Salary and Outlook
According to the US Department of Labor, there are 106,300 people employed as flight attendants in
the United States.
The median annual salary is $61,640.
Entry level employees earn approximately $37,020 per year and senior employees earn approximately $81,400
per year.
Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.
Job Duties
- Reassure passengers when situations, such as turbulence, are encountered.
- Check to ensure that food, beverages, blankets, reading material, emergency equipment, and other supplies are aboard and are in adequate supply.
- Prepare reports showing places of departure and destination, passenger ticket numbers, meal and beverage inventories, the conditions of cabin equipment, and any problems encountered by passengers.
- Announce flight delays and descent preparations.
- Greet passengers boarding aircraft and direct them to assigned seats.
- Assist passengers entering or disembarking the aircraft.
- Conduct periodic trips through the cabin to ensure passenger comfort and to distribute reading material, headphones, pillows, playing cards, and blankets.
- Inspect and clean cabins, checking for any problems and making sure that cabins are in order.
- Operate audio and video systems.
- Prepare passengers and aircraft for landing, following procedures.
- Administer first aid to passengers in distress.
- Determine special assistance needs of passengers, such as small children, the elderly, or disabled persons.
- Attend preflight briefings concerning weather, altitudes, routes, emergency procedures, crew coordination, lengths of flights, food and beverage services offered, and numbers of passengers.
- Verify that first aid kits and other emergency equipment, including fire extinguishers and oxygen bottles, are in working order.
- Announce and demonstrate safety and emergency procedures, such as the use of oxygen masks, seat belts, and life jackets.
- Monitor passenger behavior to identify threats to the safety of the crew and other passengers.
- Walk aisles of planes to verify that passengers have complied with federal regulations prior to takeoffs and landings.
- Direct and assist passengers in emergency procedures, such as evacuating a plane following an emergency landing.
- Answer passengers' questions about flights, aircraft, weather, travel routes and services, arrival times, or schedules.
- Collect money for meals and beverages.
- Heat and serve prepared foods.
- Inspect passenger tickets to verify information and to obtain destination information.
- Assist passengers in placing carry-on luggage in overhead, garment, or under-seat storage.
- Take inventory of headsets, alcoholic beverages, and money collected.
- Sell alcoholic beverages to passengers.