What Career Progression is there for Cabin Crew?

You’ve landed your dream career in the skies, but do you know where it’s going to take you?

We outline some of the most common career progression options for Cabin Crew.

Supervisory Cabin Crew Roles

Cabin Crew career progression opportunities can differ slightly depending on the airline, the routes they operate on and the types of aircraft they use.

Once you’ve been working for your airline for a set amount of time (usually a minimum of one year) you can apply for a supervisory Cabin Crew position.

This means you’ll be responsible for the whole crew, and making sure that they meet the high standards expected of them, as well as performing your own usual cabin crew duties.

You’ll be expected to fill out reports and provide feedback on the flight and crew performance, as well as encouraging the crew to meet sales targets with duty-free goods. Other duties will include stepping in to resolve and in-flight issues with passengers and crew, and training and supervising new crew members on their first flight.

Some airlines offer interim supervisory positions, for example on a large aircraft there will be crew members in charge of each section (most often economy, first-class and business class) all reporting to a senior crew member on board.

You can apply for a senior position at another airline if you wish, and all appropriate training will be provided.

Ground Based Roles

Some cabin crew (including those who might want to take a step back from flight duties due to personal circumstances like family commitments) move to ground-based roles as part of their career journey.

This might involve taking up a position in the airline’s recruitment sector, and using their knowledge and experience to help select the next generation of promising Cabin Crew candidates!

Another option is to move into Cabin Crew training, either for the airline that you currently work for, or for other recognised Cabin Crew courses.

There are also a number of opportunities for working for the airline in other roles, as a Cabin Crew Regional Manager or in a similar management position, or working in passenger services.

Your experience as crew can also set you up as being an attractive prospect for employment in industries outside of aviation, especially in travel, tourism and customer service.

Alternative Cabin Crew Roles

Another option for crew is to move on to new challenges in the world of corporate flights, working as Cabin Crew on a privately chartered plane.

The main difference is that you will be working as part of a much smaller crew (or sometimes even alone as the sole crew-member) and looking after a lot less passengers – though these passengers will have the highest of standards and expectations!

It can be an incredibly exciting career, with high-profile passengers on board and the opportunity to have amazing layovers. But it’s also a lot of hard work and responsibility, and a very competitive industry to enter into.