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What Airline Pays Flight Attendants The Most

Have you ever wondered how much each of the airlines pays their flight attendants? Maybe you’re already a flight attendant and want to make sure your pay is competitive in the industry. Or, perhaps you are hoping to become a flight attendant for the first time and want to know how much you can expect to make.

Look no further. We have compiled info to cover how much each of the major airlines pays their flight attendants based on where they are in their career. We’ve also included info on additional pay like bonuses, commissions, and other profit sharing.

Note: We’ve used a variety of sources for this guide including the airlines themselves, self-reporting sites like Payscale and Glassdoor, as well as information gathered directly from flight attendants themselves. We’ve done all the research so you don’t have to.

We’ve put our information into an easy to read table for your convenience in addition to the write-up below.

Average Annual PayBottom 10%Top 10%Additional Annual Pay American Airlines$43,460$30,000$86,000$2,825 Delta Airlines$40,236$24,000$91,000$6,400 Southwest Airlines$42,000$30,000$65,000$4,800 United Airlines$44,219$28,000$100,000$5,200 Air Canada$39,000$24,000$65,000$2,825 Alaskan Airlines$53,000$27,000$113,000$3,400 JetBlue$42,500$32,000$103,000$2,350 Spirit Airlines$39,000$25,000$68,000$1,500 WestJet$35,000$27,000$46,000$2,825 Frontier Airlines$29,400$27,000$45,000$1,100 Allegiant Air$32,000$26,000$71,000$2800 Hawaiian Airlines$39,000$29,000$88,000$2,500 Sun Country Airlines$37,000$22,000$85,000$1,900

Below is a list of the 13 largest airlines in the United States (and Canada) along with their salary and additional pay information.

American Airlines

The average annual salary for a flight attendant at American Airlines is $43,460. The most experienced flight attendants (top 10%) can expect to make an average of $86,000 annually while beginners can expect to average under $30,000 per year.

American Airlines does also have programs in place to pay their flight attendants bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. These additional forms of pay average $2,825 per year.

Delta Airlines

The average annual salary for a flight attendant at Delta Airlines is $40,236. The most experienced flight attendants (top 10%) can expect to make an average of $91,000 annually while beginners can expect to average around $24,000 per year. Something you’ll notice on this list is that the larger carriers tend to pay more than the smaller regional sized airlines. Delta is no exception.

Delta Airlines does also have a very generous programs in place to pay their flight attendants bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. These additional forms of pay average $6,400 per year. This is among the highest of the airlines we looked at.

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Southwest Airlines

The average annual salary for a flight attendant at Southwest Airlines is $42,000. The most experienced flight attendants (top 10%) can expect to make an average of $65,000 annually while beginners can expect to average under $30,000 per year. In addition to having one of the highest average salaries, Southwest is considered to have among the happiest employees of any airline.

Southwest Airlines does also have programs in place to pay their flight attendants bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. These additional forms of pay average $4,800 per year. This is also one of the better programs for additional pay in the industry.

United Airlines

The average annual salary for a flight attendant at United Airlines is $44,219. The most experienced flight attendants (top 10%) can expect to make an average of $100,000 annually while beginners can expect to average under $28,000 per year. United pays their most senior flight attendants better than any other airlines on our list. If you have a lot of experience and love your job as a flight attendant, this is a great place to consider working.

United Airlines does also have programs in place to pay their flight attendants bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. These additional forms of pay average $5,200 per year. This is also one of the better programs for flight attendants to earn money in addition to their regular pay.

Air Canada

The average annual salary for a flight attendant at Air Canada Airlines is C$39,000. The most experienced flight attendants (top 10%) can expect to make an average of C$65,000 annually while beginners can expect to average under $24,000 per year.

Air Canada does also have programs in place to pay their flight attendants bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. These additional forms of pay average $2,825 per year.

Like many of the smaller airlines, Air Canada pays less than some of the bigger airlines. That being said, it has a great reputation for treating employees well.

Alaskan Airlines

The average annual salary for a flight attendant at Alaskan Airlines is $53,000. The most experienced flight attendants (top 10%) can expect to make an average of $113,000 annually while beginners can expect to average under $27,000 per year. As you can see, sticking around at Alaskan Airlines really pays off. They pay their most senior flight attendants a very large rate.

Alaskan Airlines does also have programs in place to pay their flight attendants bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. These additional forms of pay average $3,400 per year.

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JetBlue Airways

The average annual salary for a flight attendant at Jetblue Airways is $42,500. The most experienced flight attendants (top 10%) can expect to make an average of $103,000 annually while beginners can expect to average under $32,000 per year.

JetBlue Airways does also have programs in place to pay their flight attendants bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. These additional forms of pay average $2,350 per year.

Spirit Airlines

The average annual salary for a flight attendant at Spirit Airlines is $39,000. The most experienced flight attendants (top 10%) can expect to make an average of $68,000 annually while beginners can expect to average under $25,000 per year.

Spirit Airlines does also have programs in place to pay their flight attendants bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. These additional forms of pay average $1,500 per year.

WestJet

The average annual salary for a flight attendant at West Jet Airlines is $35,000. The most experienced flight attendants (top 10%) can expect to make an average of $46,000 annually while beginners can expect to average under $24,000 per year.

WestJet Airlines does also have programs in place to pay their flight attendants bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. These additional forms of pay average $2,825 per year.

Frontier Airlines

The average annual salary for a flight attendant at Frontier Airlines is $29,400. The most experienced flight attendants (top 10%) can expect to make an average of $45,000 annually while beginners can expect to average under $27,000 per year.

Frontier Airlines does also have programs in place to pay their flight attendants bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. These additional forms of pay average $1,100 per year.

Allegiant Air

The average annual salary for a flight attendant at American Airlines is $32,000 The most experienced flight attendants (top 10%) can expect to make an average of $71,000 annually while beginners can expect to average under $26,000 per year.

Allegiant Air does also have programs in place to pay their flight attendants bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. These additional forms of pay average $2,825 per year.

Hawaiian Airlines

The average annual salary for a flight attendant at American Airlines is $39,000. The most experienced flight attendants (top 10%) can expect to make an average of $88,000 annually while beginners can expect to average under $29,000 per year.

Hawaiian Airlines does also have programs in place to pay their flight attendants bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. These additional forms of pay average $2,500 per year.

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Sun Country Airlines

The average annual salary for a flight attendant at Sun Country Airlines is $37,000. The most experienced flight attendants (top 10%) can expect to make an average of $85,000 annually while beginners can expect to average under $22,000 per year.

Sun Country Airlines does also have programs in place to pay their flight attendants bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. These additional forms of pay average $1,900 per year.

2023 Market Update

If you have been following the news over the last 18 months, you have probably noticed that there’s been significant impact to the economy. This has not only impacted the aviation industry and flight attendants, but the entire economy as a whole. While factors like inflation, increased travel, and a labor shortage have had an impact on most industries, the aviation industry has especially felt it.

So, how has this affected wages for flight attendants and how much these specific airlines pay their flight attendants?

While official data from the last year has not been officially released, there is an even higher than usual demand for flight attendants now. Most airlines are working hard to recruit, hire, and train new flight attendants. According to the most recent report from the US Department of Labor, there is expected to be a 21% increase in the demand for flight attendants. This increased demand is leading to more airline offering higher pay, better bonuses, and more flexibility in order to recruit new talent.

One example from over the last year is American Airlines offering $3,000 retention bonuses to existing flight attendants just to not quit as well as up to $4,500 for other roles.

Meanwhile, United is offering new employee bonuses of up to $10,000 and JetBlue was offering $1,000 bonuses for having perfect attendance. You can tell that demand is off the charts when professionals are being offered extra bonuses just to show up!

While the exact stats on pay at these airlines is not quite available yet, it’s safe to assume that between these bonuses, the shortages, and other demands in the industry that we expect to see flight attendant wages climb significantly It’s not out of the question to expect a 10%-20% increase in total compensation when it’s all said and done.

You can count on us to update this again as soon as we have more specific information.

Conclusion

As you can see, being a flight attendant can pay a great salary. You can look forward to making more money as you gain more experience in addition to all the other great benefits (like a flexible schedule and much more).

Related Reading:

  • How to become a flight attendant with no experience
  • How Much do flight attendants make
  • Benefits of being a flight attendant

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