Transportation and Material Moving · Holland code CSR
Flight Attendants
Monitor safety of the aircraft cabin. Provide services to airline passengers, explain safety information, serve food and beverages, and respond to emergency incidents.
Also called: Flight Attendant, In-Flight Crew Member, International Flight Attendant, Purser, Inflight Services Flight Attendant.
O*NET 53-2031.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $63,580
- Middle half earn $51,760 to $95,640. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 70% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
- US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034
- +9% · Much faster than average
- 130,800 jobs in 2024, projected 142,900. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Flight attendants".
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- 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.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Speaking4.1 / 5
- Active Listening3.9 / 5
- Monitoring3.9 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.1 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.1 / 5
- Active Learning3.1 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.5 / 5
- Public Safety and Security4.5 / 5
- English Language4.5 / 5
- Transportation3.5 / 5
- Psychology3.3 / 5
- Geography3.3 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic51
- Investigative17
- Artistic5
- Social53
- Enterprising44
- Conventional57
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- steward/stewardess · DE Steward/Stewardess · FR steward/hôtesse
- flight attendant · DE Flugbegleiter/Flugbegleiterin · FR membre d’équipage de cabine
- ship steward/ship stewardess · DE Schiffssteward/Schiffsstewardess · FR hôte de croisière/hôtesse de croisière
- train attendant · DE Zugsteward/Zugstewardess · FR steward ferroviaire/hôtesse ferroviaire
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Air travel assistants (6213)46,700 employed
- Leisure and travel service occupations n.e.c. (6219)26,800 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Japan
Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “航空機客室乗務員”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.
- Median monthly pay
- ¥342,200
- Middle half earn ¥262,900 to ¥464,300 a month.
- Workers in the category
- 11,300
- Regular employees in firms of ten or more.
Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Service and sales workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €32,957 |
| Sweden | €32,596 |
| Netherlands | €29,198 |
| Austria | €29,068 |
| Germany | €27,471 |
| Ireland | €26,978 |
| Italy | €24,995 |
| France | €24,971 |
| Spain | €18,303 |
| Portugal | €10,656 |
| Poland | €7,579 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.76. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (53-2031).
Related careers
Is it a fit for you?
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