Air cabin crew
Look after airline passengers and make sure they are comfortable and safe during a flight.
Also known as: flight attendant
About the job
Salary
Source: National Careers Service
Weekly
£288
Entry level
£577
Experienced
Monthly
£1,250
Entry level
£2,500
Experienced
Yearly
£15,000
Entry level
£30,000
Experienced
5,100
people are currently employed
High growth
200 more jobs in 5 years
These figures refer to this job and similar ones with comparable skills and qualifications. They only apply to Scotland. Source: Oxford Economics
What it's like
See the world and meet new people every day with a career as a cabin crew member. You could be flying to a new destination every week!
You'd work for an airline welcoming people onboard and carrying out various tasks throughout the journey. You'll need to put your people skills to great use and deal with passengers from all walks of life. It'd be your job to make sure they feel comfortable and safe during their flight.
The role also carries a lot of responsibility. In an emergency you'll need to stay calm and make sure passengers follow safety procedures.
If you bring a positive attitude to everything you do and want to take your career to new heights, this might be the role for you!
Your tasks might include:
going to meetings about your flight
checking onboard supplies and that emergency equipment is working
greeting passengers and helping them board
showing emergency procedures to passengers and checking their seatbelts
serving food and drinks, selling duty-free items, taking payments and recording sales
making announcements on behalf of the pilot
calming nervous or sick passengers and giving first aid
making sure passengers leave the plane safely
writing flight reports
Hours
Environment
Travel
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Top skills
Skills are things you're good at. Whether you know what yours are or not, everyone has them!
It's useful to learn which ones are important in a job so you know the areas you need to brush up on. It can also help you work out if you're suited to a career.
Here are some of the skills you'll need to do this job:
- taking responsibility
- reliable
- attention to detail
- empathising
- verbal communication
- listening
- cooperating
- positive attitude
Your skills are important
Our unique skillsets are what make us stand out from the crowd. Learn about each skill in depth and discover what employers look for in your applications and interviews.
Getting in
Explore the sections shown for more information about getting into this career.
You might have qualifications which are not shown here but will allow you access to a course. You can compare your qualifications by looking at their SCQF Level. For more information about this, check out the SCQF website.
Always contact the college, university or training provider to check exactly what you'll need.
Colleges and universities will list subjects you'll need for entry to a course. Some useful subjects include:
Cantonese
English and Communication
French
Gaelic (Learners)
Gàidhlig
Geography
German
Italian
Mandarin
Skills for Work: Hospitality
Spanish
Skills for Work: Travel and Tourism
Urdu
There are no formal qualifications required but some employers ask for qualifications at SCQF level 4/5.
Entry is highly competitive.
Qualifications and experience that show helping customers, awareness of health and safety and physical fitness such as:
Skills for Work: Travel and Tourism (SCQF level 4/5)
Uniformed and Emergency Services (SCQF level 4)
Communication and language qualifications such as SQA Modern Languages for Life & Work Award (SCQF level 3/4).
Work-based qualifications in areas such as customer services (SVQ level 2/3) or that include health, safety and hygiene.
National Qualification or National Certificate (SCQF levels 2 to 6) introduction to cabin crew or international travel and airport operations course.
Various other self-funded industry preparation courses but these do not guarantee entry to the job. Competition is very fierce.
You'll need:
a good level of fitness and colour normal vision
a smart appearance
no visible tattoos or piercings
to be over 18 years old, although some airlines set the minimum entry age at 21
a valid passport with no restrictions for the countries to which the airline travel
membership of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme run by Disclosure Scotland
There are also rules around height and weight, although this will vary between airlines, so check with them. As a general guide, many look for people between 5ft2in (157cm) and 6ft2in (188cm).
Many airlines look for you to have the ability to swim up to 25 metres.
You will need to undergo a medical as part of the recruitment process.
Previous experience of working with people in a customer service role is often desirable. Some airlines have a minimum requirement of six months to two years of customer service experience
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