Being a Flight Attendant is Not Just About Traveling the World

If you ask cabin crew aspirants the question, “Why do you want to become a flight attendant?” many might say, “Because I want to travel around the world,” or “I want to take my family to travel.” While there’s nothing wrong with this answer and I can’t invalidate this thought, I also want to clarify that being a flight attendant is not just about traveling around the world. Let’s not forget the purpose of flight attendants, which is to ensure the safety and security of passengers.

During a cabin crew interview, answering “I want to travel the world” when asked “Why do you want to become a flight attendant?” may raise eyebrows, to be honest. It’s just like answering “Because I want to get a high salary” when asked, “Why do you want to join our company?” In other words, traveling around the world is merely a benefit of becoming a flight attendant, not the sole purpose for which the airline hired you.

The Primary Duties of Flight Attendants

Being a flight attendant is all about service to your passengers. It’s about ensuring the safety and security of your passengers primarily. You also have to attend to the needs of your passengers and make sure they have a comfortable flight experience. So, in other words, the airline will hire you as a flight attendant because they know you can take care of their passengers and ensure everyone’s safety, not to give you free travels. At the end of the day, your primary motivation or “why” for becoming a flight attendant is because you embrace the job of being of service to your passengers.

Things May End in Frustration

I remember seeing a post on TikTok about a newbie flight attendant complaining about the job. She said, “I didn’t know it would be like this.” She must have been complaining about the job of serving passengers and even doing the dirty side of things like tidying up lavatories or cleaning the mess made by a passenger with air sickness. From the very start, becoming a flight attendant is not much of a glamorous job, but a very fulfilling one, especially if you are very much into being of service to your passengers. However, having a different purpose for being a flight attendant, such as traveling the world, might give you false expectations, which may lead to frustrations.

The Quality of Work May Be Affected

I’ve been hearing feedback from the present and more senior cabin crew that lately, there are a number of new-generation cabin crew who have not been performing well. These feedbacks range from things like some don’t have the initiative to help their colleagues; they are lazy; they answer back to their more senior cabin crew; and they forget what to do during an actual emergency, like a medical emergency.

While some might just be adjusting to the new work environment of being on the line, there are still some who tend to become complacent and would rather go on Instagram to post pictures in their uniforms. I feel that these people had the wrong expectations about the job, thinking that their purpose is to travel the world and show it on Instagram.

Always remember that the actual start of your cabin crew journey is when you are released to the line and begin your actual flights. The culmination of your cabin crew journey is not when you receive your wings, but when you finally retire from being a cabin crew after many years.

Being of Service to Others

Last but not least, your actual fulfillment should not be about how many countries you’ve visited, but about how many passengers you have helped and how many passengers have had a memorable flight with you. And this is why it’s important to have a strong “why” if you want to become a flight attendant and to also know the job of a flight attendant.

Being a flight attendant is all about being of service to your passengers. Traveling the world and seeing different countries is just a reward or a perk of the job.