Friend wants to become a FA

[Way2Broke]

We have a friend that is currently working as a bank teller and can't take it anymore. She is curious on how you become a Flight Attendant. My friend lives in Chattanooga, TN. Here are some of her questions...

Do you have to have a medical?
Who is hiring and what would be a easy commute for her?
Is it possible to get hired somewhere besides a Regional without any experience? (Multi FA type environment)
What is training like?
What is pay like?
Basically she doesn't know much about how to get a job or who is good and bad and since my experience with the Regionals was on a 19 seater and I now fly freight I am not much help. Can someone help?

Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[Ladi]

Delta

Delta in Atlanta is hiring, along w/ Omni, Airtran. There are plenty more. Tell her to do a little leg work, it is very easy to get info on line.

Best wishes in her job hunting.

Ladi

 

[lowlycfi]

We have a friend that is currently working as a bank teller and can't take it anymore. She is curious on how you become a Flight Attendant. My friend lives in Chattanooga, TN. Here are some of her questions...

Do you have to have a medical?
Who is hiring and what would be a easy commute for her?
Is it possible to get hired somewhere besides a Regional without any experience? (Multi FA type environment)
What is training like?
What is pay like?
Basically she doesn't know much about how to get a job or who is good and bad and since my experience with the Regionals was on a 19 seater and I now fly freight I am not much help. Can someone help?

Thanks for the help in advance.

I was a F/A for 11 years before I moved up front so I'll take a stab at this one.

You don't need a medical but some carriers do have a pre-employment physical (I know AA used to).

I'm not sure who is hiring right now. I would guess pretty much all of the regionals

Commuting is a little more difficult as a F/A but it can be done. I did it the entire time. Commuting on-line is always easier, although a lot of the carriers now have F/A cabin seat agreements, so that helps.

I was hired at a major without having been a F/A, so it can be done (although I was a ramp agent and CSA for a regional-they were called commuters back then)

Training was actually tougher than I expected. It's not rocket science, but there's a lot of material and the airline I was at had high standards for passing. There were a lot of wash-outs. Work hard and study and she'll do fine.

The pay can vary. Starting out, most places aren't that good. I started out making about $18,000 my first year and made over $60,000 my last year.

Hope this helps. I really enjoyed the job and wonder why I quit sometimes.

 

[Andy Neill]

Wondering what makes her present job unbearable.
Holidays off?
Regular hours?
Regulated indoor working conditions?

Then it could be dealing with those....people!

What will make the FA job more appealing?

 

[Way2Broke]

Where can she find the correct places to send her resume too?

What would be good companies with a ATL base or a easy commute from CHA?

Are most interviews cattle calls or individual?

 

[Way2Broke]

Wondering what makes her present job unbearable.
Holidays off?
Regular hours?
Regulated indoor working conditions?

Then it could be dealing with those....people!

What will make the FA job more appealing?

She wants to travel, see things, meet people, and have something more to talk about at the end of the day than "man today this guy bounced a check."

 

[lowlycfi]

Where can she find the correct places to send her resume too?

What would be good companies with a ATL base or a easy commute from CHA?

Are most interviews cattle calls or individual?

Delta, Air-Tran, ASA, World for ATL. I would also think Chicago wouldn't be a bad commute from CHA; maybe SkyWest and of course I'm partial to SWA so I would definately give them a shot. I think most interviews are a mix: a group interview with one on one follow ups. I would say just go to each company's web site to find out how to apply.

 

[B727FA]

She wants to travel, see things, meet people, and have something more to talk about at the end of the day than "man today this guy bounced a check."

I don't want to discourage her per se...but in her interview, make sure she doesn't say, "I want to travel, see things and meet people." When I was a recruiter that was the LAST thing (but usally the first) I wanted to hear.

We may not having the "guy bouncing a check" but we have some extremely mundane times, too. There are AWESOME parts of this line of work...just go in with her eyes wide open!

Oh, and RAH is hiring for ATL right now...check it out at: rjet.com

 

[Slim]

There's only one thing I can add to everything said above...have something in your back pocket for days off or a change of pace. The happiest F/As I worked with, as well as the ones I work with now, have something going on besides their airline job.

I had a reserve military career. There were about a dozen of us in that category. Others had catering businesses on the side, one did home construction, two others became an accountant and dentist.

The worst ones to work with were those who tied their entire existence to their employment. That applies to pilots, gate agents, ramp workers, etc. It's not limited to the F/A group.

Good luck!

 

[Way2Broke]

I don't want to discourage her per se...but in her interview, make sure she doesn't say, "I want to travel, see things and meet people." When I was a recruiter that was the LAST thing (but usally the first) I wanted to hear.

We may not having the "guy bouncing a check" but we have some extremely mundane times, too. There are AWESOME parts of this line of work...just go in with her eyes wide open!

Oh, and RAH is hiring for ATL right now...check it out at: rjet.com

I what were you looking to hear? Didn't you do some time with corpex? I recall you posting about them. When I say doing time... thats how I meant it. In shackles... working for "da man."