2 answers
Heidy
Student
Gainesville, Florida
6
Questions
Asked
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How's flight attendant training?
How's training for flight attendants? What tests do you take during training? How hard/difficult/demanding is training?
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2 answers
Wayne Johnson
Maintenance Programs, FAA Part 121
102
Answers
Auburn, Washington
Updated
Wayne’s Answer
Heidy - Your training will last about 6-8 weeks (depending on the airline). They will put you up in a hotel with 2 to a room. You will receive a food allowance. Most evenings you will be studying the information you learned that day. Your training will include: Training is pretty demanding, but they will teach you everything you need to know to succeed.
You will be in class for 8 hours each day.
Your training will include
1. Customer Service.
2. First Aid.
3. Aircraft Familiarity: Location of and use of all emergency equipment of each model of aircraft the airline flies.
4. Aircraft Firefighting, the use of fire extinguishers, crash axe, etc.
5. Water survival.
6. Grooming Standards.
There are written test that you will take each day. Some airlines if you fail a written test then you are removed from the class.
Best regards on your journey
You will be in class for 8 hours each day.
Your training will include
1. Customer Service.
2. First Aid.
3. Aircraft Familiarity: Location of and use of all emergency equipment of each model of aircraft the airline flies.
4. Aircraft Firefighting, the use of fire extinguishers, crash axe, etc.
5. Water survival.
6. Grooming Standards.
There are written test that you will take each day. Some airlines if you fail a written test then you are removed from the class.
Best regards on your journey
Dr Fisch
Flight Attendant
76
Answers
Denver, Colorado
Updated
Dr’s Answer
Heidy, let me expand on what Wayne said. He is not a flight attendant. I am. However, he was fairly accurate on many points. I'll make the corrections and fill in the blanks.
He said your training will last about 6-8 weeks (depending on the airline). Training can be as short as 3 weeks. Mine was 4 weeks.
He said they will put you up in a hotel with 2 to a room and that you will receive a food allowance. It is true, you will likely have a roomie of the same gender. Of course, all the hotel rooms have two beds. Some training facilities offer a food allowance for nearby restaurants, some offer a food allowance for their cafe inside the training facility, and some just offer free food (no payment to be mindful of) in their own cafe. In any case, yeah, food will be mostly taken care of.
Wayne said most evenings you will be studying the information you learned that day. Well, this is also true, for the most part. They'll teach you something. Then when the topic is fully covered, which might take a few days, then a test will follow. For the test, and for studying purposes, sure you can pay close attention to the instruction because this should be on point, but the best advice here is to know your manual! Every flight attendant gets a manual that tells them how to do every aspect of their job, as least for testing purposes. So, study that manual because that is where the test questions will come from.
He also said that you will be in class for 8 hours each day. That is probably the minimum. When you go to training, you're pretty much going to be living and breathing the flight attendant material. It will take your whole day so don' t expect to be free in the evenings much. Your classmates will want to study and you'll want to bond with them to make long lasting relationships. You can't really clock-in and then 8 hours later clock-out. You're basically living with a bunch of flight attendant trainees for a month or so. There's no getting away from it.
Wayne also said your training will include
1. Customer Service.
2. First Aid.
3. Aircraft Familiarity: Location of and use of all emergency equipment of each model of aircraft the airline flies.
4. Aircraft Firefighting, the use of fire extinguishers, crash axe, etc.
5. Water survival.
6. Grooming Standards.
I'm not sure how he knows about those topics, but yes, those are a few of the things you'd learn about. There are also many more topics, like how to command an evacuation, security issues, self-defense, interacting with the pilots and other airline positions, how to manage your schedule, medical situation that go beyond just first aid, turbulence, and many other topics.
Lastly, he said that there are written test that you will take each day and that at some airlines if you fail a written test then you are removed from the class. Well, this is not really accurate. Although there are indeed many tests, there is not a test every day. There are basically two types of tests, as well. First are the written tests, as mentioned. Then, perhaps even more important, are what is referred to as "proficiency" tests. These proficiency tests will assess how well you can perform a task. It's not just about knowledge, but also about performance. For example, you'll have to show (on a dummy) that you can perform CPR properly. You will likely have to recite the Public Announcements that flight attendants give during boarding, onboard and deplaning. There are many other proficiencies, like operating regular use as well as emergency equipment.
The other thing is, you'll need to score a 90% at a minimum on all the written tests. And for the proficiencies, it's simply a pass or fail. If you fail, you may get a second chance, maybe not. So, strive to achieve 100% correct every time. That's probably the most stressful part but it's totally doable. Most people get through it. The people that get kicked out of training is actually not because of their grades or performance. It's more likely you'll get kicked out if you show up late somewhere because in the airline industry, timing is essential. If you're late to a flight, that may delay the aircraft from pushing away from the gate, which means the pilots might miss their approval time slot for takeoff, which means it may arrive somewhere else let, which means people might miss their connections, etc. So, if you're given a 5 minutes break to hit the rest room during class time, you better be back in 4 minutes or else the classroom door may be locked. The take being on-time very seriously. Also, altitude is a big deal. If you're being anything but pleasant & sociable, you might be asked (i.e., told) to leave.
It's a lot! Just immerse yourself in the experience. You will have fun! Your instructions and the company want you to do well, or else they would not have invested in you and invited you. Your classmates are a huge resource for support as they are all going through the same experience. It's an experience you'll never forget. I've been a flight attendant for over 20 years now and sometimes I run into an old classmate from training, and we're all grins and smiley because training is a huge bonding experience and it's a real feeling of accomplishment and pride when you graduate.
Oh, one last thing. Although training is like a month or so long, that's just the initial training. Every year, to stay approve to fly, every flight attendant needs to do a one-day refresher class. Some airlines call it recurrent training; some call it "annuals". You'll get a chance to practice all the things you've learned before, like how to help someone having a heart attack, what to do if there's a unauthorized attempt at the flight deck, what to do if someone's phone explodes, etc.... all the stuff you've learned in initial training but hopefully haven't had to use it. Also, new things and technology integration is being added every year. So you need to know the new stuff, and you need to keep the old stuff fresh, so every year you will be obligated have a one-day training, and again there are both written and proficiency tests at the end of those too.
Hey, if you're thinking about doing it, don't hesitate. It's totally worth it! The job is amazing! Some airlines have tens of thousands of flight attendants, and they all get through it just fine. Just take the personal responsibility to know your stuff, have the proper attitude of being pleasant and sociable, and you're set.
See you in the skies!
He said your training will last about 6-8 weeks (depending on the airline). Training can be as short as 3 weeks. Mine was 4 weeks.
He said they will put you up in a hotel with 2 to a room and that you will receive a food allowance. It is true, you will likely have a roomie of the same gender. Of course, all the hotel rooms have two beds. Some training facilities offer a food allowance for nearby restaurants, some offer a food allowance for their cafe inside the training facility, and some just offer free food (no payment to be mindful of) in their own cafe. In any case, yeah, food will be mostly taken care of.
Wayne said most evenings you will be studying the information you learned that day. Well, this is also true, for the most part. They'll teach you something. Then when the topic is fully covered, which might take a few days, then a test will follow. For the test, and for studying purposes, sure you can pay close attention to the instruction because this should be on point, but the best advice here is to know your manual! Every flight attendant gets a manual that tells them how to do every aspect of their job, as least for testing purposes. So, study that manual because that is where the test questions will come from.
He also said that you will be in class for 8 hours each day. That is probably the minimum. When you go to training, you're pretty much going to be living and breathing the flight attendant material. It will take your whole day so don' t expect to be free in the evenings much. Your classmates will want to study and you'll want to bond with them to make long lasting relationships. You can't really clock-in and then 8 hours later clock-out. You're basically living with a bunch of flight attendant trainees for a month or so. There's no getting away from it.
Wayne also said your training will include
1. Customer Service.
2. First Aid.
3. Aircraft Familiarity: Location of and use of all emergency equipment of each model of aircraft the airline flies.
4. Aircraft Firefighting, the use of fire extinguishers, crash axe, etc.
5. Water survival.
6. Grooming Standards.
I'm not sure how he knows about those topics, but yes, those are a few of the things you'd learn about. There are also many more topics, like how to command an evacuation, security issues, self-defense, interacting with the pilots and other airline positions, how to manage your schedule, medical situation that go beyond just first aid, turbulence, and many other topics.
Lastly, he said that there are written test that you will take each day and that at some airlines if you fail a written test then you are removed from the class. Well, this is not really accurate. Although there are indeed many tests, there is not a test every day. There are basically two types of tests, as well. First are the written tests, as mentioned. Then, perhaps even more important, are what is referred to as "proficiency" tests. These proficiency tests will assess how well you can perform a task. It's not just about knowledge, but also about performance. For example, you'll have to show (on a dummy) that you can perform CPR properly. You will likely have to recite the Public Announcements that flight attendants give during boarding, onboard and deplaning. There are many other proficiencies, like operating regular use as well as emergency equipment.
The other thing is, you'll need to score a 90% at a minimum on all the written tests. And for the proficiencies, it's simply a pass or fail. If you fail, you may get a second chance, maybe not. So, strive to achieve 100% correct every time. That's probably the most stressful part but it's totally doable. Most people get through it. The people that get kicked out of training is actually not because of their grades or performance. It's more likely you'll get kicked out if you show up late somewhere because in the airline industry, timing is essential. If you're late to a flight, that may delay the aircraft from pushing away from the gate, which means the pilots might miss their approval time slot for takeoff, which means it may arrive somewhere else let, which means people might miss their connections, etc. So, if you're given a 5 minutes break to hit the rest room during class time, you better be back in 4 minutes or else the classroom door may be locked. The take being on-time very seriously. Also, altitude is a big deal. If you're being anything but pleasant & sociable, you might be asked (i.e., told) to leave.
It's a lot! Just immerse yourself in the experience. You will have fun! Your instructions and the company want you to do well, or else they would not have invested in you and invited you. Your classmates are a huge resource for support as they are all going through the same experience. It's an experience you'll never forget. I've been a flight attendant for over 20 years now and sometimes I run into an old classmate from training, and we're all grins and smiley because training is a huge bonding experience and it's a real feeling of accomplishment and pride when you graduate.
Oh, one last thing. Although training is like a month or so long, that's just the initial training. Every year, to stay approve to fly, every flight attendant needs to do a one-day refresher class. Some airlines call it recurrent training; some call it "annuals". You'll get a chance to practice all the things you've learned before, like how to help someone having a heart attack, what to do if there's a unauthorized attempt at the flight deck, what to do if someone's phone explodes, etc.... all the stuff you've learned in initial training but hopefully haven't had to use it. Also, new things and technology integration is being added every year. So you need to know the new stuff, and you need to keep the old stuff fresh, so every year you will be obligated have a one-day training, and again there are both written and proficiency tests at the end of those too.
Hey, if you're thinking about doing it, don't hesitate. It's totally worth it! The job is amazing! Some airlines have tens of thousands of flight attendants, and they all get through it just fine. Just take the personal responsibility to know your stuff, have the proper attitude of being pleasant and sociable, and you're set.
See you in the skies!