Flight Attendant Job Training - Leave it the Airlines
See the world and get paid doing it with a Flight Attendant job? Maybe. Try long hours 24/7/365. Try physically demanding work, difficult passengers and life-saving technical knowledge and training.
For those of you who just want to wear the Uniform and find out the hard way, who are we to stand in your way? At the bottom of this article, we have included links to jobs at the top ten best airlines in each region. But picking your airline is a job in itself.
“What do you mean best, WT?” The best airline doing the best job with the best staff voted the people that matter. Airlines we believe are worth working for. That’s who.
Airline Crew
This resource is two-fold. First… fold, is we are going to explain the main routes to getting hired by an airline. And we are going to direct you to free resources, provided free by these same airlines that do the best job filtering down millions of applicants.
Why should you do this? Because your desires and locus of valuation might be different to your real attitude, aptitude, and skill levels. And we think you should test your FAA or “Flight Attendant Job Aptitude” to give you some feedback on the validity of your career hypothesis.
Flight Attendant Aptitude
Was that an insult? No. It is an impartial, practical step which we hope will save you time and heartache. Because most (if not all) Airlines require minimums and test you on these same aptitudes – so there’s no avoiding it. You need a high school Diploma or Certificate depending on where you live. A valid Passport. Some airlines will want two or more years of college or University. You also need to pass an Enhanced background check for Security protocols. There are also some physical attributes that are necessary to investigate.
Age, Height, Arm reach (yes!), ability to speak fluent English (aviation is in the English language so training and systems manuals are in English) and be in good health. And be able to swim well. This one catch people out sometimes. During training you will be asked to rescue one of your other trainee colleagues in a deep pool wearing your soaking wet uniform and a life vest. It’s not easy. Then there’s the smoke box.
Flight Duty Period
The second issue we have seen lately is flight attendant job training courses from non-airlines. That you can pay for. In the hope that Airlines will put you at the top of their hiring lists. While we offer no evidence that this is a complete waste of time, we do offer our advice on why you should not do this.
We are NOT here to tell you if flying is a career for you. That’s for you to figure out. We’re here to give you some tools you can use to answer that question. And we expect you to behave responsibly given the evidence you have obtained.
And don’t listen to other flight attendants you may know; their journey is unknown and not yours. Their life choices and subjective opinions cannot and should not be taken as evidence that something is true, untrue, or valid.
Airline Crew & Flight Attendant
Here’s what we think – Being part of an airline crew is a fantastic profession. It’s challenging, rewarding and you meet and work with other great people who you must rely on to succeed. They will become like another family. It’s also a great doorway into other aviation professions. A lot of flight attendants go on to be pilots.
Cabin crews are trained in many technical facets such as safety and emergency systems, first aid and survival. But the hours are long, working at 8,000 ft (relative cabin altitude) through many time zones can be brutal. Working 4-5 days in a row with only “min rest” (12 hours off duty to report) subsequent rest period.
Free Online Flight Attendant Resources
If you think the job is handing out champagne in First class to charming Formula 1 drivers before a quick shopping trip down the Champs Elysée or on Rodeo drive, then you need these tools. And a little sit down for yourself.
Or try these online resources instead.
- easyJet – Try before you fly. A great tool that gives instant feedback on the role. At the same site there is also a day-in-the-life and other blogs. More for the low-cost-carrier applicant it must be said.
- Emirates Cabin Crew Resource Page. We know a lot of people see EK as a great flying job. Go here to get useful info on the minimum requirements and a description of both the training you will undergo and the role. There’s also solid data on pay and entitlements and FAQs. In our view Emirates would be a good benchmark for International carriers.
- ExCrewNextCrew Julia George’s YouTube channel is fantastic. She is ex Cabin Crew with Qatar and now studying Aviation Management. Julia offers great videos but most importantly she recommends and suggests real and validated courses, manuals, and advice. A lot of it is Qatar Airways specific, but if you wanted to get as much info as you could on the life and realities of the Cabin crew profession, you won’t find better.
What are Assessment days?
The big Middle East and Far Eastern carriers have assessment days. What they do is to travel to big cities a couple of times a year, book a hotel and see a few hundred hopeful flight attendants. You will need to complete an online application as these are never “open” days.
Throughout the day the numbers are whittled down to those lucky few who will be chosen to come to the airline HQ for the final interview stages.
What is LOD (Language of Destination) ?
This is a phrase used in North American Airlines and in other parts of the World, and this might give you an advantage and is worth checking out. Airlines, on some routes, know the value of having a percentage of each crew being able to speak the languages of the passengers that are likely to be on board.
This helps with the usual in-flight issues but could also be good in the event of issues such as an emergency. Delta, for example, have open flight attendant job requests for Japanese, Dutch, Czech and Greek speakers based at Atlanta interested in working as cabin crew.
Most EU airlines and Middle east airlines also pay you extra for the languages you speak. This goes for sign-language also.
Cabin Crew Courses & Type Rating
The simple answer is no. Let me explain. Every airline will train you anyway and they like to do this because they want you to do things their way and no other. They also train you in the specificities of their service, sales and finally and more importantly they will train you in the specific aircraft – Such as the B737Max – that you will operate.
This includes practical, on-the-job training such as emergency equipment and opening the door, security etc. There is also firefighting in the smoke box…
FAA & EASA Rules
Some schools might offer you something similar, a half day out on a B737, or A320. But that is not a type rating and there is every likelihood that you will need to be trained on a different aircraft or multiple aircraft. In the EU there has been a license called the CCA, or cabin crew attestation. You can read about it here.
If you are still reading, then we want to reward you with a small dose of reality. One of the greatest downsides of a flight attendant job is the unruly passenger. A problem that has increased in recent years thanks to Covid. Nobody wants their civil rights to be diminished, but the rules of the skies do indeed apply to you.
Flight Attendant Job
And the frontline coal-face people that must administer these rules are the cabin crew. And no, if it escalates, the flight deck crew don’t get involved.
We won’t bore you with horror stories and no doubt your social media feed has thrown up the odd video of both the innocent and the guilty getting into melees in the aisle. You will be trained in how to deal with these people, but you will be aware of the law and the rights of all involved, but boy is it a baptism when it happens. But that’s why they call it the crew. And you will need your crew. Always.
