Flight Attendants

ANZSCO ID 451711

Overview

Snapshot

Employed
8,500
Future Growth
N/A
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
51%
Female Share
74%
Average age
38

Summary

Flight Attendants provide services for the safety and comfort of aircraft passengers.

Specialisations: Cabin Supervisor (Aircraft), Crew Attendant (Air Force).

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Flight Attendant. Although some workers have a certificate III in aviation (cabin crew).

Tasks

  • Checks passengers' tickets and directs them to seats.

  • Receives and stows food, equipment and cabin baggage.

  • Makes public announcements.

  • Conducts safety checks and demonstrations of safety equipment and procedures.

  • Carries out emergency procedures, assists and directs passengers in emergencies.

  • Distributes reading material, pillows, blankets and other amenities for the comfort of passengers.

  • Operates galleys, prepares and heats food for passengers and serves refreshments and meals.

  • Co-ordinates the sale of goods to passengers.

  • Manages the completion of any customs and immigration documentation which may be required.

  • Tidies aircraft.

Characteristics

Job Type
Community And Personal Service Workers
Skill Level
Medium skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
Unemployment Rate
n/a
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
  • Informal or on-the-job
Interests
  • Administrative
  • Enterprising
  • Helping
Physical Demand
  • Sedentary
  • Light
  • Medium

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. Employment projections data are only produced for occupations at the broad four digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) level. While data are not available for this occupation, projections data are available for the parent occupation, Travel Attendants, under the outlook section.


Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 51% of people employed as Flight Attendants work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 15 percentage points below the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 41 hours per week in their main job. This is similar to the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    Sources:Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average.


Industries

Main industries

1
Transport, Postal and Warehousing
95.3%
2
Administrative and Support Services
1.6%
3
Public Administration and Safety
1.4%
4
Accommodation and Food Services
0.6%
5
Other industries
0.4%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

35.9% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

23.1% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

23.0% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

4.7% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

11.4% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

0.4% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

0.6% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

0.8% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Flight Attendants All Jobs Average
NSW 35.9 31.6
VIC 23.1 25.6
QLD 23.0 20.0
SA 4.7 7.0
WA 11.4 10.8
TAS 0.4 2.0
NT 0.6 1.0
ACT 0.8 1.9


  • Around 79% of Flight Attendants live in capital cities, compared with the all jobs average of 62%.

    New South Wales and Queensland have a large share of employment relative to their population size.

    The regions with the largest share of workers are:

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Share of workers across Australian states, territories and regions, in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
38
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
74%
All Jobs Average is 48%
  • The median age of Flight Attendants is 38 years. This is similar to the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 25 to 34 years.

    Females make up 74% of the workforce. This is 26 percentage points above the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Flight Attendants All Jobs Average
15-19 1.3 5.0
20-24 12.3 9.3
25-34 28.2 22.9
35-44 22.7 22.0
45-54 25.6 21.6
55-59 7.5 9.0
60-64 2.0 6.0
65 and Over 0.4 4.2
Median Age 38 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Flight Attendant. Although some workers have a certificate III in aviation (cabin crew).

Visit

  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Tourism, Travel and Hospitality VET training pathways.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Flight Attendants All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 2.5 10.1
Bachelor degree 15.7 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 17.6 11.6
Certificate III/IV 17.3 21.1
Year 12 37.5 18.1
Year 11 4.2 4.8
Year 10 and below 5.2 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.


Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Travel Attendants who provide good customer service, are reliable and well presented.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 55%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 54%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 50%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 48%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 48%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 46%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 46%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 46%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 41%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 39%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 39%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 37%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 37%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 37%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 37%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 37%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 34%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 30%

    Operation monitoring

    Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.

  • 30%

    Quality control analysis

    Doing tests and checking products, services, or processes to make sure they are working properly.

  • 29%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.


Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 88%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 66%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 52%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.

  • 51%

    Transportation

    Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.

  • 50%

    Geography

    Describing land, sea, and air, including their physical characteristics, locations, how they work together, and the location of plant, animal, and human life.

  • 47%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 41%

    Sociology and anthropology

    Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

  • 36%

    Philosophy and theology

    Philosophical systems and religions, including their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and impact on society.

  • 36%

    Sales and marketing

    Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

  • 35%

    Foreign language

    Foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

  • 34%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 34%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 31%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 31%

    Medicine and dentistry

    Diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities, including preventive health-care measures.

  • 30%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 30%

    Food production

    Planting, growing, and harvesting food (both plant and animal), including storage and handling.

  • 29%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 29%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 29%

    Therapy and counselling

    Diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and career counselling and guidance.

  • 26%

    Law and government

    How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.


Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 57%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 57%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 57%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 55%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 54%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 50%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 50%

    Auditory attention

    Pay attention to a certain sound when there are other distracting sounds.

  • 46%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 46%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 46%

    Extent flexibility

    Bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.

  • 45%

    Balance

    Keep your balance or stay upright.

  • 45%

    Trunk strength

    Use your abdominal and lower back muscles a number of times without 'giving out' or fatiguing.

  • 43%

    Inductive reasoning

    Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.

  • 43%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 43%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 41%

    Arm-hand steadiness

    Keep your hand or arm steady.

  • 41%

    Multilimb coordination

    Use your arms and/or legs at the same time while sitting, standing, or lying down.

  • 41%

    Perceptual speed

    Use your eyes to quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

  • 39%

    Multitasking

    Do two or more things at the same time.

  • 37%

    Manual dexterity

    Quickly move your hand to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.


Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 77%

    Working with the public

    Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.

  • 72%

    Handling and moving objects

    Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, moving and manipulating objects.

  • 72%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 71%

    Helping and caring for others

    Providing personal assistance, medical attention, or emotional support.

  • 70%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

    Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.

  • 69%

    Looking for changes over time

    Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.

  • 65%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 62%

    Coordinating the work of a team

    Getting members of a group to work together to finish a task.

  • 60%

    Negotiating and resolving conflicts

    Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.

  • 57%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 56%

    Doing physically active work

    Use your arms, legs and whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling objects.

  • 56%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 54%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 50%

    Checking compliance with standards

    Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

  • 46%

    Communicating with the public

    Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 44%

    Checking for errors or defects

    Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials for errors, problems or defects.

  • 40%

    Thinking creatively

    Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.

  • 37%

    Collecting and organising information

    Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

  • 37%

    Assessing and evaluating things

    Working out the value, importance, or quality of things, services or people.

  • 33%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.


Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 86%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 76%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 67%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 48%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

  • 33%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

  • 19%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.


Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
  • 90%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 86%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.

  • 69%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 67%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 52%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 43%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.


Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:
  • 98%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 98%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 96%

    Physically close to people

    Work physically close to other people.

  • 93%

    Loud or uncomfortable sounds

    Be exposed to noises and sounds that are distracting or uncomfortable.

  • 93%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 91%

    Angry or unpleasant people

    Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.

  • 91%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 90%

    Exposure to contaminants

    Be exposed to pollutants, gases, dust or odours.

  • 87%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 87%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 87%

    Spend time standing

    Spend time standing at work.

  • 86%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 85%

    Cramped work space

    Work in an awkward position or in cramped work spaces.

  • 85%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 85%

    Walking and running

    Spend time walking and running.

  • 85%

    Health and safety of others

    Take responsibility for the health and safety of others.

  • 84%

    Making repetitive motions

    Spend time making repetitive motions.

  • 82%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 82%

    Bending or twisting your body

    Spend time bending or twisting your body.

  • 82%

    Disease or infection

    Be exposed to disease or infections.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 53-2031.00 - Flight Attendants.


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