The job is nothing like you will imagine...I was wondering why so many FA's leave the company right after training.
Pros
There are a lot of bases to choose from if you are lucky to have them offered, some good instructors, descent benefits, cute uniforms
Cons
I don't know where to start. I made it through training with no LOI's (written up for rules, behavior etc.), retakes or failed tests or drills and graduated, but it wasn't easy. Out 0f 68 people, only 49 graduated (27% got sent home for one reason of another). The last day (after graduation), our class was told to come at 5:00 am and we sat for two hours in the dark building because the guest speakers didn't show up until 7:30 am. They don't value your time and you get paid 2 flight hours per day in training. It is around $6 per hour. I got the base of my choice and made some really great friendships, but...when I went out on my IOE (initial operating experience) that is where things went downhill. My instructor for the IOE didn't provide me the help and support I needed. I had to call her the day before because she said "she forgot" to call me. She and the other flight attendant (her family member) and the rest of the crew knew each other. She told the other FA to not help me at all. She showed me what to do the first leg of 12 legs and then left it up to me. I had no idea what I was doing. We weren't actually trained for what we do on flights (unless there was an emergency) and got 2.5 days on minimal service. They BARELY touched on the phases of flights and I quickly realized how little I knew. She made it a point to a minutia to tell me every tiny thing I did wrong, during and after the flights and even on our layover on the phone It was very negative. They deadheaded me to start the trip in another base so my 3 day trip turned to 5. The second day we had 4 legs. In those 9 hours I was not able to go to the restroom when I needed to, get anything to eat and couldn't sit down once. The flights were back to back. By the end of the trip I lost 5 pounds. It was brutal. There was no where to wash your hands except the lavatory at the back and I had to stay in the front of the plane. It was very unsanitary as they taught me to not use gloves or use sanitation materials. This is how we served first class (after collecting garbage). She made it a point to criticize me in front of the passengers (loudly). By the end of each flight and after I had completed my duties, the CSA agent asked if we were ready to board. It was total chaos, boarding passengers, serving first class, checking for compliance multiple times, stocking the carts, giving announcements and closing the main cabin door (you get $6 to board and deplane total which is over an hour of time). I absolutely was floored the job would be like this. I never had a job where my basic needs were denied. I brought healthy food but couldn't eat it. They other two FA's ate chips or cookies when they got a minute. The instructor used the front FA station for her stuff but told me to put my items in the back in an overhead bin, nowhere close to where I was working. Very inconsiderate. Her and her relative the other FA would chit chat on the phones during the flight. I was not included in layover activities. The planes are old and have no galley sink that can be used. The jump seats can only be used to for take off and landing (or turbulence) and they "don't allow" the flight attendants to sit in passengers seats on the job. You aren't allowed to use the ovens to heat your food although at main line these rules don't apply. Since I was training, I had to sit in a passenger seat, but it was hard to know when it was time to do anything, because from where I sat I couldn't hear the landing gear which is a major signal for what to do when. I wasn't able to answer flight deck or the other attendant calls and know what was going on from where I sat so had no idea what is going on. On this training trip they grade you on 17 pages of items and it is unclear how many you can miss to still pass. There is no rubric. If they assign you one type of aircraft, you still have to do another tedious OE on the other one. Some people get that one the first time. Layovers are minimum and not fun. There wasn't anything enjoyable about the job. Two passengers on my first proficiency leg knew I was in training but treated me terribly and made me cry. When I realized that this wasn't what I envisioned I resigned. After I resigned I still received an automatic occurrence because I didn't finish the deadhead leg home. I automatically was charged $950 for company property, although I shipped it out the very day I resigned. I took pictures of everything and sent every spec of equipment, gifts etc, uniforms etc because they wanted it all back. There is no one to talk to when your paycheck for training and IOE is $0. They don't care about their employees. For 9-10 hours of constant work, you will be paid $146. Ask yourself if you can live off of that.
