American Airlines has just reopened flight attendant recruitment for the first time since January 2022, although anyone interested in joining one of the world’s largest airlines will have to be quick as the window to submit your application could close as early as October 10, 2023.
This rare opportunity to join American Airlines as an international flight attendant is open to anyone aged 20 years or older with the right to live and work in the United States, and no existing flying experience is necessary.
The Dallas Fort Worth-based carrier is on the hunt for true team players who are able to learn quickly and comply with strict rules and regulations. Competition is likely to be incredibly tough and American Airlines is expecting to be inundated with applications.
Candidates who are lucky enough to get through multiple recruitment rounds of interviews and assessments, however, will have to learn to live without pay for six weeks during the compulsory in-person training at AA’s training center in Texas.
Thankfully, American Airlines doesn’t expect trainees to survive entirely on their savings and does provide new-hire flight attendants with paid accommodation for the duration of the six and a half week course, along with a meal card to the value of $27 per day and transportation to and from the training center each day.
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.
Unfortunately, however, even after completing the initial training course, some flight attendants can still struggle financially for their first few years flying. With AA’s seniority-based flight attendant workforce, new joiners don’t earn a huge hourly rate and a lot of time spent on reserve means earnings can vary massively from week to week.
In addition, it’s worth considering that many of AA’s flight attendant bases are in large cities with a high cost of living, which can be a big expense that needs to be considered. Of course, many flight attendants get around this by commuting from less expensive cities, but this can take some getting used to.
If this doesn’t put you off, however, you’ll need to get your resume together as fast as possible and submit your application on AA’s official recruitment website here.
Successful candidates could be posted to any of AA’s flight attendant bases in Boston, Charlotte, Washington DC, Dallas Forth Worth, New York JFK and LaGuardia, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago O’Hare, Philadelphia and Phoenix.
