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Overcoming Fear of Flying

Lesson 3: The People

Flight Attendants

Flight Attendants have come a long way from the days they were called “stewards” and “stewardesses” and were perceived to be waiters and waitresses in the sky. There is much more to what they do and they are an integral part of your comfort and safety. In fact, most of their training is focused on safety.

If you have flown, you've probably noticed that flight attendants read and demonstrate safety procedures, assist people putting away carry-on baggage, help people to their seats, serve meals, and more. What you don't see is the intense training they receive and the qualifications they need to be selected.

Different airlines have slightly different requirements for their applicants, but all applicants are required to be over 18 and high school graduates (or equivalent). American Airlines, for instance, requires applicants to be 20 years old and have 2 years of post high school education or public contact work experience.

All airlines have training courses for their flight attendant applicants – some go for five weeks, some for eight. But all are intense and teach the applicants everything from arming the emergency chutes to dealing with difficult passengers. Failure of the training course is not an option. Aspiring flight attendants are tested, tested and tested again. Including during the update training they’re required to take every year.

Flight attendants have to be calm, clear headed, quick thinking, friendly, and reasonably strong. They have to lift carry-on baggage to the overhead bins, push heavy carts loaded with food and beverages, and handle safety equipment on the aircraft.

They’re trained to put out fires, deal with possible threats to the aircraft (such as hijackers)1, they must be able to handle arguments between passengers, look after unattended children, be able to open doors and exits, deploy life rafts, handle crowd control, guide passengers off the plane in an emergency, and much more. Bringing someone a meal is probably the easiest part of their job.

Many airlines give spot tests every few weeks and the flight attendant can’t fly if he or she doesn’t pass. Some airlines have a pass threshold of two wrong out of one-hundred questions. If the flight attendants don’t pass and can’t fly, their pay is docked until they can.

They’re tested on everything from the use of the on board equipment to hypothetical “what if” questions. “What if” questions can be something like these:2
What if:

  • the plane experiences a sudden loss of cabin pressure?
  • a passenger becomes violent or abusive?

Other things they’re tested on are specifics for the plane on which they're flying. They need to know things like what type of emergency equipment is on that plane and where it is. There’s much more, of course, but you get the idea.

Most people don’t know this but flight attendants have to be able to evacuate a full plane in ninety seconds using half the available exits. They have to do it in a realistic environment that’s filled with smoke, some fire, and horrible noise. When they’ve finished, they have to go back to their area again to check it and make sure everyone is off safely before they can leave the plane themselves.

Flight attendants, whether male or female, have to be a lot more than just waiters in the sky.

1Please don't get scared! These things are so rare - but a good flight crew must be prepared for anything.
2Samples from Fearless Flier’s Handbook

Optional Reading
For this section, please read at least one of the following:

  • Fearless Fliers Handbook, pages 115 – 119
  • Flying Without Fear, pages 78 – 79 (top)
  • Conquering Your Fear of Flying, pages 56 – 57
You may also look for more details at the following web sites:

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