You desire a life of adventure, acquiring paid to travel the world, accumulating stamps in your passport and photos for your Instagram page. So how are you going to make that dream a reality? It’s the question you secretly dread. After all, you are: How To Become A Flight Attendant With No Experience.
Working on a cruise ship is out because just taking a water taxi ride is enough to make you nauseous.
How much does a flight attendant make?
First, you may be drawn to the flight attendant career path for the benefits and the lifestyle, but that doesn’t pay the bills. So what can you expect to earn? Let’s be honest: you aren’t going to get rich as a flight attendant. According to ZipRecruiter, as of March 2020, the average yearly salary for a U.S. flight guide is $59,987, but pay rates can range from $20,500 to $180,000. Most flight attendants should expect to earn between $37,500 and $62,000 a year during their careers.
Not super lucrative, but doable. And you know what? The allure of flight attendant life isn’t the money so much as it is the benefits. So, before we go any further, let’s talk about those fantastic benefits since that’s why many of us are here.
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What are some of the benefits of being a flight attendant?
Free flights for you
Who’s here for the free flights? Increase your hand. Everyone? Great. You’ve come to the right place. As you know, one of the main perks of a flight guide career is access to endless free flights on your airline.
Free flights for your spouse/dependents/parents
But wait, there’s more. Did you know that for most airlines, your spouse, dependents, and even your parents qualify for free flights? Imagine how much less a family leave will cost if you don’t have to pay for airfare. Plus, your parents can’t say you never did anything for them. While you’re working hard to earn those benefits, they can kick back on a sandy beach or explore a new city they didn’t have to pay to fly to.
Tax-only fares when flying other airlines
What if your airline doesn’t fly to an exotic destination on your bucket list? You have to pay the full fare somewhere else. Not so fast. Check what joint agreements your airline has with other airlines. Most airlines will mutually agree to extend flight benefits to employees and beneficiaries from other airlines. In this case, you’ll have to cover the nominal taxes that would usually be tacked on to a paid ticket.
Flexible scheduling
The airline industry is a very seniority-based world. The longer you stick around, the cushier the scheduling gets. Flight attendants “bid” on their schedules each month. This means that you decide precisely what your ideal program would look like.
Submit your ideal schedule, and a sophisticated computer system matches your criteria, so the finished program is as close as possible to what you asked for. Sounds great, right? And it is once you have paid your dues and built up seniority. The matching system takes your seniority into account. The flight attendants with the highest seniority are matched first, so they will get nearly precisely what they asked for.
What are the flight Attendent needs?
At first glance, the flight attendant capabilities may seem more accessible than you think. For most airlines, the flight attendant requirements say you only need to be 18 years old and have a high school diploma or G.E.D. Some airlines’ flight attendant requirements say you to be older, but none older than 20. There are no subjects needed to become a flight attendant. Flight attendant qualifications rarely say you do not need to be a college graduate and you do not need to have experience in the hospitality, travel, or tourism fields.
That said, while the requirements to become a flight attendant aren’t extensive, what it takes to get hired is an entirely different story. How do you distinguish yourself from the myriads of other candidates?Even though there are no courses or subjects needed to become a flight attendant, there are things you should do. The best thing you can do to make yourself more likely to get hired is to have previous experience as a flight attendant. Seem counterintuitive to have the expertise to apply for the job you want.
What is a Flights Attendents Salary?
Wondering how much a flight attendant makes? Flight attendants can earn good money, BUT yes, there is a but, but it doesn’t happen right away. Many people look up the median flight attendant salary and see about $55,000 per year and think they will receive that once they get hired. Unfortunately, the starting pay for most airlines is much lower.
You will likely make about $35,000 your first year as a flight attendant, with incremental raises built in based on time of service. A big reason why the median flight attendant salary is so high is that many flight attendants hold onto their jobs for a long time, which means that they keep ticking up their salary scales for more time put into the position.
Final Thoughts:
If you want to work at Southwest or Delta, they are much more likely to hire you if you have experience working at another airline, even if it is only a small regional carrier. To get a job at one of the smaller airlines, you need to apply often, and I would recommend being willing to take the first job wherever you get one, even if it means moving temporarily. Remember, even if the position is based out of another city, flight attendants often have the option of commuting after training.
