Compared to other careers, becoming a flight attendant can be a long and difficult process. You have to meet certain requirements, go through a rigorous hiring process that includes interviews, background checks, and weeks (or even months of training). When you finally do get hired and complete training, you have a job that requires non-traditional hours, stress, and a lot of pressure.
This leads many people to ask – Is it worth becoming a flight attendant?
Yes! Becoming a flight attendant is a great career that comes with great pay, amazing benefits, and the ability to see the world.
In this article we’ll look at some of the reasons why some people might think it isn’t worth becoming a flight attendant and why you might want to look past them if it’s something you’re interested in.
Getting hired as a flight attendant
You might have heard some of the horror stories about how hard it is to become a flight attendant. The internet is full of facts and figures about how few applicants make it through the hiring process.
Although not everyone who wants to become a flight attendant will get hired, there is way more misinformation out there about this topic than you would think. Many of the things that people think are requirements either are no longer relevant or are nothing more than urban legends.
The truth is that as long as you meet the requirements to be a flight attendant and have a passion for the job, you should apply. Since you’ll be on a level playing field with other who meet those same requirements, getting hired will come down to your tenacity and personality.
Don’t let the hiring process stop you from pursuing a career you’d love!
Great pay
Being a flight attendant can also be a very financially lucrative profession. Compared to other jobs that have similar educational and training requirements, being a flight attendant is among the top paying careers. As you continue on in your career and gain more experience and seniority, you’ll continue to make more and more.
The most experienced and best flight attendants can make well into the 6 figure range just by being good at their job and gaining experience. This is not a common occurrence in today’s job market and is just another reason why it’s worth becoming a flight attendant.
Here’s a deep dive into how much flight attendants make.
Taking advantage of the benefits
Another reason why it’s very much worth becoming a flight attendant is having access to a fantastic list of benefits that people in many other jobs would dream of.
If you want a job that let’s you enjoy benefits like exploring the world, meeting great people, having access to great retirement and health care, and much more, then you should really consider it. Many careers either don’t offer benefits like this or might only offer a portion of them.
Here’s an entire article that breaks down some of the key benefits of being a flight attendant.
Training
Another thing that would turn some people away from chasing the dream of becoming a flight attendant is having to go through a rigorous training process.
Depending on the airline you are hired by, this could be anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks of training. This is in addition to any other training you might have taken on your own before even applying to be a flight attendant.
While this sounds like a lot of hard work just to start a new job, here are a few things to consider:
- Transferrable Skills: Many of the skills you learn and develop while training to be a flight attendant can be applied to other careers should you choose to go down a different path. Things like great customer service skills, CPR, and following specific protocols are also skills that other professions and employers often look for.
- Other careers have even more training: If you think going through a few weeks of full-time training is too much, then you will be shocked to hear that other careers have even longer training periods. Many of these careers not only will take you longer to complete training but then once you’re hired will make less money than a flight attendant and have fewer benefits as well.
- Training is diverse: The skills covered in flight attendant training are wide ranging. You’ll swim, learn about airplanes, do CPR, learn to interact with people, and more. Unlike most jobs that would have you doing bookwork on the same topic all day, training to be a flight attendant is fun and rewarding
Being a flight attendant isn’t for everyone
After reading this article you might think that being a flight attendant is a great career for everyone. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Although it’s a great career for a lot of people, there are some people that it might not be a good fit for. This is based on the fact that certain people value different things in a job and want to live a certain lifestyle. Being a flight attendant might not match up with your values, goals, or lifestyle.
Here are a few examples of the things you might want out of a career that will NOT match up well with being a flight attendant
- Traditional work hours: Being a flight attendant is not a 9-5 job. There are a lot of nights, weekends, and even holiday shifts.
- Meeting lots of (sometime crabby) new people: Being a flight attendant means you are going to be meeting a lot of passengers every day. Some of them will be tired, frustrated, and crabby. You have to have somewhat thick skin and enjoy the challenge of trying to make these people happy.
- Pressure: Being a flight attendant can be a high-pressure job. There are safety protocols to follow, crabby passengers to attend to, tight schedules to stick to, and more. If you are looking for an easy and relaxing job, this is not it.
Conclusion
Being a flight attendant is one of the most worthwhile career decisions a person can make. It’s a rewarding career that gives you access to a lifestyle most people would love to have. It has adventure, great pay, human interaction, and provides you with amazing memories. Though not for everyone, for the right person being a flight attendant is very much worth it.
