Being Part of The Industry

One of the questions people (naturally) ask me most often is how they, their daughter, niece, spouse, best friend, etc. would also go about becoming a flight attendant.

While I would love nothing more than to bring a fresh slew of fab BFFs on board to share the joy, the fact is it's a pretty zany industry to break into these days.

As I mentioned in my previous post, when I started I was hired as a job share with my friend M. We both had to work at least one flight a month, but we had to fly 70 hours between us. That's air time. As also mentioned previously, air time hours are counted when the aircraft door closes. So when we're on the ground, delayed for any reason with the door open, or during boarding/deplaning etc., that doesn't count towards our minimum hours.

But sometimes you meet fun people, or famous people, and it can be very rewarding. Knowing this bit about me makes my job look pretty sweet. And it is. I can totally understand why people are interested in following suit.

For the first 3 years, M and I were partners. Then one day the company let us know that they were doing away with the job share program, and that from then on we job share partners would all be part-time FA's, and that we'd now have to work a minimum of 35 hours each, per month. So with much sadness M and I were separated from each other and no longer had to coordinate our schedules and lives. They don't hire part-timers off the street now. You have to be hired full-time, and then (again, based on seniority) you may have the chance to fly part-time in the future.

But getting hired is the kicker. While the ratio of applicants to positions available when I got hired was about 60/1 (which seemed incredibly tough), things are different now. It's about 1000/1 at my company, and I'm sure it's similar elsewhere. In recent months there have been countless thousands of layoffs at other airlines. Seems like every day we are informed about another round of pilots or flight attendants being let go somewhere. While my own company has never yet had to lay anyone off, we definitely feel the impact of the turbulent times in air travel. And my heart just aches for the stress this has put on families and individuals just trying to keep afloat out there.

For the applicant who actually DOES manage to land the much-coveted position, their experience will be vastly different from mine. They will be on reserve for eons. Reserve flight attendants are guaranteed 10 days off each month, but those 10 days aren't necessarily consecutive. In fact it's probably more like one day here, one day there. Which may be fine for them, if they live in their base. But if, like me, they are commuting from home to get to their base to start work, that would be a nightmare. They wouldn't ever get to go home. If you work Monday, have Tuesday off but have to be back first thing Wednesday, you really just can't go. You're stuck. So that's a trick.

Also a new hire today wouldn't get to pick which city they were based in. My company has 4 different crew bases in four different states, and you could be required to start/end work in any one of them. Again, it's all determined by seniority. So when you first start and you're the bottom of the totem pole, you go where the need is, and work whatever trips no one else wanted out of that base. Which means every holiday and weekend and bummer trip (except for when another flight attendant calls in sick on a sweet trip and it's assigned to you). And you learn how to manage your time pretty efficiently. Living out of a suitcase better appeal, because that puppy will never ever be put away!

You also probably shouldn't have any personal life. Spouse and kids? It would be very difficult to have a family as a new flight attendant unless you live where you're based. But on the other hand, it'd be good to have a spouse, especially one who can keep you afloat for a while till you are off reserve and can pick up more hours, because even though new flight attendants start making $20 an hour where I work, you're only guaranteed 75 hours of pay per month (or more if you happen to fly more than that). Doing the math you can see that $18,000 a year isn't a whole lot to survive on.

Want to know something sad? 1st officers, you know the pilot in the right seat? Well I've met 1st officers from some other airlines who were making only slightly more than me when I met them! Which was really kind of sad, since they actually put a lot of effort into preparing for their job compared to me. Anywho, I digress.

So it would be handy to have a spouse who was supporting the family's financial needs during the early years while you are flying a ton, making peanuts and climbing in seniority.

Unless your airline is on a hiring freeze. Which mine currently is. Which most currently are. Because if you just got hired and are smack dab at the bottom of that totem pole waiting for them to hire the next batch of flight attendants who will bump you up a bit, there is nothing worse than a hiring freeze.

So becoming a flight attendant today is a grand idea if you

• love to serve others
• love living out of a suitcase
• don't mind cleaning up vomit, urine, blood and other biohazzards
• can handle wacky hours (red-eye flights, long days, etc)
• like sitting around a lot
• are a quick study (after all, you do have to get through the training to even start...which is pretty intense. Learning the aircraft(s), Medical, Safety etc...to say nothing of the rules and regulations governing your work as set forth by the FAA. Every new class has a few who just can't hack it and fail out.)
• don't have any restrictions on where you can live
• have a sugardaddy or sugarmomma who can keep you in yer drawers and supply you with your monthly pallet of chocolate (for medicinal purposes only of course!) while you creep slowly upward in the ranks
• love travel

If any of the following describe your situation, perhaps another career would be a better fit:

• "I ain't touching that" is something you might utter (referring to any substance that could possibly be found in a lavatory, galley, seat back pocket, or seating area)
• Old people annoy me
• Young people annoy me
• Babies shouldn't be allowed to fly
• I turn into a pumpkin at midnight
• I can't wake up before 8 a.m.
• I hate instant oatmeal
• I personally believe that US Americans shouldn't be allowed to have carry on luggage
• I can't live on less than $50 a day
• There's no place like home
• Sudoku makes me insane
  
• Someone sneezes and I'm down for the count with pneumonia
• "Mouth-to-mouth? Not on your life!"

Just a few things to consider if you've been wondering about getting into the airline industry. It's still possible to do so, and after the first while it can be an enormously rewarding field to be part of. There are other positions beyond being a flight attendant (airport crew, reservations, etc) that I can't personally speak on, but who also enjoy the perks of the industry without being gone so much.

Just remember, If it's your dream, there will be a way for you to make it your reality! That applies to any facet of life!
♥