Flight Attendants

What the job really is

Monitor safety of the aircraft cabin. Provide services to airline passengers, explain safety information, serve food and beverages, and respond to emergency incidents.

At a glance

• Sector: Transportation & Material Moving
• O*NET-SOC code: 53-2031
• O*NET job zone: 2 — some preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Reassure passengers when situations, such as turbulence, are encountered.
• 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.
• Attend preflight briefings concerning weather, altitudes, routes, emergency procedures, crew coordination, lengths of flights, food and beverage services offered, and numbers of passengers.
• Check to ensure that food, beverages, blankets, reading material, emergency equipment, and other supplies are aboard and are in adequate supply.
• Prepare reports showing places of departure and destination, passenger ticket numbers, meal and beverage inventories, the conditions of cabin equipment, and any problems encountered by passengers.

Tools and technology

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word, AD OPT Altitude, Aircraft fire extinguishing systems, Arkitektia Flight Itinerary, Automated external defibrillators AED, Bid Assistant, Blood pressure recorders

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Passenger Attendants
• Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks
• First-Line Supervisors of Passenger Attendants
• Airfield Operations Specialists
• Baggage Porters and Bellhops
• Transportation Security Screeners
• Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors
• Air Traffic Controllers

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 2 (some preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

Browse the verified job sources directory, or explore more occupations.

Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Flight Attendants — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.