My name is Nicole Janowski and I work for a major US airline.

As a reserve flight attendant, I get 3 hours’ notice when assigned to work on a flight. When I’m on call, crew scheduling can call at any time day or night. I’ll answer their call, confirm my trip details, and start to pack my suitcase. About an hour before my check-in time, I’ll drive to the airport, park in the crew parking lot, and go through our designated crew security line. The whole crew meets at our gate at check-in time.

Once the gate agent scans our IDs and lets us onto the airplane, we start our preflight safety checks. These checks make sure that all of our safety and emergency equipment is there and working properly before passengers board. Some examples of things I check include first aid kits, AEDs, oxygen bottles, infant life vests, and the air pressure of the slides in the doors. I also make sure that all phones and PA systems are working.

After my safety checks, I’ll start preparing some of the service-related tasks on my to-do list. These tasks change based on what position I’m assigned to work and whether the flight is domestic or international. For example, if I’m in the first class galley position on an international flight, I’ll count the passenger and crew meals, load meals into the ovens, coordinate which meal options are going to which passengers based on their status/meal availability, set up the bar carts and prepare pre-departure drinks. An aisle flight attendant would assist passengers in finding their seats, make boarding announcements, stow bags, hand out headphones and pre-departure beverages, hang jackets and take meal orders. Boarding is our busiest time and there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make a flight go smoothly.

If you are a purser on a flight, you have even more responsibilities. A purser is basically the person in charge of the flight crew. They’ll oversee all of the other flight attendants, coordinate with the pilots about crew breaks/meals/flight plans, and be the point of contact for any unsatisfied passengers.

Once boarding is complete, I do the safety demonstration. Then I’ll walk through the cabin to make sure that everyone is complying with stowing their bags, keeping their tray tables up, and having their seatbelts on. Once safety checks are complete, I’ll stow all of the food, drinks, and carts that usually are out in the galleys. I make sure all the cart brakes are on, latches are closed, and that everything is secure before taking my jumpseat.

After the plane takes off, we start the service portion of our responsibilities. I cook the meals, set up the beverage and meal carts, and go through the cabin for service. If an international flight is full, I can serve over 300 at once during service. Depending on the length of the flight, we can go through a few times for dinner, mid-flight snacks, and breakfast.

Between meal and beverage services, I walk through the cabin every 15 minutes to make sure everyone is doing well. I’ll help people with their wifi problems, bring people snacks, drinks, and blankets, and hold babies while their mothers use the lavatory. Every flight is different and comes with different challenges!

Before landing, we do the same safety checks we did before takeoff. Once we land, I say goodbye to all the passengers and do a final sweep of the cabin before stepping off the plane. Then, it’s either through customs, to the next gate for my next flight, or on to the hotel shuttle for my layover. Domestically, I can work up to 5 flights in one day!

Off of the plane, flight attendants have other responsibilities as well. Once a year, we go through in-person training to maintain all of our safety and airplane-specific qualifications. This training is about 8 hours long and we get tested on our emergency evacuation commands, fire fighting, CPR, and door opening drills. We also need to complete about 8-10 hours’ worth of online training before our in-person training.

Pros

• Free travel: I get full flying benefits on my airline and heavily discounted flights on other airlines as well. Flights are free except for international departure taxes. I get these benefits for myself, my partner, and my parents. I also receive a set number of “buddy passes,” which are basically discounted tickets. All of these benefits are for standby flights, meaning I only get on if there is an empty seat on the plane.
• Flexibility: I get between 12 and 20 days off a month. I can move my days off around very easily and at the last minute. Depending on your seniority, it’s possible to choose exactly what kinds of flights (time, layover location, working position) you want to work.
• I always get to fly with new and interesting people. I work with a different crew every time, so it is never boring.
• Pay: I get a scheduled raise every year until I reach 13 years seniority.
• Freedom: I don’t have a boss breathing down my neck every day. On the plane, there is no one watching or evaluating me.
• Not having to sit at a desk all day! I love having an active job and getting to walk around the airport/airplane instead of sitting down.
• Having a union is wonderful to keep our work rules intact. The company has to follow our contract.

Cons

• Low pay: Pay is pretty low when you first start. We don’t get paid for boarding or deplaning (only time spent actually in flight).
• Unpredictable schedule: As a reserve, I can be called at any hour of the day including holidays and special occasions. It’s hard to make plans when my schedule is so up-in-the-air (pun intended!)
• The job in general is pretty unstable. Furloughs (layoffs) are common.

Nicole Janowski
Nicole works for a major US airline. She also runs her own travel blog Niki in New Zealand.

I worked as a flight attendant in commercial companies for four years and then another two as a corporate flight attendant. The life of FA depends on the company she is working for.

For three years I worked for a commercial company based in Dubai. This company provides you with accommodation. In the beginning, you have to share your apartment with one or two people but you have your own bedroom and bathroom, you just share the living room and kitchen. All buildings are equipped with a gym and swimming pool and some with a sauna or Turkish bath too. My building had a gym on the 53rd floor with a sea view and a swimming pool on the top of the building. For a girl coming from a middle-class Croatian family, it was a very different lifestyle I was used to.

You have free transportation to and from work. You have free dry cleaning of your uniform. But when it comes to flights you have to prepare for very demanding passengers. Mideast commercial companies are very much service-oriented and you have to provide everything for the passenger as he is the king even in economy class. I think only in middle eastern companies you can see passengers coming on board with bags that are obviously cargo size, but they expect skinny FA to lift it in the overhead compartment for them.

You get your flying roster on a monthly basis so you can plan your life. Flying can be exhausting sometimes as you are changing time zones but you still have much more spare time for yourself than with the regular job. And on every flight, you are working with different people, a different set of crew. Before every flight, you have a short briefing where you get to know your crew faces and hopefully names as well. During the briefing, you revise safety and security procedures as well, and you get familiar with some service specials if any. For this job you really have to be teamwork-oriented as you have limited time to finish the service on board which can be challenging sometimes (if flying time is 45 minutes and you have to serve 450 passengers).

One advice if you are a passenger, if you want your FA to like you, please do not play an architect when handling back a food tray, do not build an Eiffel tower on top of it as this tray has to fit back in the cart and items on top cannot exceed a certain height.

In all destinations, you stay in five-star hotels. Once you are promoted to a Supervisor you get a chance to move into single accommodation. You can also get a living allowance, which is also very good if you don’t want to live in the company accommodation surrounded by people from the industry all the time.

But once you move to a corporate position – I see it as a dream job for a single woman. Most of the companies are operating on rotation meaning you are on duty for a month or so and then off for the same amount of time. The month you are “on” duty, you are on standby 24/7 meaning they can call you for the flight whenever. But you also never know in advance where you will fly and this is where it gets exciting. And your passengers are mostly owners of the aircraft unless the aircraft is being chartered when not in use by the owner. I worked for a nice mannered royal family and flew to some amazing destinations with them. The best thing was, as long as they stayed there, we had to be there as well, staying in some top world destinations in five-star hotels. For me, it was an amazing experience that I am so grateful for. Sometimes it felt like I was in a movie. As someone coming from a country without such high standards, where education doesn’t mean you will be able to afford yourself traveling, this was really a life-changing experience.

I would recommend to any young single to try working as FA for a couple of years just for the experience and free traveling.

To the amusement of most of my friends, I like to tell them how I get to do mini-vacations every month paid for by my company. And if you look closely, I never work more than 20 days in a month (including all of my standby/reserve days not being called up, that is as good as being on off-day).

Since this is a high-risk industry govern by a set of laws, my hours are regulated. No such thing as unpaid OT demanded by your dickhead boss.

I would love to say interacting with all walks of life too, but not necessarily with passengers. After all, it is a day in, day out thing for me. Passengers become faceless to me and I rarely remember any of you as soon as you disembark from the aircraft. I am keener to know who is the next crew I will be flying with. Flight Attendants are some of the most colorful people you will meet. I love the fact that it is not Ms. Penny the Admin Lady and Mr. Bobby the HR boss everyday kind of situation. It makes you sit at the edge every time but this surprise can be a good one.

This is also an industry that makes you feel young always without the trapping of the glamour and glitz like show business is. At least for Asian carriers, you are expected to look pretty and attractive all the time, so call me shallow if you want but I won’t complain when some of my friends compliment me on taking the time to look after myself. My job requires me to do so. I am hitting 30 soon but I could pass for a mid-20s easily.

If I am not a FA, I don’t think I would put this much effort in myself. I have always been the aggressive boyish type of girl. Blessing in disguise?

I have double personalities working as Flight Attendant: Alia the FA (with full-on makeup face, nicely blown-out hair, in my uniform and the label of “pretty girl” that comes with it) and Alia, not the FA (off duty, you would probably never guess I am a Flight Attendant. I love the jaw-drop reaction of most people when they found out what I work as. It is my favorite thing). I feel like a 007 agent, except all I do is fly and shake your martinis aboard at times.

There are plenty more, but I guess that is enough for now.

Yep, I definitely love my job even after 5 years of doing it. I don’t plan to quit flying the sky anytime soon.

A family of 5 (wife, 2 high school children, my mom, 2 dogs, 3 cats, and 2 birds, a typical arrangement, but I started this career late (52) in my life.

The first few years salary wasn’t enough to support my family and struggled, especially living in Hawaii, but started to pay off after 5 years, making $10,000+ a month with an average of 160 flight hours a month which seems a lot when 45 hours a month qualify for the full fringe benefits. Basically, I get 70-80 hours a month with regular schedules and I pick up another 70–80 hours after the schedule is published. Mostly international trips ranging 3 days to 6 days with 24–48 hour layovers and it is a nice break from the routine house duties. The travel benefits include unlimited free (except airport tax when applicable) for all family members (parents, children under 26 with student status) flights anywhere in the world (when you use other airlines, there’s a small fee) as long as the seats are available, and yes you can occupy the first-class seat if available. If you have a tight family relationship, be aware that they will not leave you alone while you are at home, because they miss you so much. I fly high hours, so the typical schedule looks insane to most of my coworkers, but in reality, I have about 7–9 days off during the layover (a mini-vacation) a month. There is a regulation 24/7 (must take at least 24 hours rest at your base/home every 7 days) so you are home 24+ hours at least once a week. When my children were small, I used to take my whole family on my trip at least once a month (we didn’t need an extra hotel room and my employer let my family stay in my hotel room), but now they are in high school, so I take one family member at a time.

Overall, I love my job/ lifestyle, because I’m like a gypsy, love to move around all the time, and fortunately the jet rag doesn’t interfere with my biological clock. If you are not affected by the time zone shift and able to rest on a different bed every night, it’s a perfect relatively high paying job (similar to the RN) considering what we do on a day to day basis.