Flight Attendants
US occupation · SOC 53-2031
Job titles people report: Flight Attendant, In-Flight Crew Member, Inflight Services Flight Attendant, International Flight Attendant, Purser
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $63,580
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $51,760 – $95,640
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 131,650
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- +8.8%
- Growing at twice the all-jobs rate or more (7%+)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 18,500
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- High school diploma or equivalent
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
Monitor safety of the aircraft cabin. Provide services to airline passengers, explain safety information, serve food and beverages, and respond to emergency incidents.
Main tasks
- Verify that first aid kits and other emergency equipment, including fire extinguishers and oxygen bottles, are in working order.
- Announce and demonstrate safety and emergency procedures, such as the use of oxygen masks, seat belts, and life jackets.
- Monitor passenger behavior to identify threats to the safety of the crew and other passengers.
- Walk aisles of planes to verify that passengers have complied with federal regulations prior to takeoffs and landings.
- Direct and assist passengers in emergency procedures, such as evacuating a plane following an emergency landing.
- Prepare passengers and aircraft for landing, following procedures.
- Administer first aid to passengers in distress.
- Determine special assistance needs of passengers, such as small children, the elderly, or persons with disabilities.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Work experience in a related job: less than 5 years
- Training once hired: moderate-term on-the-job training
- O*NET Job Zone 1–2
- Little to some preparation
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
- Social: helping, teaching and caring for people
- Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Fields
Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.
Transportation and Materials Moving
- Airline Flight Attendant
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- First-Line Supervisors of Passenger Attendants
$62,890 median · +3% projected
- Airfield Operations Specialists
$56,850 median · +7.8% projected
- Air Traffic Controllers
$148,080 median · +1.7% projected
- Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers
$232,140 median · +8.3% projected
- Commercial Pilots
$123,220 median · +5.2% projected
- Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity
$59,050 median · +4.1% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk