Meeting the Basic Cabin Crew Requirements

Not everyone can be cabin crew, there are some general requirements to be met, and some rather more specific.

Each Airline imposes their version of the general requirements that they want their cabin crew to possess.

However, as a rule of thumb the general requirements are as follows:

• You must be over the age of 18 (and in some companies 21). The reason that some companies require you to be over 21 is that you will be severing alcohol and in some countries the minimum age to do so is 21.
• You must have a valid passport with no restrictions for the countries the airline travels to. You will be staying in varies countries and you need to have passport access.
• You must be eligible to live and work in the country that you are based in. In most cases, you need to be able to work without a visa.
• You should be able to speak English fluently (and preferably able to speak more languages). Most airlines pay a bonus for extra language spoken.
• Your height will need to be within a specific range, mostly about 5’2” (158cm) to 6’3” (190cm)
• If there isn’t a height specification you must be able to reach the hat bins (overhead lockers) safely. Your height and weight should be in proportion
• You must be able to easily fit through the narrow aisles that are on the aircrafts

You must be able to swim (each company has its own swimming tests). If an emergency landing on water needs to be carried out, you need to save the passengers.

• You must be fit and able to obtain an Aero-Medical Certificate
• You should have no illnesses, good hearing and vision (you can wear contact lenses.)
• You must have no visible tattoos or piercings while wearing uniform – so long as you can subtly cover them up you will usually be fine.
• You must be able to provide a full five-year history with verifiable references (and criminal record check) – you will have access in airports to restricted areas so you need to be vetted and verified.
• You will have to be willing to live within 60-90 minutes of your allocated airport base – sometimes you will be called off standby and given 1 hour to get to the aircraft to avoid delays.