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Fly Away Cafe - Where travel is a way of life

So You Want to be a Flight Attendant?

by Mary Jo Manzanares on July 12th, 2007

So you want to be a Flight Attendant, huh?  For many people, it’s the best job that they could possibly have.

I get lots of emails from people asking about my job, wanting to know more about what the job really entails, what the pay is like, and — this is perhaps the most frequent inquiry — what the travel benefits are.

There are really two parts to the job.  The part the public sees on a regular basis is the most common part of our duties.  This includes things like greeting passengers, directing people to their seats, helping to stow carry-on items, handling duplicate seat assignments, and serving beverages, snacks, and meals.

The other part of the job, and perhaps the one that is the most important, is one that most passengers should hope that they never see.  It’s the safety and emergency side of the job. 

You may have observed the safety demonstration, and chuckled a little to yourself at how ridiculous the Flight Attendant looks while doing it.  However, that “ridiculous” looking Flight Attendant can evacuate the airplane in an emergency in just a few short (and precious) minutes.  We can perform lifesaving CPR and heart defibrillation, along with attending to other more minor first aid needs.  We are trained to fight onboard fires, deal with bombs (both threats and real) and other security threats, and handle unruly and threatening passengers and situations.

It’s a complicated mix of skills — including customer service, crowd management, first aid — and a lot of common sense.  Every day is different, and some are better than others.  For most of us, the job becomes a way of life, and we can’t imagine returning to a more structured work environment.  No one believes it when they are hired, but the lifestyle gets into your blood and it’s hard to let go. 

I found this video, and although it’s a little corny and staged, it does give you a little bit of background about some of tasks involved in the job of a Flight Attendant.

I enjoy my job immensely, and although there are days that are long and difficult, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  I’ve done many other things career-wise, but so far, being a Flight Attendant is the best.

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