Flight Attendant Friday: What’s Training Like?

I am frequently asked what Flight Attendant training is like, so today I’ll give you a little peek at what goes on.  There are variations among the different airlines, but this is generally what happens.

Depending on the company, training usually lasts 4-6 weeks.  It includes classroom and hands on training, and may be at a variety of odd hours of the day or night.  Classroom training usually occurs during business hours, but time spent on the plane has to be scheduled when the plane isn’t flying – and that’s often in the middle of the night.

Most training starts of with some basic company orientation.  From learning about your airline, to city codes, airplanes, route structure, to who’s who in the company — it’s your welcome to the wonderful world of aviation.

In training you will learn all about the cabin features and components of the various planes that the airline has.  This includes how and when to use which emergency exits, how to use all the safety and emergency equipment in the cabin. how to conduct emergency evacuations (land) and ditching (water), handling decompressions, and lots of other safety and emergency procedures.  You will likely have the experience of inflating an emergency slide, and sliding down it.

You will also learn about the various FAR’s that pertain to the cabin.  This is the extensive list of federal regulations that govern the industry, and Flight Attendants learn what they are responsible for.  It’s the answer to many of the “why do I have to do that” questions, and governs things like carry on bags, car seat use, lap children, exit row seating, and lots more.

There will also be first aid training as Flight Attendants are usually the first responder while in the air.  You will learn CPR and how to use the defibrillators (now found onboard most every aircraft these days), and rescue breathing.  You will also learn some of the more routine first aid applications like choking, cuts, shock, and a variety of other medical situations.

You will be briefed and trained in security matters, learning how the job of a Flight Attendant fits into the big picture.  This training is highly confidential, and should never be discussed with anyone else outside of work.

After the safety, security, emergency procedures, and first aid is finished up, Flight Attendants are then trained on a variety of customer service policies and procedures.  Again, procedures differ among the airlines, but include such things like boarding procedures, handling of duplicate seats, service flow and requirements, handling customer complaints, liquor procedures and policies, etc. 

The part of the job that passengers see is the customer service aspect, but the emphasis in the training is clearly on safety and security.  We hope that you don’t ever have to see that side of our job.  But if you do, you’ll be glad for the training that we’ve received.

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