A new Finnair cabin crew member starting on the entry salary grade can expect an all-in gross income of roughly €2,388 to €2,572 a month. Crew further up the scale, on the top salary grade, can expect closer to €3,935 to €4,237 a month before the same allowances are added.
Finnair cabin crew pay and conditions aren’t set at the airline’s discretion. They’re governed by a proper collective agreement, negotiated between the Service Sector Employers (PALTA) and the Transport Workers’ Union (AKT), running to dozens of pages and covering everything from night duty allowance to what happens if your luggage goes missing on a layover.
A few other things, worth highlighting before we get into the details:
- Paid in euros for cabin crew based at Finnair’s Helsinki hub
- Subject to Finland’s standard progressive income tax and municipal tax, so the gross figures in this guide are before tax, not take-home
At a Glance
Finnair cabin crew earn a basic monthly salary of €1,836.80 to €3,026.77 depending on salary grade, on top of which allowances typically add a further 30 to 40%. A new starter’s realistic all-in monthly gross comes to roughly €2,388 to €2,572.
What you would actually be paid
Figures reflect the salary table currently applied under the collective agreement between Service Sector Employers PALTA and Transport Workers’ Union AKT, as referenced for Finnair’s Helsinki-based cabin crew recruitment. Allowances vary significantly by schedule, so your actual take-home moves around more than the basic salary alone suggests.
The Contract
Selected candidates receive either a full-time or fixed-term contract, working around 110 hours a month. There’s a probationary period of up to six months, during which Finnair can end employment without notice.
Insight: if you’ve worked as cabin crew before, up to two years of that experience is recognised toward your starting salary grade under the agreement, so you won’t necessarily start at the very bottom of the scale if you’re moving across from another airline.
There’s no Gulf-style contract completion bonus here, even if you’re on a fixed-term contract. On the flip side, you also won’t be paying back a monthly sum during your first year the way you would at Emirates. Once you’re past probation, notice periods start at 14 days for cabin crew with less than five years of service, and then a month after that. If Finnair were to end your employment, it must provide at least 14 days’ notice for cabin crew with less than a year of service, rising in stages to six months for those with over 12 years of service.
Worth knowing: Cabin crew employed at international bases operate under separate local agreements with their own pay and terms, and it’s worth clarifying directly with the recruiter whether your eventual contract sits with Barona or with Finnair itself before you accept an offer.
Finnair Cabin Crew Salary
The Pay Scale
| Grade | Hourly wage | Monthly salary |
|---|---|---|
| PL 1 | €15.90 | €1,836.80 |
| PL 2 | €16.95 | €1,956.73 |
| PL 3 | €18.21 | €2,103.75 |
| PL 4 | €19.14 | €2,210.91 |
| PL 5 | €22.27 | €2,572.06 |
| PL 6 | €24.30 | €2,806.60 |
| PL 7 | €25.66 | €2,963.46 |
| PL 8 | €26.20 | €3,026.77 |
The hourly figure isn’t what you’re paid per hour worked. Basic pay is a fixed monthly salary regardless of how many days you fly, up to the 172-hour monthly ceiling. The hourly figure is a reference unit, worked out by dividing your monthly minimum salary by 115.5, and it’s what every allowance and premium below is actually calculated from.
What’s Added on Top
- Additional duty allowance — once your monthly hours pass 110, each hour beyond that earns a further 10‰ of your minimum salary, on top of ordinary pay
- Extra pay for long duty days — any day where your duty runs past 8 hours attracts progressive extra pay on a rising scale: 0.5x your hourly reference for hours 8–10, 1x for hours 10–12, 2x for hours 12–13, and 3x beyond 13 hours
- Overtime — the first 26 hours worked beyond 172 in a month are paid at your hourly reference plus 50%, and anything beyond that at double
- Night duty allowance — an extra 4‰ of your minimum salary per hour for duty between 11pm and 7am
- Sunday and holiday compensation — an additional per-hour payment for working Sundays, religious holidays, Independence Day, and May Day. The exact rate isn’t specified in this particular agreement, so it’s worth checking the general sector agreement or confirming directly with Finnair before quoting a figure
- SCC allowance — anyone assigned Senior Cabin Crew duty on a flight earns an hourly top-up based on aircraft size, from 1.1‰ of their own minimum salary on the smallest aircraft up to 3.6‰ on the largest widebodies
- Purser allowance — a flat monthly allowance worth 7.9% of the minimum salary of the highest salary grade in force, paid to whoever is serving as Purser regardless of their own grade
- Duty start allowance — €10 for the first return flight duty of the day, capped at one per day
- Standby pay — 50% of your hourly reference on weekdays, 100% on public holidays, and 200% over the Christmas period
- Daily allowance — a separate per diem for time away from base, calculated according to the Finnish Tax Administration’s official rates rather than a fixed CLA figure
- Passport, visa and medical exam compensation — a flat annual payment equivalent to four hours’ wage, paid every December, to cover time you’ve spent on your own time applying for passports, visas, or attending medical examinations
- Instructor pay — anyone asked to instruct on a training course receives a flat €39.95 per session on top of ordinary pay
Three things are explicitly excluded that exist in the wider sector agreement: there’s no Saturday allowance at Finnair, no sales commission on onboard sales, and no separate compensation for extended absence, even though all three appear as provisions in the general collective agreement for the sector.
SCC and Purser positions aren’t something you apply for separately. They’re filled in CCM seniority order, so reaching them is a function of time served rather than a competitive process.
How the Allowances Actually Add Up
A few worked examples, using the formulas above, to show what these figures mean in practice:
- Deriving the hourly reference — a PL1 employee’s minimum salary of €1,836.80 divided by 115.5 gives an hourly reference of €15.90.
- A single night duty hour — that same PL1 employee working one hour between 11pm and 7am earns an extra 4‰ of €1,836.80, which is €7.35, on top of ordinary pay for that hour.
- Acting as SCC — a PL4 employee (hourly reference €19.14) assigned SCC duty on an aircraft with 170–199 seats earns an extra 2.4‰ of their own minimum salary per hour served in that role: €2,210.91 × 0.0024 = €5.31 extra per hour.
- Serving as Purser for a month — regardless of their own grade, a Purser receives 7.9% of the PL8 minimum salary as a flat monthly allowance: €3,026.77 × 0.079 = €239.11 extra that month.
- A 12-hour duty day — for a PL1 employee, the 4 hours beyond the 8-hour mark attract progressive pay: 2 hours at 0.5x (€15.90) and 2 hours at 1x (€31.80), adding €47.70 in extra pay for that single day.
- A heavy month, overtime — if that same employee’s month runs to 190 hours, the 18 hours beyond the 172-hour ceiling (within the first 26-hour band) are paid at €15.90 + 50%, or €23.85 an hour, an extra €429.30 for those 18 hours rather than €286.20 at the standard rate.
- A heavy month, the 110-hour band — separately, hours between 110 and 172 in a month each earn a further 10‰ of minimum salary. For a PL1 employee flying 130 hours, that’s 20 hours × €18.37, or €367.40 extra that month.
Put together, a new starter on the entry salary grade working a typical month can expect an all-in gross figure of roughly €2,388 to €2,572. Crew further up the scale, closer to the top salary grade, could see an all-in figure closer to €3,935 to €4,237 before the same allowances are added.
Pay is taxed under Finland’s normal income tax system.
Insight: the size of that 30 to 40% allowance band is the real story for anyone budgeting month to month. It means two colleagues on the same basic salary grade can take home quite different amounts depending on how many nights, Sundays, SCC turns, and long duty days land on their roster that particular month. It’s worth thinking of the basic salary as a floor, not a reliable monthly figure.
Getting to Work and Time Away From Base
Finnair doesn’t provide company accommodation for home-based crew the way Gulf carriers do; you live locally around Helsinki and organise your own housing as you would for any other job in Finland.
Where the agreement does step in is around unsociable scheduling: if your duty starts or ends between 10 pm and 6.30 am, or if you’re called in with less than two hours’ notice, or if you’re arriving back from a long or time-difference flight, Finnair is required to arrange your transport to or from the airport, up to 35km.
If you’d rather not use the arranged taxi option, you can instead take a monthly homeward-journey compensation of €43.50.
When you’re away from base on a layover, Finnair covers your hotel under a separate hotel agreement, and transport between that hotel and the airport is provided as standard. Hotel rooms aren’t meant to be shared. In the rare case where one is, you’re compensated €300 plus an extra day off for every night it happens.
If you’re serving as SCC (Purser) on a wide-body aircraft, your duty officially starts 15 minutes before the rest of the crew when departing from base. You’re paid a full extra hour’s rate for that, not just the 15 minutes actually worked, plus any night, Sunday, or SCC allowances that apply on top.
Pension
The collective agreement doesn’t set out a separate occupational pension scheme. Like any employee in Finland, you’re covered by the country’s statutory earnings-related pension system, funded through standard payroll contributions rather than anything negotiated specifically for cabin crew.
Finnair Cabin Crew Benefits
- Uniform — provided and paid for by Finnair, though you’ll cover 25% of the cost of shoes and bags worn with it, along with laundry and general upkeep
- Insurance — beyond Finland’s statutory accident cover, Finnair provides group life, aviation accident, and passenger insurance. Death caused by an accident or sudden illness is covered to €42,100, with permanent disability covered at double that, and unlimited medical expenses if you’re taken ill or injured abroad
- Annual leave — you earn 2.5 days of annual holiday per month worked, rising to 3 days per month once you’ve been there 14 years, plus a holiday bonus worth 50% of your holiday pay
- Paid personal leave — one day’s paid leave, without any deduction from salary or holiday, for your own wedding, your 50th or 60th birthday, or the funeral of a close family member
Sick Pay and Family Leave
Finnair has a rather generous and detailed sick pay policy which is based on how long you have worked at the airline. Sick pay scales with how long you’ve been employed:
- Under one year’s service — full pay for five weeks
- One to five years’ service — full pay for six weeks
- Over five years’ service — full pay for four months
Family leave is built into the agreement itself, not left to statutory minimums alone. You’re paid for up to 40 weekdays during pregnancy or special pregnancy leave, and up to 32 weekdays during parental or adoptive parental leave, provided you’ve been continuously employed for at least a year before the leave starts.
Flying can stop as soon as a pregnancy is confirmed if requested, and you can ask to be exempted from night flights and any flight over 12 hours from that point. Flight duty is barred outright once you reach 16 weeks of pregnancy unless you’re specifically cleared to continue; after that, you move to ground-based work, paid at 63% of your basic flying salary, on top of your existing table salary and any fixed Purser allowance you already receive.
Worth knowing: the one-year continuous employment requirement before parental leave pay kicks in is worth factoring in if you’re considering starting a family in the near term after joining. Someone who joins and needs parental leave within their first year would fall back on standard Finnish statutory leave provisions rather than the enhanced CLA rate.
Ready to Apply?
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