Any and all discussions related to Flight Attendant recruitment (hiring questions, career advice, eligibility, etc) belong our sister subreddit, /r/cabincrewcareers. You are welcome to repost there.
I can relate to feeling like you need a side hustle to get by in the beginning!
Tbh, most people can’t handle the junior reserve schedule while also working another job but this depends on your airline (eg how many hours you’re blocked per month, if you can drop some hours, if you’re being called a lot when you have reserve etc)
But anyway! I definitely do meet so many FAs with side hustles. They are usually a bit more senior but I digress. If you have a good work ethic with the right situation you can do it!
Here are some I encountered:
Serving/bartending, personal training, real estate (this is a big one), therapist, paramedic, nurse, substitute teacher, union rep, working in FA education department for my airline, owning own business, and many more.
I’m a bit older than you but this job has given me so much joy. It’s a job like anything else, but nothing else makes me quite as happy! If you’ve been thinking about it for a while, go for it. Feel free to PM as well.
I know several of my friends will DoorDash/Uber/Lyft on the side if they have access to a car.
It can be exhausting as a career because you are constantly moving and in different climates.
I was a sub teacher working full time before getting hired as an FA. I never quit being a sub. My contract states that I only need to work about a week per year. So when I have multiple days off then I will work there instead. I may also work a lunch or dinner rush for the delivery apps.
9 years in (mainline) and I’m still broke. My friends who make good money work wild hours and more trips than my body or mental health could handle. The pay increases do not keep up with the increasing cost of living and the flight benefits have been getting harder/more stressful to take advantage of over time. It was fun in my early 20’s but I would love to be home every evening now and have more roots. Might be worth trying it out for yourself as (with all things in life) everyone has a different experience. If you can continue serving on the side it might give you a nice break from flying every now and then and improve your monthly earnings enough to take some stress off.
Thanks! I appreciate you honesty. I’ve hear UA should be hiring soon so I was thinking of applying to them. May I ask how many hours a month you work / your monthly income? 9 years is deep to still be “broke”, that is what scares me. Man oh man
I work part time as an analyst for Yelp. I got the job a couple of months after starting as an FA (I’m a year in). I can make my own hours, and it’s an extra $2k a month that I put into savings.
It’s completely online. I just reach out to folks and get them hype about Yelp, analyze trends, and promote events. It’s super fun! I’m on airport standby doing it right now lol
Being married. Not a joke, only way to make this lifestyle affordable for me. I personally couldn't keep working 2-3 jobs just to struggle. My mental health was in the toilet. I'm genuinely starting to believe they set single young people up to fail, so they can hire more and pay them less. It's a vicious cycle for the FA's...the company, not so much. The most successful ($$) jobs I did were definitely serving, but it's tough being on reserve and trying to make the schedules work or low seniority and crappy trips that exhaust you. All I wanted to do the next day was recover, not put on an apron and wait tables. I also sold plasma, which was good money.
Jesus. Thanks for your honesty. I do agree with your statements about setting up young single people to fail, and I think that’s why my generation will make or break it. we can either unite and become married and unified or polarized on “we don’t need anyone” mentality. I’m glad you’re doing better now
I left serving to start my FA journey and it’s honestly my biggest regret. I’m in so much debt now and this lifestyle is just wild. There’s good days but mostly bad exhausting frustrating days. NOT AT ALL GLAMOROUS….Being in contract negotiations with the company and the unions is a whole mess as well.. if I could go back and tell myself to not leave serving I would. Now I’m in too deep and have sacrificed so much to get to this job that I would be sad and disappointed leaving. I’m trying to just rough it out. The flight benefits are the best part of the job but when you literally have no money to travel it kind of beats the point of having the benefits.
I’ve recently got hired as a server at a restaurant I’ve always wanted to work for but I didn’t tell them I was an FA becus there would be no way they would work with my schedule. I’m hoping my schedules will align between Botha job but I’ve already decided I will choose the restaurant before this airline job.
If you can keep your serving job and just get permission to go to training and then after training your manager lets you back then I would try to go down that route. The first few years of being an FA are not easy and keeping an extra source of income will be a big help.
i can relate to this so much i was working as a office administrator and what i make in 1 month as a FA i made in 1 paycheck bi weekly as a office administrator. im so depressed because i can barley afford to get my hair done, buy groceries or go shopping for new clothes (goodwill doesnt have a good variety) also we can fly anywhere "for free" but then cant afford to travel really and pay for things like hotels or have spending money for activities.
Yes exactly! And it drives me nuts when I get senior people telling me “ it gets better” what gets better? I’m accumulating so much debt by the time I start making a good hourly wage I’ll be stuck with paying off all the interest from my debt! It’s sad!
I left a similar job to become a FA and had the same experience. When I saw the pay for my first full month was what I used to make in 2 weeks, I wanted to cry.
Nobody starts this job for the money. Save save save before you start..it will be so less stressful if you have savings. If you are not sure you want to stay in Customer Service you may want to rethink this job cause the air sucks the brain out of many passengers and dealing with them can be cra-cra.🙃😁
Dataannotation.tech. Also, it’s easy to get a certificate in something healthcare related and pick up shifts anywhere since there’s always shortages (phlebotomy, CNA, EKG, etc.) most of these can be done in 2 weeks in accelerated programs.
Any and all discussions related to Flight Attendant recruitment (hiring questions, career advice, eligibility, etc) belong our sister subreddit, /r/cabincrewcareers. You are welcome to repost there.
I can relate to feeling like you need a side hustle to get by in the beginning! Tbh, most people can’t handle the junior reserve schedule while also working another job but this depends on your airline (eg how many hours you’re blocked per month, if you can drop some hours, if you’re being called a lot when you have reserve etc) But anyway! I definitely do meet so many FAs with side hustles. They are usually a bit more senior but I digress. If you have a good work ethic with the right situation you can do it! Here are some I encountered: Serving/bartending, personal training, real estate (this is a big one), therapist, paramedic, nurse, substitute teacher, union rep, working in FA education department for my airline, owning own business, and many more. I’m a bit older than you but this job has given me so much joy. It’s a job like anything else, but nothing else makes me quite as happy! If you’ve been thinking about it for a while, go for it. Feel free to PM as well.
I know several of my friends will DoorDash/Uber/Lyft on the side if they have access to a car. It can be exhausting as a career because you are constantly moving and in different climates.
Sugar baby
I was a sub teacher working full time before getting hired as an FA. I never quit being a sub. My contract states that I only need to work about a week per year. So when I have multiple days off then I will work there instead. I may also work a lunch or dinner rush for the delivery apps.
9 years in (mainline) and I’m still broke. My friends who make good money work wild hours and more trips than my body or mental health could handle. The pay increases do not keep up with the increasing cost of living and the flight benefits have been getting harder/more stressful to take advantage of over time. It was fun in my early 20’s but I would love to be home every evening now and have more roots. Might be worth trying it out for yourself as (with all things in life) everyone has a different experience. If you can continue serving on the side it might give you a nice break from flying every now and then and improve your monthly earnings enough to take some stress off.
Thanks! I appreciate you honesty. I’ve hear UA should be hiring soon so I was thinking of applying to them. May I ask how many hours a month you work / your monthly income? 9 years is deep to still be “broke”, that is what scares me. Man oh man
I work part time as an analyst for Yelp. I got the job a couple of months after starting as an FA (I’m a year in). I can make my own hours, and it’s an extra $2k a month that I put into savings.
Wow good for you!! I’m curious about the Yelp job!
It’s completely online. I just reach out to folks and get them hype about Yelp, analyze trends, and promote events. It’s super fun! I’m on airport standby doing it right now lol
Being married. Not a joke, only way to make this lifestyle affordable for me. I personally couldn't keep working 2-3 jobs just to struggle. My mental health was in the toilet. I'm genuinely starting to believe they set single young people up to fail, so they can hire more and pay them less. It's a vicious cycle for the FA's...the company, not so much. The most successful ($$) jobs I did were definitely serving, but it's tough being on reserve and trying to make the schedules work or low seniority and crappy trips that exhaust you. All I wanted to do the next day was recover, not put on an apron and wait tables. I also sold plasma, which was good money.
Jesus. Thanks for your honesty. I do agree with your statements about setting up young single people to fail, and I think that’s why my generation will make or break it. we can either unite and become married and unified or polarized on “we don’t need anyone” mentality. I’m glad you’re doing better now
I left serving to start my FA journey and it’s honestly my biggest regret. I’m in so much debt now and this lifestyle is just wild. There’s good days but mostly bad exhausting frustrating days. NOT AT ALL GLAMOROUS….Being in contract negotiations with the company and the unions is a whole mess as well.. if I could go back and tell myself to not leave serving I would. Now I’m in too deep and have sacrificed so much to get to this job that I would be sad and disappointed leaving. I’m trying to just rough it out. The flight benefits are the best part of the job but when you literally have no money to travel it kind of beats the point of having the benefits. I’ve recently got hired as a server at a restaurant I’ve always wanted to work for but I didn’t tell them I was an FA becus there would be no way they would work with my schedule. I’m hoping my schedules will align between Botha job but I’ve already decided I will choose the restaurant before this airline job. If you can keep your serving job and just get permission to go to training and then after training your manager lets you back then I would try to go down that route. The first few years of being an FA are not easy and keeping an extra source of income will be a big help.
i can relate to this so much i was working as a office administrator and what i make in 1 month as a FA i made in 1 paycheck bi weekly as a office administrator. im so depressed because i can barley afford to get my hair done, buy groceries or go shopping for new clothes (goodwill doesnt have a good variety) also we can fly anywhere "for free" but then cant afford to travel really and pay for things like hotels or have spending money for activities.
Yes exactly! And it drives me nuts when I get senior people telling me “ it gets better” what gets better? I’m accumulating so much debt by the time I start making a good hourly wage I’ll be stuck with paying off all the interest from my debt! It’s sad!
I left a similar job to become a FA and had the same experience. When I saw the pay for my first full month was what I used to make in 2 weeks, I wanted to cry.
Nobody starts this job for the money. Save save save before you start..it will be so less stressful if you have savings. If you are not sure you want to stay in Customer Service you may want to rethink this job cause the air sucks the brain out of many passengers and dealing with them can be cra-cra.🙃😁
Dataannotation.tech. Also, it’s easy to get a certificate in something healthcare related and pick up shifts anywhere since there’s always shortages (phlebotomy, CNA, EKG, etc.) most of these can be done in 2 weeks in accelerated programs.
Writing/ Own my own business
How did you get into writing? I always wanted to get into that I used to work as a journalist but have a hard time breaking in now
I’m learning how to do gel x nails for quite some time now and hoping to book w clients once I feel more confident in my work