Flight Attendants
Monitor safety of the aircraft cabin. Provide services to airline passengers, explain safety information, serve food and beverages, and respond to emergency incidents.
Also Known As:
Flight Attendant
In-Flight Crew Member
Inflight Services Flight Attendant
International Flight Attendant
Purser
Wages
Annual wages for Flight Attendants in United States
Job Outlook
Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future
United States
2033 Projected Employment
143,200
10% Change From 2023
Explore Flight Attendants video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Announce and demonstrate safety and emergency procedures, such as the use of oxygen masks, seat belts, and life jackets.
- Prepare passengers and aircraft for landing, following procedures.
- Attend preflight briefings concerning weather, altitudes, routes, emergency procedures, crew coordination, lengths of flights, food and beverage services offered, and numbers of passengers.
- Operate audio and video systems.
- 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.
- Greet passengers boarding aircraft and direct them to assigned seats.
- Conduct periodic trips through the cabin to ensure passenger comfort and to distribute reading material, headphones, pillows, playing cards, and blankets.
- Check to ensure that food, beverages, blankets, reading material, emergency equipment, and other supplies are aboard and are in adequate supply.
- Determine special assistance needs of passengers, such as small children, the elderly, or persons with disabilities.
- Answer passengers' questions about flights, aircraft, weather, travel routes and services, arrival times, or schedules.
- Administer first aid to passengers in distress.
- Verify that first aid kits and other emergency equipment, including fire extinguishers and oxygen bottles, are in working order.
- Collect money for meals and beverages.
- Assist passengers in placing carry-on luggage in overhead, garment, or under-seat storage.
- Sell alcoholic beverages to passengers.
- Inspect and clean cabins, checking for any problems and making sure that cabins are in order.
- Heat and serve prepared foods.
- Inspect passenger tickets to verify information and to obtain destination information.
- Take inventory of headsets, alcoholic beverages, and money collected.
- Walk aisles of planes to verify that passengers have complied with federal regulations prior to takeoffs and landings.
- Monitor passenger behavior to identify threats to the safety of the crew and other passengers.
- Monitor passenger behavior to identify threats to the safety of the crew and other passengers.
- Announce flight delays and descent preparations.
- Direct and assist passengers in emergency procedures, such as evacuating a plane following an emergency landing.
- Assist passengers entering or disembarking the aircraft.
- Greet passengers boarding aircraft and direct them to assigned seats.
- Reassure passengers when situations, such as turbulence, are encountered.
- Inspect and clean cabins, checking for any problems and making sure that cabins are in order.
- Monitor passenger behavior to identify threats to the safety of the crew and other passengers.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
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Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")