You’ve Got to Be Quick If You Want to Be a United Airlines Flight Attendant… The Airline Just Opened Recruitment For Less Than 24 Hours

If you have your dream set on becoming a flight attendant for one of the so-called ‘Big Three’ US airlines (that’s American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines for the uninitiated) then you’re going to have to be very organized and act incredibly fast.

It turns out that United Airlines started to accept new flight attendant applications for the first time in more than a year on Tuesday morning, but if you weren’t already in the know about the recruitment window reopening, you were likely already too late.

So short was the opportunity to submit an application that United had removed the job ad and shuttered the recruitment window in less than 24 hours. This was definitely a recruitment campaign reserved only for those with connections that had been given forewarning.

The recruitment tactic employed by United is in stark contrast to the longwinded hiring campaigns that major US carriers employed as the emerged from the dark days of the pandemic and were eagerly recruiting thousands of new flight attendants to keep up with a bounce back in travel demand.

Thankfully, there’s no sign of travel demand dropping off a cliff anytime soon but United, and its rivals, can clearly be a lot more selective than in 2022 and 2023.

The lucky candidates who did manage to submit an application in the short recruitment window on Tuesday will still have to navigate a multi-stage hiring process. If they’re successful in getting a job offer, they’ll still need to complete a stringent six-and-a-half-week training program at United’s special training center in Houston.

Despite the popularity in becoming a flight attendant, life in training school is anything but easy. Like other major U.S. airlines, flight attendants in initial training at United don’t receive a full wage, but the airline provides accommodation, breakfast, and lunch. Trainee crew also get a $140 weekly per diem to cover other meals and expenses.

Flight attendants also have to cover the cost of their initial set of uniform and luggage, although United says it offers a payment plan to spread the cost out over a series of paychecks.

At the completion of training, flight attendants will be sent to one of United’s seven hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, and Washington Dulles.

At least the training facilities are some of the best in the industry. Last year, United opened an expanded flight attendant training center in Houston at a cost of $32 million.

The centerpiece of the 56,000 sq. ft. training school is a 125,000-gallon pool that has a mock aircraft fuselage so that flight attendants can train for the very worst-case scenario of an evacuation onto water.

Along with the state-of-the-art aquatic center, United has also installed additional cabin mockups so that flight attendants can train in realistic-looking environments. The mockups feature sounds, lights and smoke to mimic the kind of emergencies that flight attendants might have to deal with in real life.

There are also various ‘door trainers’ that allow flight attendants to practice the different techniques of opening and closing various models of aircraft doors. These door trainers also allow flight attendants to practice emergency evacuation commands.

If you did happen to miss out on United’s flight attendant recruitment campaign, all is not lost. Delta Air Lines plans to reopen flight attendant recruitment on September 4… Don’t say you haven’t been warned!