The Office of Travel and Tourism Industries has posted the following statistics regarding travel in 2000: 26,853,000 Americans traveled to foreign destinations, while a record 50.9 million international travelers visited the United States, which means lots of international air travel. Add to that domestic air travel and you can see that there are a lot of jobs out there. Post September 11, 2001 figures have not yet been released, but we hear news of financial troubles with the airlines on a daily basis. So, are the flight attendants' jobs secure? I've had a look around to try and get a feel for the industry as it stands today, and though there have been some layoffs among smaller airlines, particularly charter companies, many companies are also hiring. In the U.S. Southwest Airlines and Continental both appear to be weathering the storm well.

Glamorous as it sounds, working for the airlines is not all sweetness and light. The constant threat of lay-offs notwithstanding, it can be as repetitive as any other job in a service industry, with long hours and downright abusive passengers to look after. The plus side is that you get paid to travel. I was nosy and read some online discussions between
flight attendants (www.flightattendants.org), and discovered that difficulties aside, these people really LOVE what they do. Read Full Article