How to Become A Flight Attendant

airplane on the runway featured

Flight attendants are the delightful people that tend to you while you are strapped to your seat in a 70-ton flying machine. They receive special training to ensure that all your in-flight experience is as pleasant as possible. They even enjoy the best perk of the job and that is to get to travel the whole world. So, how does one become a flight attendant?

Education

The education that is required by a flight attendant is minimum. All you need to do is graduate high school, and voila! You are eligible to become a flight attendant. The benefits of having any further education are limited in this job. However, it is important to pursue further education if you are planning to get employed elsewhere too.

Requirements

  1. Age

As long as you are 18, you are eligible to become a flight attendant. But many airlines prefer it if you are about 21 years of age. The job is quite tiring, so it is important you learn to take care of yourself before you start taking care of others during a flight. The maximum age limit is about 60. However, many airlines will refrain from hiring anyone above 40-50 if possible.

  1. Grooming

There is a huge misconception that this industry only hires people if they are extremely pretty. They are willing to hire anybody and everybody if they have the required skills for the job. That being said, trying to look good and as enthusiastic as possible is all part of the job. The customers won’t respond in the same way they did if they saw you looking tired all the time. You are also not allowed to have visible tattoos or piercings. Thus, proper grooming skills is a huge requirement in this particular industry.

  1. Physical

Broadly speaking, they are willing to hire people who are 5-6 feet tall.  As far as weight restrictions go, there are officially none. But they require you to have a healthy BMI score. In simple words, your height and weight to should complement each other. You are also required to be fit in case disaster strikes and you need to help passengers evacuate before evacuating yourself.

There is actually a long list of requirements that a person needs to meet before they apply to be a flight attendant. However, these were some of the most important ones.

Communication Skills

Though anyone who has high school degree can strive to be in this profession, preference is given to those with prior experience in the field of communication. So, you can try and get a communications degree if you want. But it is more important to have worked in the communications department. Thus, if you ever worked as a concierge, a steward, or a telemarketing agent, it will help you getting that extra edge over your competitors. A previous managerial post may help you ascend to being the leader of the cabin crew.

Flight Attendant Training

Though this is not a necessity to become a flight attendant, most of the airliners have the new recruits go through a few months of training. This teaches you how to interact with the passengers and how to keep your cool with some of the difficult ones. They also teach you how to multitask and cope with the stresses of constant traveling. Security procedures are also part of the training which sometimes includes self-defense. You also learn how to handle various gadgets and technologies onboard and on the ground. Overall, the training prepares you for everything that you may need to know while you are a flight attendant.

To summarize, you first need a high school degree. You could try and pursue higher education out of your own accord, which will help you keep a job while being a flight attendant simultaneously. Then you need to meet a certain list of requirements. After this, you could do with some work experience in the communications field. Finally, you may have to attend flight attendant training school which is conducted by the airliner itself. And voila! You are ready to get hired now! All you need to do is go and apply for jobs that are open to you and perform exceptionally well at interviews.