It might be widely considered one of the best jobs in the world but the life of a flight attendant comes with plenty of sacrifices as well. Not only do flight attendants have to regularly spend weekends and holidays separated from their families, but it also turns out that one of the biggest airlines in the world doesn’t even pay its new hire flight attendants for the first six weeks in the job.
American Airlines is currently recruiting new hire flight attendants for a massive expansion planned for later this year but the competition to land a job is set to be intense. In fact, it’s widely claimed that it’s easier to secure a place at Havard than to become a flight attendant with one of the Big Three U.S. carriers.
But once you’ve got your foot through the door at American Airlines, you’re still going to have to wait a little longer before you start making any money because the Dallas Fort Worth-based carrier doesn’t start paying crew members a wage until they pass the initial training course.
And as you might expect, training to become a flight attendant isn’t an overnight process. AA’s training program lasts around six weeks during which time trainee flight attendants won’t receive a wage.
American Airlines isn’t the only airline that runs an unpaid training course for new flight attendants and the carrier doesn’t expect trainees to survive just on their savings.
Along with paid accommodation, trainees also get a meal card to the value of $27 a day to pay for food and drink, and transportation to and from the training center is also covered.
The fact that training goes unpaid is historical and is partly based on the fact that the offer of employment is conditional. Trainees must pass all their assessments throughout the course and trainers can flag flight attendants who might not be a great fit for the airline even after passing the recruitment process.
Of course, that still…