As I mentioned in my Career segment, my choice to remain a flight attendant through the good and bad has always been a simple outweigh of the pros and cons. You’d be surprised at how they can vary, but for any person that’s fit for this occupation, there will always be a silver lining.
PROS & CONS
Reserve:
For those of who aren’t familiar with this term, its a system that you’ll likely have to work off of for more than half the the portion of the first few years in your career. While every airline has different systems, I can only speak for mine on the basic guidelines.
While on your (monthly) reserve schedule, you may only know what days you have off that month, and thats about it. Being a flight attendant means you have to be okay with the idea of knowing you don’t have any idea where you may be flying to that day. And you may only have 2-3 hours after you find out to get to the airport on time to fly that trip to wherever you may be going. It could be Winter in Canada, or a trip to Punta Cana.
For me, once you get a routine down packed about how to prepare for the unexpected, you learn how to become more versatile, adapt more quickly, and learn how to become a more transparent person overall. So this “Con” can actually be seen as a Pro when you think about how it can help your personal growth. But for many others, that don’t enjoy spontaneity or surprises, the Type A planners who hate the idea of not having any clue where they’re going, I think its easy to see why so many would view it as a con.
Juniority & Seniority:
If you are any less than 10 years into the company, maybe even 15 you are considered “junior” and this is something I would personally as a junior flight attendant, see as a big con. When you first start out, you are getting bottom of the barrel pay (which actually isn’t terrible in comparison to what you’d be getting paid trying to climb from the bottom of a corporate ladder), in addition to bottom of the barrel trips. (Unless, you become a pro at bidding, or find your way to work the system in your favor.)
While it’s just about the complete opposite for those people who have been with the company longer, they’ll receive extremely better pay, their dream schedules (Paris, Madrid, Maui, Sydney) you name it. While their duties will be the same as ours. So the cons of being junior can be turned into pros only if and when you decide that this career is your forever career, and you have that dream pay and schedule to look forward to one sweet day far far away from now.
Travel Benefits:
I personally can’t find any cons in this one. It’s the part of the job that reminds you why anything you don’t like about the job is all worth it. Travel benefits are given to each flight attendant, and a companion of their choice, to fly for free anywhere domestically. And when flying internationally, you only pay taxes.
Benefits are also given to your parents, with a generally good discount (I know my dad refuses pay full price ever since I started), and you are allotted a certain amount of buddy passed to give out to whomever you choose. The only con to travel benefits is that unpredictable nature of having to fly on standby. Anyone on these benefits is considered a non-revenue passenger, even if they are still paying a smaller sum, so they will only get a seat on the flight if the seats are available.
This means planning your vacations with hotels that offer free cancellations and tours, because you really can’t predict whether or not you’ll definitely make it. But here’s one huge pro, if it just so happens that you have an empty first class on a flight and everyone with high flight status and upgrade requests has been given their seats, you may just be able to experience first class!
However, this is all situational. Depending upon the working crew and gate agents decisions. Just remember to remain grateful if you get on in the first place. And one HUGE thing to remember, anyone flying as a non-rev under your benefits is representing you, so choose wisely.
Health Benefits:
Along with the travel benefits, you will also receive health insurance, vision, and dental insurance. The list goes on. My company offers us certain plans for each and there is a stature taken out of our checks depending on which plan you choose. But they make it flexible and easy. This is pro. No questions asked.
Home Base Assignments:
The home base you are assigned to during your first few weeks of training may not be your first, second, or even seventh pick. The assignments tend to go by age, so if you are one of the older ones in your training group you’ll probably be in luck. If you are in the middle-younger range like I was, you probably won’t end up getting where you wanted. I recommend anyone who’s considering working for an airline to look up where their home bases A.K.A. hubs are located, before you decide which one to go for.
I was personally based out of Boston during training, my second choice (which wasn’t so bad.) But mostly because Boston wasn’t really a popular base, I was the oldest person in my class to be awarded Boston, but I was okay with the idea. I had a place to stay there so living would be affordable, and I THOUGHT I’d be able to bring my dog Leilah, the love of my life. However this idea was quickly shot down by basically everyone around me. Luckily my parents offered to watch her for me until I could get my transfer in to be based in Miami. And I had the benefits to go see her whenever I could.
After the 9 months in Boston passed, it was funny to see how many people who I witnessed being distraught at the the thought of being based at one our our smallest hubs with no international flying and a high cost of living, had actually fallen in love with the city and decided to stay. Life has a funny way of disguising blessings as curses, and vice versa. Just know that transfers are a thing, it may take long to get where you want to be. But as I sit at my home in Florida with Leilah laying by my side, I am reminded that everything falls into place in time. And I will never not cherish the memories and challenges Boston brought me. Challenges like my first time being a city girl experiencing laundromats and public transportation, SNOW and many broken umbrellas.
I was lucky enough to be based there with my roommate from training, who I was never too close to during that 6-week period, but being in Boston and being able to walk to her house in the North End and explore the city together was an adventure all its own. My random roommate became my best friend, and even separated now, the bond we made in Boston together forged and everlasting friendship I wouldn’t trade for the world. So yeah, I wouldn’t say its all con.
Leaving Everything:
When I start to write this, memories run around my head of my drills from training. As a flight attendant your job is first and foremost to be a safety professional. That means being able to evacuate an aircraft full of people in 90 seconds or less during life or death emergency situations. But I’ll get to that later on. One of our evacuation commands you will learn to shout is “Come this way, leave everything!” The irony of this “command” is that when you accept the job, you are accepting the fact that you will be coming whatever way you are assigned to go, and potentially leaving behind everything you hold close to your heart.
This is a con that you must accept if you are want this career. You will be asked, “is there anything holding you back from picking up and moving to another state?” and your answer needs to be no. The process of becoming a flight attendant is pivotal to the acceptance and understanding of this. But it doesn’t have to be as scary as you think. If you aren’t awarded a base close to home, commuting is always an option, travel benefits will allow you to see your family and loved ones more often than you typically could. And remember, once all the craziness of this irregular lifestyle slows down, you can put that transfer in that makes it most convenient for you to be able to be back with your loved ones, or at least closer to them. You just have to remain patient. The pro I find in this- you will learn independence.
Social Interactions with Passengers:
Everything in life is situational. And nothing should be taken personally, especially in this job. That is so much easier said than done, but if you want to spare yourself unwarranted anger and sadness. You MUST learn to embed this into your brain. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to apologize for things that were completely out of control, or been mistreated by passengers. But I stopped learning to play the victim in these situations a long time ago.
As a flight attendant, you must take into account that people coming on to your planes have their own issues, whether it be fear of flying that makes them act irrational, or something going on in their personal lives that they have decided to take out on you. You will be treated unfairly, but for every intolerable passenger, I do like to believe that there is another kind, compassionate passenger to meet that has an interesting story to share with you, or even just a small compliment to make your day. The biggest pro I’ve found in this, my mental health feels like it’s had every kind of crazy thrown at it, and is now therefore stronger than ever.
Social Interactions with Co-Workers:
Over the course of two years flying, I have been blindsided more than once with situations with fellow coworkers, even some I considered to be friends. When I say blindsided, I don’t mean in a good way. These situations taught me to listen when people tell you not everyone has the same heart as you. Bottom line-this job can be drama, and it can be a HUGE con, IF you let it effect you.
Once the grief of each situation blew over I decided to promise myself that although I want nothing to do with them, I will forgive them, and wish them peace. I am not the victim, and will never play it. The things people hate about you that cause them to do things that hurt you are the things they see that they lack in themselves. Pity them, and wish them well. Be grateful in knowing that you are happy enough not to even have thoughts like theirs cross your mind, and continue to shine no matter how many people try to dim your light.
This advice applies to many situations you may encounter while working as a flight attendant. You will be put with random crews, and sometimes there will be people who just don’t like you, for whatever reason, they’ve chosen not to, and you have to accept that. As long as you know you are doing your job correctly, even in a setting where everyone is self-managed, customers and other coworkers will be there to recognize and acknowledge your work.
This is a job where there are always eyes on you, and it’s something you have to accept and own. But for every bad coworker, just like I said about passengers, you will find an amazing one. Many amazing ones that you will learn from, and get to explore on your layovers with, and sometimes create everlasting friendships. This is both a pro and a con. Anything to do with social interactions always will be, even if they break your heart. They will bring you growth, strength, and wisdom. Always remember, every single person you meet knows something that you don’t, and every single person you interact with has something to teach you, whether it’s intentional or not.
Safety Professional First, Sky Waitress Second:
A common misconception about flight attendants is that we are literally just waitresses in the sky. For any flight attendant who has had to save someone from a heart attack, or administer them oxygen when they were losing consciousness in a decompression, or physically defend passengers on the plane from potential hijackers, you can imagine this “misconception” is far more than frustrating.
I personally didn’t realize the magnitude of responsibility flight attendants have before I got into training but it is VITAL that you do if you are considering this career path. Know that this job requires you to be vigilant, defend everyone on board if necessary, and risk your life in the event of an emergency evacuation for the lives of those on board.
You will have to understand and execute firefighting, CPR, and duress situations. And the downside to it all, you will rarely ever receive the respect you deserve for it. The Pro I see: a growing passion in knowing what I do every day has a real and important purpose, regardless of what others may believe.
General Health:
I wanted to expand on the pros and cons I see in this job when it comes to both mental and physical health. An obvious con is that our schedules are all over the place, leaving no room for a proper sleep schedule or circadian rhythm. I’m personally okay with it, I never had a great one to begin with, but many people may have a hard time adjusting.
Whether it be something that happened in your personal life or on the job, you may be tempted to to go get a drink as soon as you get to your layover hotel (whose cost is covered by the company, for those of you who have asked.) These are all just tests of your own strength to care for yourself and care for your body the way it deserves to be cared for. I know many flight attendants with pristine immune systems, mostly because were exposed to so much we gain immunity after our first year. But most hotels do have great gyms for at least a 30 minute workout, try to force yourself to resort to that before you pop open a wine bottle, or workout then reward yourself. The time is yours to do what you want with it. You will need to drink tons of water, as cabin air will leave you dehydrated.
I am always looking for new ways to keep myself hydrated, and I’ve just been sent some samples from a company called electroflytes that creates products that combat dehydration due to frequent travel that I’m ecstatic to try. Once I have, you can find the review in my Travel Essentials post, and I will let you know whether or not they are worth your money. It can be a con that the FA lifestyle requires extra attention to things like your hydration. But as a pro I can say from personal experience, I’ve met so many older FAs that look GREAT for their age, when I compliment them, their response is almost always that
“The excitement of this job keeps you young.”
I hope you all enjoyed MY personal take on this career and it’s lifestyle. Not all are meant for it. But if you believe that you are, the most important thing to do is keep yourself informed, and follow your heart down the straight and narrow to fulfill whatever dreams lie ahead.
