How to Become a Flight Attendant in the 2nd Half of Life [Podcast]

Podcast #162 – Marc Interviews Joanne Webb, Author of Desire the Skies – The First Book Every Aspiring Flight Attendant Needs to Read

Description:

Joanne Webb has been a flight attendant for nineteen years. As she pursued this career path, she also took some miss-steps along the way. She applied to become a flight attendant a few different times after graduating from college. She was rejected, and based on that feeling, stopped pursuing the one career that truly made her feel excited.

In the summer of 2000, Joanne wandered into a hat store in New York City after calling on a client. The woman working there, Tricia, was about fifty at the time. She mentioned she was going to Paris that night and that she was a flight attendant for Continental Airlines, which is now part of United Airlines. Joanne told her she had applied three years before and they didn’t want her. Tricia assured her that was not necessarily true – she just needed some coaching. Joanne reapplied at Continental and is now a nineteen-year flight attendant at United (United and Continental merged).

Joanne also spent two years volunteering with immigrants in Denver with employment services. In doing this, she learned about resumes and interviews, as well as about the general workplace from a different angle. Joanne has taken knowledge from the airline industry and from employment counseling and has created two online courses, does private interview coaching, and has written a book called Desire the Skies: The First Book Every Aspiring Flight Attendant Needs to Read. Many of her clients are doing a Career Pivot.

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Next week, I have the founders of NextforMe.com, Carole McManus and Jeff Tidwell to talk to us about their online community and their book by the same name.

Now on to the podcast…

Prescription for Change: From Pharmacist To Flight Attendant – Secondactstories.org

Joanne explains that people who are interested in becoming flight attendants in the 2nd half of life are often those who wanted to do this earlier in their lives but did not pursue it.

Airlines Catagories

Regional Airlines

(Doing business as United Express, Delta Connection, or American Eagle.)

Low-Cost Airlines

Ultra-Low-Cost
Low Cost
- Jet Blue
- Southwest

Legacy Airlines

Getting Hired

Qualifications to get hired are:

High School Diploma
Over 21 years of age
Legal right to work in the US and countries where the airlines fly
At least one year of customer year experience

You also need a passion for the service industry.

Hiring is very competitive.

Boot camp is typically 6 weeks in a remote location. It is extensive and stressful. 90+% of the material is safety-related.

Joanne offers the advice that you should be able to open your garage door manually or lift a 30-pound bag over your head. She also suggests you have a financial nest egg saved up.

You can find her book at DesiretheSkies.com.

Joanne can be reached at hello@joannewebb.net

Online course – Get Your Wings Course

The Career Pivot Membership Community continues to help the approximately 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project to grow and thrive. This is a community where everyone is there to help everyone else. Marc is recruiting new members for the next cohort. If you are interested in the Career Pivot Membership Community and would like to be put on a waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community.