Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 102,500 people employed as flight attendants in the United States. The median annual salary is $59,100. Entry level employees earn approximately $30,930 per year and senior employees earn approximately $84,790 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, 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.

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