3 answers
Alyssa
Student
Newton Falls, Ohio
2
Questions
Updated
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What goals would I need to work towards in my last two years of high school, to become a flight attendant when I graduate ?
I am a junior in high school and will be 17 turning 18 when I graduate.
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3 answers
TRAVIS UPCHURCH
Federal Contract Admin
338
Answers
Austin, Texas
Updated
TRAVIS’s Answer
Great time to be asking these types of questions. Look at dual credit and any AP courses you can take now. That will save you time and money if you do consider a degree past high school. You can google the basic requirements for a flight attendant too. Also consider the specific airline you may want to work for. Any internship or career day options that come up you should attend so you can take to recruiters about the specifics of what will make you stand out as a candidate. You have picked an exciting career choice. Good luck you will do well.
Sijoy Sagar
Program Manager
142
Answers
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Updated
Sijoy’s Answer
Hi Alyssa,
It's fantastic that you are already thinking about a career as a flight attendant. Using your last two years of high school to prepare will give you a great start. Flight attendants need customer service skills, safety awareness, and professionalism, and you can start building these now.
Goals to Work Toward in High School:
1. Academics: Improve communication by taking English, speech, or foreign language classes. Airlines value clear communication and knowing multiple languages.
2. Customer Service Experience: Try part-time jobs or volunteer work in retail, hospitality, or community service. This helps you develop patience, problem-solving, and people skills.
3. Health & Fitness: Stay active and healthy to meet the physical demands of the job.
4. Professional Skills: Practice being on time, working well with others, and being adaptable. Airlines look for these qualities.
5. Travel Awareness: Learn about geography and cultures. Simple steps like reading about different countries or following travel blogs can be very helpful.
After Graduation:
Most airlines require you to be 18–21 years old, have a high school diploma, and pass background checks.
Experience in customer service or hospitality is often preferred.
Airlines provide training on safety procedures, first aid, and service standards once you're hired.
My Personal Advice: In your last two years of high school, focus on building communication skills, gaining customer service experience, and staying curious about the world. These steps will make you a stronger candidate when you apply after graduation.
You are on the right track with your questions, and this curiosity will help you prepare for an exciting, people-focused career with lots of travel opportunities.
Wishing you success as you work toward your goals.
It's fantastic that you are already thinking about a career as a flight attendant. Using your last two years of high school to prepare will give you a great start. Flight attendants need customer service skills, safety awareness, and professionalism, and you can start building these now.
Goals to Work Toward in High School:
1. Academics: Improve communication by taking English, speech, or foreign language classes. Airlines value clear communication and knowing multiple languages.
2. Customer Service Experience: Try part-time jobs or volunteer work in retail, hospitality, or community service. This helps you develop patience, problem-solving, and people skills.
3. Health & Fitness: Stay active and healthy to meet the physical demands of the job.
4. Professional Skills: Practice being on time, working well with others, and being adaptable. Airlines look for these qualities.
5. Travel Awareness: Learn about geography and cultures. Simple steps like reading about different countries or following travel blogs can be very helpful.
After Graduation:
Most airlines require you to be 18–21 years old, have a high school diploma, and pass background checks.
Experience in customer service or hospitality is often preferred.
Airlines provide training on safety procedures, first aid, and service standards once you're hired.
My Personal Advice: In your last two years of high school, focus on building communication skills, gaining customer service experience, and staying curious about the world. These steps will make you a stronger candidate when you apply after graduation.
You are on the right track with your questions, and this curiosity will help you prepare for an exciting, people-focused career with lots of travel opportunities.
Wishing you success as you work toward your goals.
Dr Fisch
Flight Attendant
88
Answers
Denver, Colorado
Updated
Dr’s Answer
The previous answers are WAY off. I am sure they had good intentions but I don't know why some people feel the need to respond to questions in which they have no prior or personal experience with. These people asking questions are not just looking for anyone to answer. This is a service for professionals who can offer advice in their own area of expertise. I suppose the only qualifications those others had was flying on a commercial airline someday and having free time to answer random questions. Again, their intentions are pure, I'm sure, but what they don't realize is that the real answers get diluted with all these generalized answers that any AI could have provided. Anyway...
I've been a flight attendant for over 22 years, so please let me address your question and with some actionable advice. Given your age, you have a few year before you can become a flight attendant. Did you know that in most countries, the legal age to buy & drink alcohol is 18? In Germany, 16-year-olds can legally buy and drink beer and wine! Crazy! But in the United States it's 21 years old, and airlines serve alcohol to passengers, and so you need to be at least 21 to be a flight attendant. Just because you're not drinking it, you still need to be 21 to be in charge of pouring and serving alcohol to customers.
So, that's not such a bad thing. You have about 4 years before you can secure a flight attendant position and you can actually do a lot in those four years to position you to becoming a flight attendant at 21. As a side note, being a flight attendant at 21 is awesome for two reasons: one is of course the travel and broadening your worldly experience at such an impressionable age and the other reasons is seniority. Seniority is everything in the airline business, at least for the flight crew. The most senior (meaning the ones who have been at the company the longest) get the best trips because we all need to bid each month for the trip line we want and there are definitely very sweet trip lines and terrible ones. So, if you start at a company at 21 years old and start building your seniority at that age, you'll be super senior and still young!
Ok, so what's the number one thing you can do right now? You can't get hired as a flight attendant but you can get hired at an airline for a different job. ANY airline experience (or even working at an airport) is a positive thing that airlines like. You're an industry partner. You're comfortable with the scenery. So, if you can get a job for an airline as a ticket counter person or customer service assistant or any other opening an airline might be offering, that's ideal for now. Airlines often offer the coveted flight attendant position to "internal" employees first, those who already work for the airline doing something else, before offering it to the general public. Or at least you'll be made aware first that the job is about to open. Flight attendant jobs don't stay open for very long. When they do, for a good airline, the job opening may be available via their website for about an hour and within that hour they'll get over 10,000 applicants, maybe even 50k, before the job opening posting closes or the website crashes. It's crazy-competitive to apply for the job. Even if you work for an airport, that's a decent starting point, but getting a job for an airline positions you way better.
So, your goal for the next 2 years is to get employed at an airline. Maybe any little airline at first but then move to one of the big ones: Delta, Southwest, American or United, or even a big foreign airline like Air Canada or Aer Lingus if we're talking about CLE airport in Cleveland.
All this nonsense advice about getting a job in hospitality, like being a server in a restaurant is total bull. Flight attendants are there to serve passengers and to be friendly, sure, but that's not our top jobs according to the airlines or the FAA. The top jobs for a flight attendant is the security and safety of the passengers and aircraft. Therefore, if you do anything in the area of healthcare or security, that could also be beneficial. But I'm sure getting into the medical industry takes a lot of training and I'm not condoning that you become a security guard either. However, taking a class in CPR and getting certified would be smart. It's a good skill to learn anyway. Same with the First Aid class and a self-defense class.
Once an airline hires you to become a flight attendant, they give you all the mandatory training you need. So don't believe it or throw away any money to some place to offer to train you to become a flight attendant. Airlines don't recognize these side-hustles as legitimate.
So, there you go. That's enough to get you moving in the right direction. Excellent career choice! Cya in the skies!
I've been a flight attendant for over 22 years, so please let me address your question and with some actionable advice. Given your age, you have a few year before you can become a flight attendant. Did you know that in most countries, the legal age to buy & drink alcohol is 18? In Germany, 16-year-olds can legally buy and drink beer and wine! Crazy! But in the United States it's 21 years old, and airlines serve alcohol to passengers, and so you need to be at least 21 to be a flight attendant. Just because you're not drinking it, you still need to be 21 to be in charge of pouring and serving alcohol to customers.
So, that's not such a bad thing. You have about 4 years before you can secure a flight attendant position and you can actually do a lot in those four years to position you to becoming a flight attendant at 21. As a side note, being a flight attendant at 21 is awesome for two reasons: one is of course the travel and broadening your worldly experience at such an impressionable age and the other reasons is seniority. Seniority is everything in the airline business, at least for the flight crew. The most senior (meaning the ones who have been at the company the longest) get the best trips because we all need to bid each month for the trip line we want and there are definitely very sweet trip lines and terrible ones. So, if you start at a company at 21 years old and start building your seniority at that age, you'll be super senior and still young!
Ok, so what's the number one thing you can do right now? You can't get hired as a flight attendant but you can get hired at an airline for a different job. ANY airline experience (or even working at an airport) is a positive thing that airlines like. You're an industry partner. You're comfortable with the scenery. So, if you can get a job for an airline as a ticket counter person or customer service assistant or any other opening an airline might be offering, that's ideal for now. Airlines often offer the coveted flight attendant position to "internal" employees first, those who already work for the airline doing something else, before offering it to the general public. Or at least you'll be made aware first that the job is about to open. Flight attendant jobs don't stay open for very long. When they do, for a good airline, the job opening may be available via their website for about an hour and within that hour they'll get over 10,000 applicants, maybe even 50k, before the job opening posting closes or the website crashes. It's crazy-competitive to apply for the job. Even if you work for an airport, that's a decent starting point, but getting a job for an airline positions you way better.
So, your goal for the next 2 years is to get employed at an airline. Maybe any little airline at first but then move to one of the big ones: Delta, Southwest, American or United, or even a big foreign airline like Air Canada or Aer Lingus if we're talking about CLE airport in Cleveland.
All this nonsense advice about getting a job in hospitality, like being a server in a restaurant is total bull. Flight attendants are there to serve passengers and to be friendly, sure, but that's not our top jobs according to the airlines or the FAA. The top jobs for a flight attendant is the security and safety of the passengers and aircraft. Therefore, if you do anything in the area of healthcare or security, that could also be beneficial. But I'm sure getting into the medical industry takes a lot of training and I'm not condoning that you become a security guard either. However, taking a class in CPR and getting certified would be smart. It's a good skill to learn anyway. Same with the First Aid class and a self-defense class.
Once an airline hires you to become a flight attendant, they give you all the mandatory training you need. So don't believe it or throw away any money to some place to offer to train you to become a flight attendant. Airlines don't recognize these side-hustles as legitimate.
So, there you go. That's enough to get you moving in the right direction. Excellent career choice! Cya in the skies!