Flight attendants are about average in terms of happiness.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, flight attendants rate their career happiness 3.3 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 43% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy flight attendants are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Tour guide | 3.6 | $24k |
| Flight attendant | 3.3 | $62k |
| Spa manager | 3.2 | $38k |
| Travel agent | 3.0 | $44k |
| Concierge | 2.8 | $35k |
| Bus driver | 2.7 | $42k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are flight attendants happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do flight attendants find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as flight attendants?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are flight attendant’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are flight attendants making the best use of their abilities?
Are flight attendants happy with their salary?
Flight attendants rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most flight attendants having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked flight attendants how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
498 flight attendants
22% of flight attendants rated their compensation 5 stars
23% of flight attendants rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of flight attendants rated their compensation 3 stars
16% of flight attendants rated their compensation 2 stars
15% of flight attendants rated their compensation 1 stars
Do flight attendants find their jobs meaningful?
On average, flight attendants rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.8/5. While most flight attendants aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked flight attendants how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
505 flight attendants
15% of flight attendants rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
14% of flight attendants rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
29% of flight attendants rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
24% of flight attendants rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
19% of flight attendants rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as flight attendants?
Flight attendants rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of flight attendants find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked flight attendants how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
546 flight attendants
49% of flight attendants rated their career fit 5 stars
28% of flight attendants rated their career fit 4 stars
13% of flight attendants rated their career fit 3 stars
6% of flight attendants rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of flight attendants rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a flight attendant’s work environment?
As a whole, flight attendants rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of flight attendants enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a flight attendant.
We asked flight attendants how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
547 flight attendants
29% of flight attendants rated their work environment 5 stars
30% of flight attendants rated their work environment 4 stars
21% of flight attendants rated their work environment 3 stars
13% of flight attendants rated their work environment 2 stars
7% of flight attendants rated their work environment 1 stars
Are flight attendants making the best use of their abilities?
Former flight attendants on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.8/5. Flight attendants tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked flight attendants how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
546 flight attendants
16% of flight attendants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
16% of flight attendants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
21% of flight attendants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
28% of flight attendants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
20% of flight attendants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars