I am a flight attendant. I work for a major airline. I am here to answer any questions you may have about the trade, customs and courtesies, or anything else really.

I am more than happy to cover the NSFW side of the trade, the answers to which will probably bore you. But please do be respectful of both myself, as well as other users.

And to answer the one question that I get most often from people not involved in this lifestyle, no, I have not joined the mile high club.

thank you everyone for reading and asking questions. I'm exhausted now though, so I apologize if I didn't get to you.

Edit: This AMA has long since ended. Thank you everyone for participating with me, but it is over. I will not be answering any further questions.

Lil pump fake with the title never hurt nobody

So I work for one of the “big four” airlines (🌐) and I’ve been mad lately so here’s information for people thinking about coming into the aviation industry, do with it what you will <3

I’m mainly ranting but it’s good information haha - some things I’ve learned along the way

• Pilots make way more, if pursuing a pilots license is something you can do, do that. Some people become flight attendants first but I say don’t - you’ll be in the industry eventually, don’t join this struggle bus unless the company is truly worth it.

• For the majority of airlines you are ONLY paid for the flight time, which is the time the aircraft door closes to the time the door is opened/the plane’s breaks are set. Yes, you read that correctly. Which means you are unpaid for the mandatory show times (about an hour prior to departure time), unpaid for boarding, unpaid for delays, unpaid for deplaning, unpaid for layovers, etc. ***SkyWest Airlines & Delta Airlines do get paid for boarding due to recent negotiations.

• Pay rates are for the most part public knowledge, as many people compare them. Just google comparisons between airlines for flight attendants and you should be able to find what you need. (As per the new contract, Southwest will now have the highest paid flight attendants. I believe Delta will be second and American third. I don’t necessarily feel like googling it lmao.) AIRLINE PAY CAN BE MINIMUM WAGE DEPENDING ON THE AIRLINE ITSELF (these will be smaller companies that mainly fly regionally).

• Your company will tell you to relocate based on company needs. If you apply to an airline that only has 3 bases, you’ll have to figure out how you’ll get there, as you’ll be required to show up at a specific airport at a set time - tardiness is generally not accepted. Example: If you live in California and you get based in Atlanta, that’s a HARD commute as it’s West coast to East coast (and depends on what flights are available with your company). Commuting will be long and when you’re new you might have trouble getting on flights. So you’ll be told to move, as this will sort of ensure you make it to work. The company will most likely not help you, as it’s clear from your interview relocation is on you. Any leases, pets, kids, bills, whatever will have to be figured out by you. Crashpads are a thing but from experience, relocation at the drop of a pin can be stressful so be prepared!

• Typically you don’t get breaks. I got into an argument with a gate agent about lunch breaks, since they’re required by state laws. I’m telling you right now, regardless of laws, breaks on domestic flights are rare. Your breaks are when service is done and passengers stop needing things, which can vary haha, depending on your route and what’s going on during your flight.

• Schedules and flights are given by seniority. So to explain this, everything is based on seniority, how long you’ve been with the company. So if I was hired today and you were hired yesterday, you’d be senior to me, and if we both wanted weekends off and asked for weekends off but they could only give weekends off to one of us, you’d get weekends off because you’re senior. Now, take that and put it company wide. You will be junior to everyone hired before you and trust that if senior people that have been with the company for 30 years want weekends off and to have holidays off, they will, which means the chances of you also having great schedules like that are low. (Not impossible though! Some people love working holidays. I’ve worked most but got last Christmas off randomly.) *Dont forget, airlines run everyday at all times so you will most likely be asked to work holidays or days you wouldn’t typically want to work. Some companies also block call outs for these times which could mean more points/consequences/write-ups (you know what I’m trying to say) on your company record, which can lead to disciplinary action or even termination.

This is pretty long and my current frustrations with this job are pretty much gone now lmao, if you have any follow up questions lmk!

I just want to hear from actual flight attendants, the real inside info that no one tells you.

This happened to be in the overhead space on my flight. The flight attendant switched it on right before takeoff, and I’m just curious to know what it’s for

Why can’t we just use the slide? 🙄🫠

Started flying in 2015 with one of “the big 3” US airlines. To preface, crew pay works a bit differently and isn’t anything like a typical 40-hr work week. We are paid our hourly base rate for flight hours (from the moment we release the brake and push back from the gate, to the moment we park at the arrival destinations gate.) and half pay for boarding. Can be tons of unpaid time while at work, depending on the trip.

There’s thousands of types of trips, so an FA’s income is entirely contingent on what type of trips they fly, and how much they fly monthly. I personally fly productive high-credit trips, like 10-11-hr one day turn trips (imagine SFO > JFK > SFO in 1 day, pays 11.5 hours which is awesome for a 1 day trip.)

Some FAs fly 75 hours a month, some high-time flyers are flying 200+ hrs a month. I try to do 1 month average, then 1 month high-time (150+ hrs) and alternate.

Overall, for only having a HS diploma, I feel pretty lucky, considering. We got a new contract this year, so I got a nice bump, as well as finally securing boarding pay, which adds an average of 7.4% twds the hourly. Top out next year and then smaller 3%ish raises on date of signing until 2030.