AboutDottie Norkus Expertise I can address questions concerning: airline pilot employment & entry level airline careers in the Unites States, women pilots, flight training, pilot certification, non-university flight scholarships (mostly for women), aviation & airline safety topics, aviation accident investigation, air carrier accidents and airline operations.
Please note, I CANNOT address flight training or career queries from outside the United States. If you are not in the USA, please direct your question to the message boards at www.PPRUNE.org as you can surely find an answer there. For those in India try http://www.indianpilots.com
Also, I cannot address questions about aero engineering degree programs/careers or aviation management careers.
Experience U.S. Regional airline pilot with 15 years previous experience in airline ground operations. I have previously flown as a commercial skydive pilot and ferry pilot.
Organizations I am a charter member of Women In Aviation International as well as the International Organization of Women Pilots: the Ninety Nines. I keep a database of flight scholarships for women (mostly in the Southwestern USA) and mentor student pilots.
Education/Credentials Embry Riddle Aeronautical University certificate in Aviation Safety/Accident investigation.
A.S. in Aerospace Science.
Question I am interested in becoming a flight attendant. What schools or training would you recommend. I am finding it difficult getting information on this career. Thank you Amanda
Answer Amanda
In the United States, you DO NOT need to attend any F/A school to get a job. Every airline trains their F/As as they want them trained, to FAA specifications. You do not need to waste your money on any "Flight Attendant School"! Only certain training programs (aircraft specific) are worth the money for contract F/As who work in the corporate world on various biz jets. Forget any "school" if you are aiming for the airlines. It's a waste of money. All you need to know can be found on the net or in various F/A 'interview books'.
You can find all you need to know at every airlines webpage careers section or via these resources:
The site www.aviationinterviews.com has an information section for F/As. Check it out to see who else is hiring and what the interviews are like.
While I can't personally vouch for any of these products, many are very popular....
A book with tips on F/A interviews is "Welcome Aboard: Your Career as a Flight Attendant" by Becky S. Bock. It $15 and can be ordered via Amazon.com or CageConsulting.com. A review can be found here-
The Essential Guide to Becoming a Flight Attendant for $20 may also be of interest to you. "Written by American Airlines Flight Attendant, Kiki Ward, "The Essential Guide to Becoming A Flight Attendant" is a 165 pages of information packed with inside information about the flight attendant career, airline flight attendant applying and interviewing, complete airline application and resume instruction, complete flight attendant training information and the most current airline hiring information."
In addition, Amazon offers "Follow Your Dreams: Secrets to Getting Hired As a Flight Attendant (Paperback)
by Tammy Clark" for $10 used.
This site also offers a career guide for $39 but it also has a lot of free info on their site about the career; http://www.fajobcenter.com/index.html
This is a site that hosts a message board for questions & advice. It requires a small membership fee but may well be worth it- http://www.flightattendants.org/index.php
This link has the profile and career advice of F/A Amber Smith. She can be contacted via the message boards at that website as well under the user name MQAAORD-
Hope all this will help you get the "big picture" about what the job is like and what will get you through the interview.
If the links are not clickable, highlight them and then 'cut & paste' into another open browser window.
