How Much Will You Get Paid As a Flight Attendant In The United States?

How much will you get paid as a flight attendant in the United States, or in South Africa, or in any other country around the globe? Today I want to discuss a profession that I don’t think gets enough attention as a legitimate career these days, and that is the work that Flight Attendants do for a countries citizens. Flight attendants currently have a median salary of something like $60,000, with an average of around $70,000. This is significantly higher than the national average though the top quartile only made $80,000 per year. Flight attendant is generally not seen as one of the most lucrative jobs on the market, but it definitely can be if done for a long enough period of time. If you search online, you’ll find the top ten most lucrative employment fields are typically the below:

Finance

Accounting

Engineering

Aerospace

Software

AI

Digital Media

Law

Medicine

Dentist

Nurse

Actuary

Real Estate

Sorry I went a little over than ten there, but you get the idea. Flight attendants is not, and is typically never on that list, but right now I’m an Accountant that only makes $70,000 per year, and I’ll say that

How Much Do Flight Attendants Get Paid?

A typical flight attendant is going to start at like $48,000 to $50,000 per year. $15-$37 per hour looks to be the beginning range for Delta, as a premier airline service I’d guess you’d start out at around $25 per hour and work your way up from there with experience. A more discount airline like Spirit or Southwest is likely going to pay closer to $20 per hour starting wage. Flight attendants also typically make a salaried wage, not hourly, so you’ll have your scheduled flights and your guaranteed minimums, plus flight hours on top of that. It’s a very interesting comp structure unlike almost any other career out there.

How to Become a Flight Attendant?

Here’s what your training might look like if you really want to become a flight attendant. And I’d recommend browsing Reddit for this as they have the best information in this category that I’ve found so far. It looks like initial training is typically 4 to 8 weeks. They fly you out to the airline’s training center or the airline’s hub typically, and it’s paid training time with various lodging differences. In training, you’ll learn things like customer service skills, rules and regulations, you’ll meet like minded individuals and develop relationships with co-workers in your company, and will likely have tests and manuals to read through in your spare time. Things like using an AED and giving CPR are also musts for you to know, as well as the uniform you’ll wear, dress code, language, how to greet customers, the opening speech of the flight and emergency protocols, and the like. Some additional things you might not have thought about in terms of flight attendant training include the following:

Opening aircraft doors and window exits

Emergency prep

FAA regulations

A 90 second test on opening and closing all doors

Tests and exams to make sure you’re retaining the knowledge they throw your way

A handful of students will drop out of the program, much like TSA, flight school, the army, and the like

An ending graduation party

report for scheduling!

Happy flying and comment down below if you’re a real flight attendant and this was close to your experience, thanks again also for being a loyal reader!

What is a Flight Attendant?

A flight attendant is in many ways like the chief of staff to the airline captain. While the co-pilot is his vice president, his airline steward is just as important, in that she keeps the passengers happy and well fed, gives them someone to socialize with, and the like. You will see people of all ages, and all genders working as flight attendants, and while much like the field of nursing, it is definitely a field that is dominated by women, but if you are a male do that job with a smile! It is one heck of a great way to meet and be around women!

What Is a Flight Attendants Salary?

Starting Salary – $50,000 per year

Training Salary – $40,000 per year, paid hourly

Median Salary – $68,000 per year

Top 25th Percentile – $80,000 per year

Top Decile (10th percentile) – $100,000 per year

Top 1% – $125,000 (even as a flight attendant, I guess decades of experience really ads up, getting this stat here from Wikipedia!)

What Airlines Pay the Highest to Flight Attendants?

Delta

Jet Blue

Hawaiin

Southwest

United

Air China

Jet Blue Airlines

Frontier Airlines

Air France

Spirit Airway

Air Canada

Sun Country Airlines

What Is The Training Like for Flight Attendants And Do You Need a College Degree?

A 4 to 8 week training Session at the airline headquarters, with tests and training courses alongside dozens and dozens of your fellow flight-attendant trainees all being onboarded. Oh and on top of that you’ll likely have a bunk mate as most of these are dorm style! This may sound meh, but it can be a great way to meet your best friend at the company! College Degree is not required but does sometimes help you get a foot in the door. Good qualifications for a flight attendant include:

1 to 2 work years in a service occupation – food services sounds like a good one here.

I’d guess that TSA is also a great start to this as well, as it taking pilot classes or being a certified private pilot, and actually having flight hours.

Final Thoughts On How Much Will You Get Paid As a Flight Attendant In the United States?

And there you have it! Thanks again for reading, and if any flight attendants are readers here I’d love to hear your opinion on the above article. Be sure to subscribe for additional details and information on all things business and finance.

Cheers!

*Inflation Hedging.com

Sources:

https://www.bankrate.com/banking/cds/cd-rates/

https://money.cnn.com/data/markets/

https://www.wgu.edu/

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