Flight Attendants
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Overview
Monitor safety of the aircraft cabin. Provide services to airline passengers, explain safety information, serve food and beverages, and respond to emergency incidents.
Highlights
Undergraduate program resulting in the highest median salary ($78K): Biology
Largest undergraduate program (7.3% of workers): Business Management and Administration
Explore Pathways
Titles for this career often contain these words
FlightAttendantAirlineInflightHostessSupervisorCrewMemberStewardessAirplaneDoorArrivalServicesAirTransportationManagerStewardInInternationalLeadInstructorMealPurserRamp
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Responsibilities and activities

Flight attendants typically do the following:

  • Participate in preflight briefings with the pilots, to discuss cabin conditions and flight details
  • Conduct preflight inspections of emergency equipment
  • Demonstrate the use of safety equipment and emergency equipment
  • Ensure that passengers have their seatbelts fastened when required and that all other safety requirements are observed
  • Serve and sell beverages, meals, or snacks
  • Take care of passengers’ needs, particularly those with special needs
  • Reassure passengers during the flight, such as when the aircraft hits turbulence
  • Administer and coordinate emergency medical care, as needed
  • Provide direction to passengers, including how to evacuate the aircraft in an emergency

Airlines are required by law to provide flight attendants for the safety and security of passengers. The primary job of flight attendants is to keep passengers safe, ensuring that everyone follows security regulations and that the flight deck is secure. Flight attendants also try to make flights comfortable and stress free for passengers. At times, they may deal with passengers who display disruptive behavior.

About 1 hour before takeoff, the captain (pilot) may conduct a preflight briefing with flight attendants about relevant flight information, including the number of hours the flight will take, the route the plane will travel, and weather conditions. Flight attendants check that emergency equipment is working, the cabin is clean, and there is an adequate supply of food and beverages on board. Flight attendants greet passengers as they board the aircraft, direct them to their seats, and provide assistance as needed.

Flight attendants demonstrate the proper use of safety equipment to all passengers, either in person or through a video recording before the plane takes off. They also check that seatbelts are fastened, seats are locked in the upright position, and all carry-on items are properly stowed in accordance with federal law and company policy.

A flight attendant’s most important responsibility, however, is to help passengers in the event of an emergency. This responsibility ranges from dealing with unruly passengers to performing first aid, fighting fires, protecting the flight deck, and directing evacuations. Flight attendants also answer questions about the flight, attend to passengers with special needs, and generally assist all passengers as needed.

Before the plane lands, flight attendants once again ensure that seatbelts are fastened, seats are locked in the upright position, and all carry-on and galley items are properly stowed.

Before they leave the plane, flight attendants survey the condition of the cabin. They submit reports on any medical, safety, or security issues that may have occurred during the flight.

Salary
Median salary: $59,050 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $43,080 and $71,550.
$59K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for flight attendants
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
$53K$52K$32K$39K$58K$53K$45K$53K$23K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
Number employed
02K4K6K8K10K12K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
About Flight Attendants
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of flight attendants who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
  • Exposed to Contaminants (96%)
  • Unpleasant or Angry People (84%)
  • Consequence of Error (76%)
  • High Conflict Frequency (75%)
  • Responsible for Others' Health (74%)
  • Exposed to Disease or Infections (70%)
  • Radiation Exposure (66%)
  • High Places (66%)
  • Minor Burns, Cuts, Bites (61%)
  • Exposed to Whole Body Vibration (46%)
  • Time Pressure (45%)
  • Hazardous Conditions (42%)
SOURCES:
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Flight Attendants? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Attentiveness
Flight attendants must be aware of any security or safety risks during the flight. They also must be attentive to passengers’ needs in order to ensure a pleasant travel experience.
Communication skills
Flight attendants should speak clearly, listen attentively, and interact effectively with passengers and other crewmembers.
Customer-service skills
Flight attendants should have poise, tact, and resourcefulness to handle stressful situations and address passengers’ needs.
Decisionmaking skills
Flight attendants must be able to act decisively in emergencies.
Physical stamina
Flight attendants push, pull, and carry service items, open and close overhead buns, and stand and walk for long periods.
Injury and Illness
About 517 flight attendants become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 99% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
Sprains, strains, tears
Bruises and contusions
All multiple traumatic injuries
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by flight attendants
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), flight attendants typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as flight attendants as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for flight attendants

A high school diploma is typically required to become a flight attendant. Some airlines may prefer to hire applicants who have taken some college courses.

Those who work on international flights may have to be fluent in a foreign language. Some enroll in flight attendant academies.

Details: Licensing and certification recommended for flight attendants

All flight attendants must be certified by the FAA. To become certified, flight attendants must complete their employer’s initial training program and pass an exam. Flight attendants are certified for specific types of aircraft and must take new training for each type of aircraft on which they are to work. In addition, attendants receive recurrent training every year to maintain their certification.

Education level of Flight Attendants
Only 42% of flight attendants have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by flight attendants
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
Top college degrees
Here are the top college degrees held by the 42% of people in this job who have at least a bachelor's degree. Some of degrees may link to multiple programs due to the way Census classifies college majors. Click on a program to learn more about career opportunities for people who major in that field.
  1. Business Management and Administration
  2. Business/Commerce
  3. Psychology
  4. Communications
  5. Education
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College majors held by flight attendants
This table shows the college majors held by people working as flight attendants. If you see "**" before the name of a degree/program, that means this field is one that the Department of Education believes is preparatory for this career. However, you can see from this list that those recommendations are far from your only path to this job!
Salary comparison for bachelor's only
Higher
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Career salary (tail) versus Career/Major salary (dot)
Does the bachelor's-only salary rise or fall with this major?
$47K$53K
Salary for bachelor's-only
For people with this career and major
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
Salary for all workers
For people with this career and major
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
Education for Career and Major
Bachelor's
Master's
Professional
Doctorate
Workers with this career/major
Percentage in this career with this major
Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click the program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
Not so much?
The link between degrees and this career
With the following sankey diagram, you can follow the top ten bachelor's degrees held by people working as flight attendants, and then, in turn, you can see the 10 occupations that hire the most of each degree's graduates. We hope this provides ideas for similar jobs and similar fields of study.
Expand degrees
Business Management ...General BusinessPsychologyCommunicationsGeneral EducationEnglish Language and...MarketingLiberal ArtsElementary EducationCommercial Art and G...All other degreesThis jobTop 10 majors
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Flight Attendants per 1,000 workers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most flight attendants? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as flight attendants. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where flight attendants earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
  • In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for flight attendants compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
  • Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for flight attendants.
We hope the ratio allows perspective about how salaries may compare to the regional cost-of-living.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which flight attendants earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Flight Attendants (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
Employment
41% of Flight attendants are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 41% part-time workers, this occupation has a higher percentage of part-time workers than 91% of careers.
41%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of flight attendants by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
$47K$47K$61K$40K$0$20,000$40,000$60,000$80,000$100,000Federal governmentPrivate not-for-profitPrivate for-profitAll
Gender
Flight attendants and gender
With 75% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 84% of careers.
Gender of Flight attendants
Men (25%)
Women (75%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
$43K$56K$0$100K$200K$300KWomenMen
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
75%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women by 19%, and the difference for flight attendants tops that, with the median salary for men 28% higher than the median salary for women.
28%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Flight attendants
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Flight attendants.
Race/origin of flight attendants
White (71% )
Black (15% )
Asian (7% )
Multiracial (4% )
Other (2% )
Pacific Islander (1% )
Hispanic (1% )
American Indian (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
$41K$47K$49K$49K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100KBlackAsianWhiteMultiracial
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.