do they call me? Ugh! How did this go again? 

 My nerves were shot but I forced myself to remain calm. I took a deep 

breath. All I had to do was keep my head together and I could think it through 

logically. There were in actuality only about 30 people on our little airplane, but in 

an emergency such as this who knew what might happen. 

 Just think about how to get them out safely, I told myself. 

 I had previously been known as an easy-going, even-tempered, cheerful 

girl. No one was prepared for what they were about to witness – me, in driver- 

mode. 

 I closed my eyes and visualized the actions I would take, all the while 

keenly aware of the engines’ noise.  

Suddenly, I heard a sputter and a squealing noise started to grow louder 

and louder. I gulped and took a deep breath as I opened my mouth to start 

yelling. 

 “Bend over! Brace! Bend over! Brace! Bend over! Brace!” I shouted at the 

top of my lungs. We were plummeting, or so I imagined by the noise, faster and 

faster towards the earth.  

And then, just as suddenly as it came, all went silent.  

 I dove out of my seatbelt and grabbed the interphone handset.  

 “This is Carlin at one left! What are your instructions?” I spoke as evenly 

as I could, given how frantic I was feeling. 

 There was no answer. 

 “Is anybody there?” I panicked. 

 Silence. 

 After a moment’s pause, realizing I was left to my own devices, I dropped 

the phone and dove for my flashlight. I peered into the cabin and saw a cloud of 

white smoke. I looked out the window and seeing it was clear, I grabbed for the 

door handle and violently jerked it open. Peering outside to make sure the slide 

inflated, I reached up to the handhold as I started to yell again.  

In the background, I could hear the other girls’ voices anxiously yelling 

their commands from the back of the plane.  

 “Unbuckle seatbelts! Come this way! Good exit!” we repeated over and 

over again as we ushered out body after body that had emerged from the smoke. 

“Jump and slide!”  

Within seconds everyone was out. Covering my mouth, I took one last 

look through the cabin, making my way through the smoke, crouched low, near 

the armrests. It appeared clear. Coughing now, I headed for the closest door and 

reached for the megaphone stowed nearby. I approached the door and peered 

carefully outside. And with flashlight in hand and the megaphone held to my 

chest… I jumped. 

 “Wow, you guys! Good job!” our instructor emphatically stated. “That was 

the best evacuation I think we’ve ever had at this training center!”  

 The girls and I looked at each other and smiled. We were visibly shaken 

and still recovering from the rush of adrenaline. Even though it was only a mock 

crash it had been intense and stressful. But, it was also gratifying and kinda fun 

too! It felt really good inside to know that I could react that way under pressure; it 

felt like a real accomplishment. And, I got to go down the slide! Who doesn’t envy 

that?   

 

In any job hunt, the employer is looking for someone who already has 

what they need. Your task is to prove to them that you already possess the 

qualities they are looking for. After reading this book, you will know precisely 

what to do in order to prove that you are indeed a flight attendant waiting to be 

discovered! So allow me to elaborate, if I may, on what exactly a Flight Attendant 

is and then we’ll delve in a little deeper. 

 Flight Attendants are people people. Our job is foremost about safety, but 

it is ultimately about customer service. In this job you may, at times, find yourself seemingly trapped in a giant steel tube with people everywhere you turn (and 

usually people with needs and demands) and you will have nowhere to hide – 

except perhaps the lavatory! Ok, so that is a slight exaggeration, but hopefully if 

you are planning to apply, you like people. 

 Flight Attendants are versatile. Each position occupied by a Flight 

Attendant on each different aircraft type has a specific duty. You will be assigned 

to all of them at some point in time and it is very important to know your duties 

and carry your load of the work. Flight Attendants have an unspoken motto: No 

one’s done ‘til everyone’s done, meaning we all pitch in until everyone’s job is 

finished and you may find yourself fulfilling several different duty positions on any 

given flight in order to keep the service flowing and to finish more quickly. All of 

this requires both teamwork as well as good leadership. 

 Flexibility is a huge part of this job. Not only must Flight Attendants be 

flexible in their scheduling, but also in their attitudes. It is unusual, though not 

uncommon, for your trip assignment to change while you are in the middle of it. 

This can cause some frustration, especially if you’ve made plans for the layover 

on your original schedule. However, airlines expect you to be professional at all 

times, and carry on with a good attitude. 

 Most of us have either witnessed a disgruntled passenger or been that 

passenger ourselves! Flight Attendants must have the ability to be poised in their 

interactions with passengers and anytime they are representing their company. 

Taking on customers’ complaints, requests, rantings & ravings, inappropriate behaviors, special needs, and even verbal assaults, must be handled with the 

utmost professionalism and dignity, or, in other words, poise.  

Anticipating passengers’ needs seem to be one of the magical qualities of 

a Flight Attendant. They are naturally caring and thoughtful of others. They 

genuinely want to see you have a good experience and think to do anything they 

can to make sure it happens. Even though there may be hundreds of other 

passengers on the airplane, excellent Flight Attendants have the ability to make 

you feel that you are their most important customer. 

You will experience conflicts of all sorts in this job, whether it be with 

passengers, crewmembers, other company employees, hotel personnel, or even 

a stranger you meet on the street. You will meet all walks of life during your 

airline career and most likely during the course of one day! Giving and taking 

directions are an everyday requirement and Flight Attendants must have the 

skills to manage conflicts, without becoming defensive or aggressive themselves.  

 To become a Flight Attendant there are a few basics you will need to 

have: a high school diploma or other equivalent, height ranging from 5’0” – 6’4”, 

vision correctable to at least 20/40, minimum age of 18-21 (depending on the 

airline) – there is no maximum age, however! And the ability to pass a 

background check, or at the very least the ability to explain any misdemeanors. 

Men and women of all ages and ethnicities are encouraged to apply. 

After these basic requirements are met, the ideal Flight Attendant 

candidate is someone who possesses the Flight Attendant qualities of customer 

service, poise, savvy, flexibility, adaptability, conflict management, leadership, follower-ship, public speaking and decision-making. Do you have these proven qualities?

 

 

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