The Strangest Requirements In Place To Become A Flight Attendant

Being a flight attendant is a dream job for many people. After all, you get to fly to incredible destinations, meet people from all over the world, and get paid to do it. However, not just anyone can be a flight attendant. Many airlines have very specific requirements in place, some of which can seem pretty bizarre. From height regulations to hair restrictions, cabin crew often have to meet certain criteria and abide by strict rules that you don't find in many other lines of work.

While many professions have clearly laid out requirements to enter the field that are more or less universal, such as specialized knowledge and training, the prerequisites for flight attendants can vary from airline to airline. Some airlines are clear-cut about how their cabin crew must look and act, while others require trainees to take specialized courses that go above and beyond basic safety training. These are some of the strangest cabin crew requirements from various airlines around the world that might make you scratch your head.

Being tall isn't the only height requirement for many airlines. Some also insist their cabin members have an arm reach of at least 6-foot-8-inches. Again, this is because flight attendants must be able to open and close the overhead bins, and cabin crew must also be able to reach deep inside the bins. Unfortunately, many passengers aren't well-versed in overhead bin etiquette, so flight attendants often need to rearrange items in the bins to make more space or allow the bin doors to close.

Another reason that airlines require cabin members to have a long reach is for safety. Some aircraft have safety equipment and mechanisms like circuit breakers in lofty places, so cabin crew must be able to access them in the case of an emergency. Many airlines include a reach test as part of the onboarding process, where candidates must reach a particular point with either their fingertips or entire palms. Some allow candidates to wear shoes and sometimes even high-heel shoes during the test, while others have a strict no-shoe policy.

You may be tall, have a long arm reach, and be braces-free, but even that's not enough for some airlines. Some also require you to have an impeccable complexion. In a recent AirAsia job posting, the airline stated that some of the things they look for include "flawless skin (without acne marks)" and "no visible marks on the hands and legs." Moreover, according to the Air India Cabin Crew Handbook uploaded on Live and Let's Fly, "Crew must take good care of their skin in order to have a flawless makeup look. A clear and acne free skin is a prerequisite for flight duties."

Thankfully, airlines that require nothing less than complexion perfection are few and far between. That being said, many encourage cabin crew to keep up a healthy skincare routine. Meghan Singleton of Blogger at Large reported that the Emirates training school in Dubai gives classes on the importance of skincare and how to properly cleanse, moisturize, and tone skin. They also teach recruits about the effects of flying on the skin and how to keep up with your skincare on a long flight.

If you want to be a flight attendant, you better not be a couch potato — at least according to some airlines. Take Qatar Airways, for example, which lists "excellent health and fitness" as one of the cabin crew requirements. One of the minimum requirements for Japan Airlines cabin crew is that candidates "Must be healthy and able to adapt to changes in weather conditions." Some airlines even have body mass index (BMI) requirements for cabin crew.

It may seem odd or even discriminatory for an airline to require employees to be fit and in good health, but it mostly comes down to the physicality of the job. Flight attendants have to stoop, bend, and stretch often. They must also push heavy food and beverage carts, stow heavy bags in the overhead bins, and potentially open heavy emergency doors. Plus, flight attendants are often on their feet for extended periods throughout the flight — the reason why airline crew secretly enjoy turbulence is because it gives them time to sit and rest for a bit.

If you want to be a flight attendant and have visible piercings (other than in your earlobes), the airline will most likely ask you to take them out at work. Most airlines do not allow any type of facial fashion accessories, including nose rings, lip rings, or eyebrow rings. United sums up the collective thinking of most airlines in its Flight Attendant Uniform Appearance Standards guide, saying, "Visible body piercing (including tongue piercing) other than earlobes is not permitted while in uniform."

Facial piercings are not the only thing airlines regulate. Many have strict guidelines about earrings, dictating how many you can wear, how big they must be, and even what style you can wear. For example, American Airlines only allows one earring per lobe, which cannot be larger than one inch. United Airlines says the earrings "may be gold, silver, pearl, precious or semi-precious gemstones that complement the uniform." As a rule, many airlines will not allow cuffs, barbells, or ear gauges.

You may have noticed that many flight attendants look ultra-glamorous with impeccable makeup that wouldn't look out of place on a fashion shoot. That may not be a personal choice. Some airlines require flight attendants to wear makeup, even going so far as to dictate what colors can be worn and how the makeup should be applied. Emirates is famous for encouraging female flight attendants to wear its signature "Emirate's red" lipstick. According to Cosmetic Business, the company collaborated with Dior and Davines to create the Emirates Beauty Hub, where staff can receive recommendations about which makeup brands and colors to use.

Those who prefer to go au natural might be happy to know that many airlines are changing with the times and relaxing their makeup rules. In 2021, Axios reported that United Airlines updated its makeup rules to be more inclusive, allowing people of any gender to wear natural-looking makeup. In 2019, Virgin Atlantic announced that cabin crew can work with or without makeup according to personal choice. Other airlines that do not have makeup requirements include Delta and American Airlines.

Most airlines have a minimum age requirement for prospective cabin crew members, with many stating that flight attendants must be at least 18 to 21 years old. Although it's rare to find an upper age limit, it's not unheard of. While the United States has the Age Discrimination in Employment Act that prohibits discrimination against people 40 or older, there are no such laws in several other countries. Hence, airlines can require flight attendants to be under a certain age.

Asian airlines, in particular, seem to be more hung up with having youthful flight attendants than airlines on other continents. Air India is one airline that considers age as part of its eligibility criteria for flight attendants. According to the Tata Group website, Air India's age limit for "freshers" is 18 to 27 years old. For experienced crew, the limit is 35 years. Malaysia Airlines is another airline that states that potential cabin crew must be aged between 18 and 35 years old.​ According to the South China Morning Post, Chinese airlines will not employ flight attendants over the age of 40 and will even assign cabin crew to other roles once they hit that age.

Hair is another aspect of appearance that many airlines have strict regulations about. At the very least, many airlines require that hair is clean and neat in appearance. Some airlines also have restrictions on the color of your hair. Alaska Airlines states that "hair must be of natural color." Likewise, Delta Airlines says, "Color must be of a natural hue. No stark highlights or unnatural shades." Air India requires crew members with gray hair to dye their hair in a "natural shade" or company-approved color.

If you ever noticed that flight attendants always have their hair up, that's also because of airline regulations. Part of the reason is that it looks neater and is more hygienic, especially when serving food and drinks. However, as a flight attendant named Rania explained on TikTok, the other reason long hair must be kept up is because it needs to be out of your face if an emergency happens. She also stated that it "looks more professional for the company."