u/ThatFlyNurse

Current FAs and FA applicants: where do you stand on training accommodations?

Some airlines, such as Delta, United, and Frontier, assign trainees roommates during initial training, while others—including American, Alaska, SkyWest, PSA, Envoy, and Piedmont—generally provide individual rooms.

Because both models clearly work, it makes me wonder: are roommates truly an important part of developing interpersonal skills, teamwork, and camaraderie, or is the shared-room model primarily a cost-saving measure?

Personally, I’m split 50/50. I can absolutely see the value of having a built-in support system and forming friendships during such an intense experience. At the same time, training days are long and stressful, and having your own space to study, decompress, and recharge could potentially improve both well-being and performance.

One thing I find interesting is that after graduation, US flight attendants do not share hotel rooms on layovers, so the roommate model is unique to training.

Should single-occupancy rooms be the industry standard, or is the roommate experience an important part of flight attendant development?

For those who have already gone through training: did having a roommate enhance your experience or make it more difficult? If you had a private room, do you think you missed out on anything?

Disclaimer: I have a whole separate scolding for passengers and their bad behavior, unrealistic expectations, and all of that. However, since this is a flight attendant page I’m addressing cabin crew side of things here. Also, if the behavior I’m describing doesn’t reflect how you operate, then this post is not about you—keep on shining and going above and beyond, you beautiful flight attendant!

Hey Y'all,

I’ve noticed a trend online where a growing number of flight attendants invoke the “safety professional” title in response to passenger complaints about subpar or absent inflight service and lack of warmness and hospitality. These flight attendants speak about cabin service almost as though it’s a magnanimous favor being done for passengers rather than an expected part of the job, and air travel as a whole.

While I absolutely agree that safety is our highest priority, I think we’ve somewhat lost sight of an important truth: we are not ONLY safety professionals, we are ALSO service professionals. Cabin service is not something we’re doing “out of the kindness of our hearts” or as a special courtesy to passengers. It’s part of the product our passengers have purchased and part of the professional responsibilities we have accepted as flight attendants. Just to put it out there, obviously there are times where we are facing conditions, like extremely turbulent air pockets, and cannot safely get the carts up and down the aisles without high likelihood of injuring ourselves or passengers. I'm not talking about those times.

I’m not just saying this to everyone else—I’m saying it to myself too. Honestly, I’ve had many moments where I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be overly hospitable or provide excellent service, and that doesn’t exempt me from the standard. Even if we don't feel warm and hospitable and inviting, it is our job and responsibility to force ourselves to do it anyway.

We are not JUST service professionals, but we ARE service professionals.

Passengers pay a not insignificant amount of money for air travel, and with that comes certain expectations, including professional and attentive inflight service. When operational or safety concerns prevent us from providing that service, that’s understandable, but even then we must be proactive in communicating that and explaining the circumstances. What concerns me is the growing sentiment that passengers are somehow irritating, annoying, unreasonable, or wrong for expecting or asking for service in the first place. Airlines are businesses, and they are selling customer experience as their product, which includes in-flight service, so long as it is not actively unsafe.

As a hospitality businesses, our passengers are entitled to the highest level of service we can safely provide (though they also should never act demanding or with entitlement). Good flight attendants treat both safety and service as essential and fundamental parts of the profession, and don’t get annoyed or irritated when passengers ask for things. Our industry is at its best when we take responsibility and ownership for both aspects of the role. So yes, as long as there is still enough time, let's pour the extra Diet Coke or give the extra snack. Let's Be the sunshine moment of someone's day.

P.S. Poor passenger behavior is never a justifiable reason for why we didn’t show up and deliver the highest level of service possible (obviously be safe and handle all safety concerns firmly indecisively), but that is not an excuse for not doing our job. We are responsible for our professionalism at all times, regardless of what anyone else is doing. We can’t control how people act, but we ARE fully responsible for how you respond. We must respond with grace, and with firmness when necessary, no matter what’s happening in front of us. It’s not about what someone else did—it’s about how we behave up and respond to/handle the situation.

Am I the only one who's hoping for an interview date in August and not July? I have some training happening for work for most of July and wouldn't be able to make it out there. I don't want to have to turn this down and lose my chance just because the dates don't match up! SO FREAKING NERVOUS! 😰🫨🫪

EDIT: Also, I'm still waiting on the "Taking Flight" video, and the other day I got the "hang in there, you are still in consideration it's just taking us longer to review people's ODVI submissions" email.

Does UA do roommates for training, or do you have your own room? I know at AA and SWA you have your own room, Delta and F9 still do roommates, but I have no idea about UA, or Alaska for that matter.

I finally got communication from Delta! It's not the taking flight video yet, it was the "you are still in consideration, it's just taking us a little longer to review ODVI submissions" email. Now it's time to pray that they move me through and send me to the taking flight video and then onto the in person interview!

Hey y'all, I have been seeing a lot of reports from people saying that they didn't get an email or text notification that their ODVI responses were received. Here's what happened to me, and where you should look: If you have an iPhone, go into your iMessage and search for the number 825368. That's the number the text came from. It was hidden in my "transactions" folder, because for some reason, my phone decided that this was a transaction, not confirmation from the ODVI.

Completed my ODVI in the very early morning on 6/5, but haven't heard a single thing since. Still waiting on the taking flight video, but at this point it feels like an indefinite ground stop. I haven't even gotten the "hang in there" email where they explain that reviewing ODVI is taking longer than expected. I feel like I'm probably cooked, but at the same time I know that no news is good news. I think maybe it's taking longer because I opted out of AI scoring? What do y'all think?

Applied on 6/1, immediately invited to complete FitMe assessment. Completed assessment around 0130 on 6/2, immediately got invite for ODVI. Completed ODVI around 0200 on 6/5. Have not received the "taking flight" video/email yet. I think it's partially due to the fact that I panicked and opted out of the AI review for the ODVI, so it will take longer since a human will have to do the entire interview review. So nervous. 😱😬😰 Send Prayers😅🥲

As a Phoenix Metro resident for the last 11 years, I'm a little confused. I don't understand why Phoenix is such a senior base for every single airline. Like I understand Dallas, Atlanta, San Francisco, LAX, NYC, SEA, etc., but Phoenix? Seems strange to me. Granted, I know that United and Delta's PHX bases are only satellite bases and they are not very big, but still... What gives?

Apparently there is a really creative solution being worked on to purchase and save spirit airlines, which would re-create many of the flight attendant jobs that were just lost. I read up on it and it's actually quite impressive. If you would like to read about it, I can give info.

With the news of Spirit Airlines shutting down, my heart genuinely hurts for every pilot, flight attendant, gate agent, ramper, mechanic, dispatcher, scheduler, cleaner, and employee suddenly facing uncertainty tonight.

Behind the memes and yellow airplanes were real people who showed up every day, worked hard, kept passengers safe, and brought an energy to this industry that nobody else quite replicated. Spirit crews were some of the friendliest, funniest, most resilient people in aviation, and they deserved far more respect than they often received online.

Regardless of what people thought about the product model, Spirit maintained an incredible perfect safety record. Those crews got millions of people where they needed to go safely, day after day, year after year.
Praying every displaced employee lands on solid ground quickly — with smooth transitions, open doors, financial provision, and better opportunities ahead. The airline industry is small, and we are mourning with you tonight.
Blue skies and favorable tailwinds, Bees. 💛