Am I too old?

[Jerry Attrick]

I'm considering a major career change and at the grand age of 45 have decided to pursue a life long dream and try to commence a cabin crew career. Any other late starters out there? I know Virgin, Emirates and JAL don't want to know about us oldies, but are there any airlines out there that don't mind a couple of wrinkles?

[stormywx]

Hi,

Try the larger, established airlines.

I have a friend who at 34 last year joined Qantas as a FA. She is now a CSM.. sometimes that life experiece can be most helpful!

Qantas, BA, UAL, AirNZ, AA & KLM are all airlines that come to mind. All depends where your from and where you can live/work.

Good Luck!

[capt cynical]

A CSM after ONE year. I dont think so,
Ambition and Reality are two differant things.
Mind you with this Current C.C.(for want of a better word) "management", any sort of RORT is possible. :mad:

[cabin secure]

Captain Cynical
Why so cynical?
If you have had previous experience leading a team why is it so difficult to do it on an aircraft. At DJ they give Cabin Supervisor positions to 20 year olds with 6months flying experience>:p

[vdd]

Jerry Attrick,

Good for you - go for it!

I don't think you are too old. My friend's exflatmate started at QF LH 5 years ago...she's now 44. Another friend's exwife started at QF LH when she was 28 and after 1 1/2 - 2 years was promoted to first class cabin crew. I think it comes down to attitude and being able to do your job well. Impulse are recruiting at the moment and if you go to the Australian Airlines website you will see that they will be recruiting very soon.

Good luck with your career!

Cheers:D

[stormywx]

Be as cynical as you like, its true. I suppose it all depends what background you have.

I think its time people stopped trying to turn people off a career in aviation and started motivating them.

[tinyrice]

Delta has an 82 year old, Northwest, a 78 year old flight attendant. No point in looking back and saying, "if only". Go for it.

[flapsforty]

Jerry (nice username BTW ;) ) KLM certainly hires wrinklies; apparently they have discovered that hiring people older than 35 has a few advantages.


No absenteeism due problems associated with ankle-biters.
An overall more serious approach to work obligation versus calling in sick.
A very high motivation to do a good job due to having to "prove" yourself.
An often calm attitude in the face of crisis because at the ripe age of over-35 you have already lived trhough a fair number of disasters big and small.
True dedication to customer service because if you choose to get into it at that age, you realise that glamour isn't what it's all about and that the passenger and not you yourself is the most important.


I work everyday with "fresh out of boot-camp" FA's, both old and young people. And there is a lot to be said for the young ones as well; not least the fact that they have the indefatigable enthusiasm of youth, great bounce-back capacity and generally tend to be more pleasing to the eye than us oldies. :D

IMHO a mix of ages, races and sexes gives the best result.
A bit like real life that.............. ;)

Jerry, go for it; it's a grand job and a life-style unlike anything else in the world! http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/thumbs.gif

[Sick Squid]

Agree with everything Flaps says above. My mob too recruits people into their 50's. The ones I've flown with have been highly motivated, extremely good with the pax, and a pleasure to talk to over a meal, as in general their life stories are interesting.

Also, I have the greatest of respect for anyone who can change career direction at such a late stage; needs dedication and a strong sense of self-awareness.

Go for it.

£6

[Thunderbird One]

So long as you can evacuate and are fit you are not too old. The airline company I work for frequently takes on Cabin Crew in late 40's+. In fact to be quite honest it is nice to work with mature people and I think that passengers and crew respect you more too. If you don't do it now you'll regret it. It works very well having a mixture of all ages and these days age is not an issue in flying.

Which country do you live in and maybe someone will be able to point you in the right direction.

Please don't be put off by your age, go for it - you'll love it!!

(p.s. and let us know how you get on)
:)

[Jerry Attrick]

Thank you all so much for your encouragement and support. Nice to know there ARE some airlines out there who don't discriminate on the basis of length of time you've spent on the planet.

Would love to hear from any other late starters out there about their experiences.

Thanks again everyone.

[jmccrew]

I am not sure which country you are in but at JMC we employ crew up to 60 years of age :)

[BIG DICK]

This post is irrelevant to the debate at hand, and adds absolutely nothing to the question posed honestly by the topic starter, so therefore it has been removed. It is likely to take the argument down an avenue irrelevant to the topic under discussion. In future, do not waste either Xenia's or my own time with input such as this. Check your e-mail.

[Jerry Attrick]

Can anyone who works for Virgin Blue (in sunny Oz) give me an idea of age range of your cabin crew? Anyone over 40 there?

[capt cynical]

:D IQ or AGE Jerry ?