Do flight attendants work 9 to 5?

The airline industry is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and being a flight attendant is NOT your typical 9 – 5 job. Some shifts are as long as 16 hours! You may be scheduled early mornings, late nights, and holidays. Remember, you'll have a minimum of 11 days off each month.



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The airline industry is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and being a flight attendant is NOT your typical 9 – 5 job. Some shifts are as long as 16 hours! You may be scheduled early mornings, late nights, and holidays. Remember, you'll have a minimum of 11 days off each month.

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In most cases, a contract between the airline and the flight attendant union determines the total daily and monthly workable hours. On-duty shifts per day may vary from 4 to 18 hours or longer, such as for international flights.

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New flight attendants typically work a reserve schedule and must be close to the airport, or sometimes wait at the airport for a call to duty. Senior flight attendants enjoy more flexibility in their schedule and choice of destinations. Both roles enjoy the same travel benefits with about 12 days off per month.

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Flight attendants frequently have between 12 and 18 days off per month and over a years time, average about 156 days off.

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Under the rule, flight attendants are entitled to a minimum rest period of at least 10 consecutive hours when they're scheduled to work for 14 hours or less. The law allows for no reduction of the rest period under any circumstances.

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Steps to Take to be a Flight Attendant
It's difficult and can take a long time. Airlines can take 3-6 months to get through the hiring process, that's if your resume makes it through the first cut. Intense Competition. We estimate there are 1 – 1.5 million flight attendant applications for 5,000 – 10,000 jobs.

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According to Ryanair's official policy, cabin crew members are contracted to work an average of 900 hours per year. This equates to approximately 17 hours per week.

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Flight attendants can typically choose the home base airport they report to, so you might consider researching which cities offer the highest flight attendant salaries on average.

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On a typical day, an airline attendant will arrive at the airport two hours before the flight is scheduled to depart. They will attend a briefing with the pilot and other crew members, during which they will go over the flight plan and discuss any special instructions.

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The pros of being a flight attendant are getting to see the world and flight benefits, while the cons are missing important life events and having difficulty sustaining relationships. Pros: Perhaps one of the biggest (and most obvious) pros of being a flight attendant is that you are basically paid to travel the world.

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One of the biggest issues is fatigue due to long hours away from home during certain times of the year such as holidays or peak travel periods when more flights are available. Another problem that can arise is dealing with unhappy or unruly passengers, which can make a flight attendant's job much more stressful.

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You'll find that most Flight Attendants are under 6'3? (190cm) to work comfortably in the aircraft. As a general rule, airlines accept applicants who are at a height of between 5'3? and 6'2? although this does vary between airlines so always check with the specific airline you want to apply for.

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Flight attendants are about average in terms of happiness. At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, flight attendants rate their career happiness 3.3 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 43% of careers.

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At 21 years old, you can apply to be a flight attendant with any airline. Minimum age requirements typically apply at the time of training completion, so candidates who will reach an airline's minimum age during training can apply for flight attendant roles. There is no upper age limit for flight attendants.

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At some airlines, the minimum age requirement to be a flight attendant is 18, but for most, it's 20-21. As a flight attendant, age is just a number. You can be too young to be a flight attendant but not too old if you are in good shape and can work long hours and do some heavy lifting.

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The 35-in-7 rule applies only to Reserve Flight Attendants and states that a Reserve may not be scheduled to exceed 35:00 flight hours in any 7 consecutive 24:00 hour periods. This legality is waivable, however, remember that if you do so during bidding it is for the entire month.

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Crew require a minimum of three hours rest when the flight duty period exceeds 14 hours (from when crew 'sign on' to 15 minutes after engines off). For flight duty periods longer than 18 hours, 4.5 hours bunk rest is required. The crew take turns for rest breaks.

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In most cases, if you have a scheduled duty period of 14 hours or less, you must have at least nine consecutive hours of scheduled rest after your duty period before you have another duty period. However, under certain circumstances, our regulations allow a rest period of only eight consecutive hours.

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Flight attendants are typically only paid during flight time, meaning that when flights get delayed, they're often forced to work longer days without compensation for the wait time — all while dealing with unsustainable schedules, exhaustion, and frustrated travelers.

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Do flight attendants get free hotel accommodation? Yes, flight attendants often receive complimentary hotel stays during layovers (also called a stopover) as part of their job benefits. However, this only applies when the flight attendants are on duty and are required to layover in a different city or country.

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But being a flight attendant is also a lot of work. There are long hours, early mornings, and late nights. There are also strict safety regulations that must be followed at all times. And while it can be tough juggling all of the different responsibilities, they always manage to keep things running smoothly.

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