Delta Air Lines makes trainee flight attendants share hotel rooms for up to six weeks as they undergo the carrier’s extensive initial training program at its World Headquarters campus, it has emerged.
At the same time, the soon-to-be flight attendants must live on Georgia’s minimum wage before they become officially employed as crew members for what is one of the biggest and most financially successful airlines in the United States.
Last October, Air India caused an uproar amongst its flight attendant workforce when it started to make crew members share hotel rooms during layovers as part of a wild cost-cutting initiative that occurred at the same time that Air India merged with Vistara.
Vistara’s flight attendants had traditionally always shared hotel rooms with same-sex colleagues on layovers, while Air India’s crew members always had their own room.
As part of the merger, however, the work practices of both sets of flight attendants had to be combined and airline leaders decided that the hotel room sharing policy should apply to all crew members.
Internationally, there are a few other airlines that require crew members to share hotel rooms, although it is very much the exception rather than the norm. At Dubai-based Emirates, for example, so-called ‘cabin service attendants’ are required to share hotel rooms, whereas cabin crew are not.
For Delta, the hotel room sharing policy only applies to trainee flight attendants during their initial course in Atlanta and once they are flying, they get their own hotel room.
Of course, taking up the offer of shared hotel accommodation isn’t mandatory, but because many trainees will travel from out of state to complete the training course and try to survive on low incomes, it’s an offer many take up.
Delta isn’t the only airline to make trainee flight attendants share hotel rooms, with United also a major player that has a shared room policy. Of the ‘Big Three’ US carriers, American Airlines is the only one that provides single occupancy rooms for its new-hire crew members during training.
Matt’s take
It’s easy to understand why Delta would make trainee flight attendants share a hotel room, and there could even be some upsides – having a roommate might make studying a little easier, although I’m not sure whether I’d be happy with this arrangement.
Perhaps six weeks of sharing a room with one other person is a small price to pay to land a dream job for many, although to me it doesn’t seem like the best welcome.
Slavery has been abolished, so any potential trainee who is less than thrilled with the wage and accommodations, need not apply.
I don’t see the problem with sharing a room during the training. Most new entrants will have travelled 100s miles for the training and arrive soon before the start. They haven’t had time to find a place to live.
It also enables the new recruits to not feel too lonely at the beginning of the training. Joining an airline is a big change from any other job.
But I think it should stop there. Cabin crew are professionals. They work very long hours and should be able to relax on their own without being disturbed by someone else who could have problem to sleep or simply snores.
So what? They’re being housed and fed by Delta. Would you like them to be paid 20 year pay? If they like the accommodations at Delta training, then they’d LOVE the lodging arrangement in the military. Maybe they should join that instead.
If neither of these are acceptable,
DON’T. TAKE. THE. JOB……they’d probably be terrible employees anyway.
It does not seem like a horrible situation to me, for six weeks you are making minimum wage so how much do you really expect as far as accomodations?
Just a comment from an ‘old fart’ – When I trained as an airline Res Agent back in 1979, four of us shared a 2 bedroom apartment. I’ve read where decades before that, ‘stewardesses’ working for my own airline shared a room while on a layover.
Back then I was so enamored with airlines that I never gave it another thought. Nowadays, I view it as just another cost saving ploy by the airlines that take advantage of the endless applicants ( like I was ).
If a trainee wants to socialize or study, it’s not requisite to have a roommate. What if the roommates are incompatible for any number of reasons ? The airlines have the trainees ‘by the balls’ — are you really going to complain & risk termination or retaliation?
Just ask the pilot trainees how they like their accommodations….. I guarantee they’re not doubling up with roommates
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Shame (yet again) on the airlines for their greedy predatory behavior !
In 1991 I was in FA training for Pan Am Express in Philly. The class all had shared hotel rooms, which they tried to make easier by assigning similar aged trainees together, and all were with the same sex. I was put in a room with a young woman 10 years my junior, uneducated, barely literate, and who talked incessantly. She wanted non-stop help with studying. She was very nice, but not the most interesting. I was well-read, had been a finance professional, and when the economy tanked, and my husband left me after a nervous breakdown, I wanted something new in my life, and I wanted to travel. First couple of days I got to know her. The first day I checked in before her. Put my clothes away, chose a bed, put my stuff in the bathroom. NOPE… She wanted more space for her outrageous amount of bath/makeup stuff, and said she’d prefer the bed I chose. I told her, too bad, should have gotten here sooner. She started picking at my snacks without asking. I just started studying in the bar, not wanting to deal with her inability to study w/o aide. Annoying!!!!!!!! We both made it through. Became friends til she accused me of flirting with her ugly, rude boyfriend. Such is life. I don’t see it as a big deal to put up with annoyance for a few weeks – just avoid it the best you can. Remember, pilots have a lot more studying to do than FAs, so it makes sense that they’re not sharing rooms. I just think that airlines should tell recruits ahead of time what to expect. Don’t know if Delta does this, but I was not told. Just be honest before someone takes a job as to what the expectations are…..
1987 -? American didn’t pay anything for the 6 weeks, But shared room and meals were complimentary. I think , up until a few years ago when they upgraded their HQ, shared rooms was still practiced.
Every US airline has always done this for Flight Attendant training, with the exception of COVID. That was the only time trainees didn’t share a room. Every airline that I have flown for we always shared a hotel room or apartment provided by the company. This is nothing new.
It’s 2025, why are ADULTS sharing a room? Many of these trainees aren’t young college aged adults. Privacy is key for many people. All the money Delta makes they should be able to allow trainees to have a single room without a roommate.
wow in 2025 this is so risky, immediatly no
Just so you know the person who wrote this article has it in for Delta? What happened? Did Delta say you don’t have what it takes to? For everyone’s information every airline AA DL UA WN etc all share rooms. There’s a reason for that also some airlines don’t pay for training some pay a minimal wage because you are NOT an employee till you get through training and you are offered a position. What you do t see is the money that is being invested in you during this process. Room board breakfast lunch and dinner the instructors they are paying to teach you etx. so stop writing what dont know !!
Samuel Perez is correct. Delta is doing what, I think, other major carriers do and that is “minimum wage” during flight attendant training. They are given a per diem allowance for food, etc. The turn over rate for flight attendant trainees is very high due to how tough the training really is. Flight attendant trainees, like reservation trainees and other divisions do not have a permanent airline ID until they complete training.
Why is this an issue. My sister in law and my niece are both flight attendants for Delta and they are proud of the work they do for an airline they are very loyal to. “Making” flight attendant trainees share a hotel room while in training in smart economically, and yes, it offers a chance for establishing bonds between employees that will last for the length of their careers.