Twenty three years ago I announced to my friends and family that I wanted to become a Flight Attendant for Southwest Airlines. This announcement was met with raised eyebrows, as I was considered by some as not being suited for this profession. "Why not?" you say. "You are not going to wear those shorts, are you?" my best friend asked. "What about your degree in speech therapy?" my father questioned. "You are going to abandon me?" my 17-year-old son complained. My only support came from my husband who said, "I always wanted to sleep with a Flight Attendant, but I never thought it would be you!"
For Christmas that year, all the gifts had been opened that were under the tree. Ready to disband, my brother said, "Wait - there's one more gift!" He leaves the room for a minute and comes back with a size 2 Southwest Airlines uniform; a pair of plastic Flight Attendant wings, and a roundtrip ticket to Austin. "Put these on and work a round trip to Austin and back. I bet you change your mind!"
Every night, I lay in bed thinking about interview questions I might be asked and acceptable answers. I had answers to questions I have yet to be asked! I received my letter asking me to come for a Group Interview. Now came the hard part: What am I going to wear? I decided on a red wool suit that was similar to the Flight Attendant uniform at the time. I bought new camel colored pumps (closed toe and heel) and matching purse. Looking the part, I reported to the Headquarters Building in Dallas.
The chairs in the interview room were arranged in a horseshoe shape. I headed for the middle seat. The applicant sitting beside me asked if I would put her keys in my new purse since she didn't bring one. She was to become one of my best friends to this day. We were asked to stand up, spell our names, tell something about ourselves and why we wanted to fly for SWA. When I stood up, I went to the front of the room and just knew I was going to slip and fall on my face. I should have worn those new shoes previously so the soles weren't slick! I told them that, when I reached my midlife crisis, I didn't know whether to go to medical school (the residency for brain surgery was so long) or become a fry cook at Denny's (even though I had lost my taste for that sort of thing). Then I realized I would be a perfect fit for the job of Flight Attendant because I had waited on people hand and foot; I could talk to a wrong number for fifteen minutes; and I had certainly worked for peanuts. I hoped Southwest Airlines would agree!"
Well, they did agree and I've been grateful ever since.
Comments
My story is similar, I was a flight attendant for a number of years, not just with United, but others which include,Tower air, Carnival airlines , Winair, and then United, the last airline I worked for. Fear of losing my job when United filed for chapter 11 , and my domicle closing in PHL, I decided to call it quits, my current place of residance is West Palm Beach Florida, I'm currently employed in sales at a local Bestbuy store, I think about flying at least once a day and miss it , I will be moving to Orlando because Southwest has a large flight attendant domicle there, I will also be seeking employment once again to fly the friendly skys, David good luck and i'll see you at Southwest.
Mike H
After 22 years as a f/a with UNITED, it was time to call it quits! Literally. I was soo burned out with management crap and pay cuts going to the greedy bastards at the top.... I left. With no regrets,except for the fact that I had NO plan. That was Mar 19, 2006. Time away has been good for me. I MISS FLYING! I became to hate the job because I hated what UAL had become. So I'm crossing my fingers and say'n my prayers that SouthWest calls me. I applied six weeks ago and can't wait to get back into the sky! Wish me luck.. David in Chicago
i flew for nwa for 10 years, applied for swa, got a group interview, and didn't get held back for the one on one interview. got my rejection letter today.
Reggie walker,
Hello my name is Terie, I see that you have a interview date the same day as mine. I would love to chat with you if you should get this blog before Saturday.
If we don't chat i will be looking for you in the interview just so that i can say hello and nice to meet ya.
Terie
Carole,
Good morning and good afternoon, and most of all Hello.
I have been a flight attendant with another airline for the last year, I too was going through midlife crisis at the age of 42. After making it through the hardest thing in my life (training), my kids were a breeze compaired to training..haha I have decided to move on with a bigger airline and Southwest was my first choice (and the fact that i can show off my legs-but first i have to tan them..haha) and i have been invited to and interview with southwest on the 23rd of June. yes yes yes..I ran across your blog and after reading it, i became so much more relaxed about going to my interview with southwest. I feel that i have a pretty good sense of humor and i love to laugh, my kids tell me that i need to act my age, (and i think to myself, ya right) and then i reply with, you can be as young as you want to be, does not matter the age..
Anyway, i am writing to see if there are any tips you can give me before i go into my interview. I will owe you a lunch of your choice (at McDonalds) haha just kidding. Anything you can give me would be very helpful..
thank you for taken the time to read my blog to you,.
Theresa Horton
I have wanted to be a flight attendant for quite sometime now. I finally applied to SWA a month ago and have been invited to a group infomation session on 6/23. Can you tell me what to expect. Do's and don't do's. Also what does the agility test consists of? Thanks for your help.
Great info! Can you tell me more about flight attendant school. Where are they offerded in Texas? San Antonio? How many people go through the program? How many people fail?
Hello Hello, I am a 9 year FA with AA and have thought about joining SWA for a few years now. My mother who is also an AA FA is having to retire this year after being off the line since 2003 after having numerous brain surgeries. This family set back relocated me to Orlando a few years ago. It has been a GREAT move and nice to be closer to all my family. I LOVE MY JOB but not fond of knowing that I will be a commuter forever with no end in sight. If anyone has a little info on bases that are usually given to new hires and what kind of lock in periods follow I would LUV to hear from you. Is MCO considered a senior base? I commute on ya'll all the time and would love to part of the SWA family. Thanks for ANY bits of info. Have fun and fly safe!!!! ----Cali email--- metters75@hotmail.com
i went to my GI but i wasn't one of the few people they held back for one on ones. connie said "if we didn't call your name, don't be discouraged, and be sure to hold on to everything we asked you to bring". i still feel discouraged! i heard from an fa that if you're not one of the few they held back that you probably won't be called for a one on one. i bought new shoes just for my interview...unfortunately along w/the new shoes came new blisters and i ended up walking like a pirate. do they have a "no pirate" policy?? is that where i went wrong? i miss flying...
Carole-
I'm happy to help answer the questions you receive on how to become a flight attendant. I've been assisting "wanna-be's" for over 10 years now at no charge to anyone. Feel free to give my e-mail out to anyone.
Tim Kirkwood, Author
THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT JOB FINDER & CAREER GUIDE