the summarize this blog effectively, i will use my first thoughts...red-eye flights, the world through hotel rooms, crying babies, whining grandmas, emergencies, no sleep, back pains, turbulence...what more could a gal ask for? but seriously...don't say i'm not going into this oblivious. or with a set-in-stone idea of what it'll be like, but as long as i'm not expecting a "View From the Top" kind of lifestyle...in my opinion, what a great transition job from college to a real, working 8-5 life. stewardess, sky girl, air hostess, flight attendant, take your pick. i'm your girl with the barf bag.

What does a typical day look like for a flight attendant?

• get briefed by the captain on emergency evacuation procedures, coordination of the crew, the length of the flight, expected weather conditions, and special issues having to do with passengers;
• make sure that first-aid kits and other emergency equipment are aboard and in working order;
• assess the passenger cabin to make sure there are adequate supplies of food, beverages, and blankets;
• greet passengers as they enter the plane, check their tickets, and tell them where to store their coats and carry-on bags ;
• instruct passengers in the use of emergency equipment;
• check to see that passengers' seat belts are fastened, seats are in the upright position, and bags are properly stowed prior to takeoff;
• help passengers in the event of an emergency;
• reassure passengers in the event of turbulence;
• direct passengers if they must evacuate the plane if there is an emergency landing;
• answer questions about the flight;
• distribute blankets, pillows, and reading material;
• distribute beverages, snacks, and sometimes heat and serve meals;
• help those needing assistance, e.g. small children, or elderly or disabled passengers;
• administer first aid to ill patients;
• take inventory of headsets, alcoholic beverages, and money collected prior to landing;
• report passengers' medical problems, lost and found articles, and condition of cabin equipment;
• sometimes, if in a supervisory position, oversee the work of the other attendants aboard the aircraft

Don't I wish it were still the 1970's so this could be our uniform? :)

What is the job outlook for flight attendants? According to http://careerplanning.about.com/od/occupations/p/flight_attend.htm, Employment of flight attendants is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through the year 2014. There is a lot of competition for jobs as there are more job candidates than there are positions available.

Delta Airlines
According to delta.com,

• Competitive pay
• Worldwide travel privileges
• Medical/dental coverage
• A 401(k) plan with a fixed 2% company contribution and a match up to 5%
• Life insurance coverage.
• Disability coverage
• Vacation/holidays
• Educational assistance reimbursement
• Flexible spending accounts - dependent day care and health care
• Adoption reimbursement
• Full-service credit union

are just a few of the perks of being a full-time employee of Delta...this sounds intense...If accepted into the academy, you’ll begin an intense 6 week program. While not a “boot camp,” the program involves 6 days per week of classroom and hands-on-training (aboard practice flights). Successful completion of the program requires a 90% grade average. yikes! another great option to consider...

Northwest Airlines
According to nwa.com, Northwest has been flying the skies for 80 years, and today Northwest is the world's fifth largest airline. Northwest and its travel partners serve more than 900 cities in over 160 countries on six continents. So if I want to see the world through the eyes of hotels and airplane windows (which is actually appealing to me despite my sarcasm), NWA may be just the place for me! Unfortunately, this is all the information I could obtain from the website about being a flight attendant without actually applying for the job (not yet, thank you!)

Northwest Airlines
According to nwa.com, Northwest has been flying the skies for 80 years, and today Northwest is the world's fifth largest airline. Northwest and its travel partners serve more than 900 cities in over 160 countries on six continents. So if I want to see the world through the eyes of hotels and airplane windows (which is actually appealing to me despite my sarcasm), NWA may be just the place for me! Unfortunately, this is all the information I could obtain from the website about being a flight attendant without actually applying for the job (not yet, thank you!)

United Airlines
What's appealing about United is this: (taken from the airline's website) As one of the largest international carriers based in the United States, United Airlines operates more than 3,400 flights a day on United, United Express and Ted to more than 200 U.S. domestic and international destinations. How exciting! Each day will bring new experiences, and because no two days are exactly the same, we are looking for individuals who are highly flexible and easily adaptable to change. Base cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

In order to to be Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant, some of the basic qualifications include: I must have at least my high school diploma (check!), must be at least 18 years of age, and must have authorization to work in the United States (check, check!) . Some other qualifications include: the ability to work well with others as part of a team, excellent verbal communications and interpersonal skills, able to attend four weeks of unpaid training, work under tight time constraints, college course or degree would be an asset, well-groomed appearance, foreign language skills preferred, but not required, and union dues required.

How much moola, you may be wondering...
~1st 6 months-- $20.06/Trip*
~2nd 6 months-- $20.31/Trip*
~2nd Year-- $22.26/Trip*
*one trip=243 miles

Perks...
FREE FLYING! For me and my family!
Great Medical, Dental, and Vision Plan!
Casual uniform, which means I can wear tennis shoes! (even though I was looking forward to heels)
Employee PARTIES!

AIRLINES

These next series of posts will be on different airlines and what they have to offer a prospective employee. The first one will be Southwest Airlines, the airline I have been considering more than the rest of them.

Reality...?

Are You Ready To...?

• Wait on passengers
• Learn about safety and teach it to others
• Stay calm under pressure
• Work with a team
• Travel the world
• Work long hours

It Helps to Be...

Confident, strong, and open to change. It’s also good to enjoy helping people and be able to stay calm under pressure.

Outlook

Government economists expect jobs for flight attendants to grow as fast as the average for all careers between 2004 and 2014. In the long run, a growing population and improving economy will likely increase the number of airline passengers. As airlines increase the number of planes in their fleet, they’ll need more flight attendants.

In the short term, however, the events of September 11, 2001 have caused problems for the travel industry. It’s also important to keep in mind that travel is very sensitive to the ups and downs of the economy.

Compensation

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average yearly earnings of flight attendants in 2006 were $56,150.

Although flight attendants are guaranteed a minimum monthly salary, they can earn incentive pay for flying extra hours. Serving on international flights, working holidays, and taking on additional responsibilities are all other ways to make more money.

info from http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/careers/105954.html

How being a Flight Attendant Works...

On a commercial flight in the United States, there must be one flight attendant for every 50 passengers. These attendants have a variety of responsibilities in their work, which begins before the first passenger boards and continues through the entire flight. Before boarding, the whole crew meets, the captain reviews the flight schedule and any safety concerns, and the lead attendant assigns each attendant to a particular section of the plane. Before the plane takes off, the attendants must:

• Greet passengers and direct them to their seats
• Help passengers stow their carry-on luggage
• Make sure passengers near the emergency exits are prepared to help out in an emergency
• Run over safety procedures or show a safety video
• Check every seat to make sure all passengers are buckled-in and that their seats are in the right position
• Lock the doors and arm them so that the emergency slides will inflate if they are opened

After they have worked through this checklist, flight attendants strap themselves into their jump seats. Once the plane levels off, the attendants prepare food and drinks, load the refreshment and meal carts, and serve the passengers.

Additionally, attendants must make sure that all passengers adhere to the safety guidelines, and they have to deal with any emergency situations that come up. If there is a problem with the plane, the crew must keep the passengers calm and help them exit the aircraft if necessary. Attendants must also be prepared to deal with terrorists, irate passengers and various medical emergencies. In situations where most people would be paralyzed with panic, flight attendants have to keep their wits about them and work through the emergency.

To deal with all of these duties, a flight attendant must possess certain abilities and personality traits. Airlines look for friendly people who can memorize a lot of information and keep a cool head under pressure. To get a position with an airline, potential flight attendants must interview for the job, pass a medical exam, and work their way through a rigorous schedule of instruction and performance reviews. During the training period, which can last between three and nine weeks, a potential attendant lives with other candidates at a hotel or dorm facility, where they attend classes on everything from food service to dealing with armed hijackers. At this time, the candidates may receive a weekly allowance for expenses, but they aren't actually considered airline employees. They are not hired officially until after they complete the entire training course and pass all tests. To find out how you can become an airline flight attendant, check out this site.

There are many more flight-attendant applicants than there are flight-attendant positions, so only a select few make it through the entire process and get hired by the airline. The position is competitive primarily because of the unique benefits it offers. In most airlines, flight attendants can fly domestically and internationally at minimal cost (as little as $5 for a domestic trip) as long as the plane has available seats. People are also attracted to flight-attendant work because it doesn't have a five-day, "9-to-5" schedule.

As with pilots, a flight attendant's work schedule is determined by seniority. Newer flight attendants have to fly reserve, rarely knowing where they will be headed the next day. They are at the mercy of the crew-schedulers -- the airline employees who figure out who needs to be where on a day-to-day basis. After a year, or in some cases many years, attendants may hold their own line, maintaining a regular, set schedule.

This information obtained from: http://travel.howstuffworks.com/airline-crew2.htm

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DJi7gs-JHPc

Air Waitresses through the years...

The world of flight attendants has also changed significantly since the beginning of commercial air travel. The first airliners were actually mail planes with a few extra spaces for passengers. On these flights, you had to take care of yourself: The plane crew included only pilots, and they were so busy flying the plane that they didn't have time to attend to passengers.

Eventually, some early airlines added cabin boys to their flights. These crew members, who were usually teenagers or small men, were mainly on board to load luggage, reassure nervous passengers and help people get around the plane. In 1930, a young nurse named Ellen Church, along with Steve Stimpson of Boeing Air Transport, came up with a new sort of attendant. Church proposed that registered nurses would make an ideal addition to the flight crew, as they could take care of any passengers that got sick. Boeing, then an airline as well as a plane manufacturer, hired eight nurses for a three-month trial run. The new attendants, who would come to be called "stewardesses," soon became an integral part of the airline industry. In time, these attendants were no longer required to have a nursing degree, but the nurturing, maternal character remained a key element in the profession.

Until relatively recently, airline stewardesses were under strict control. They were not allowed to be married -- ostensibly because husbands would complain that the long hours kept their wives away from home -- and most airlines had certain constraints on their height, weight and proportions. Their clothing was similarly restrictive: At most airlines, stewardesses wore form-fitting uniforms and were required to wear white gloves and high heels throughout most of the flight. While it was a perfectly respectable occupation for young women, early stewardesses were generally underpaid, had minimal benefits and were in a subservient role to pilots.

During the 1960s, '70s and '80s, flight-attendant unions, as well as representatives from the equal rights movement, brought about sweeping changes in the airline industry that addressed these problems. Since the 1970s, the policy of the major airlines has been to hire both men and women as attendants and to have no restrictions on size and weight. Flight attendants now share many of the same benefits as pilots, and airlines recognize them as a crucial component of the air-travel industry. After all, to most passengers, the flight attendant is the face of the entire airline.

This information gathered from: http://travel.howstuffworks.com/airline-crew3.htm

red-eye flights, the world through hotel rooms, crying babies, whining grandmas, emergencies, no sleep, back pains, turbulence...what more could a gal ask for? but seriously...don't say i'm not going into this oblivious. or with a set-in-stone idea of what it'll be like, but as long as i'm not expecting a "View From the Top" kind of lifestyle...in my opinion, what a great transition job from college to a real, working 8-5 life. stewardess, sky girl, air hostess, flight attendant, take your pick. i'm your girl with the barf bag.