How to become a Flight Attendant
Also called: Cabin Attendant, Cabin Crew Member
Looks after passengers and provides all kinds of services on board aircraft, and handles safety in emergencies, so passengers travel safely and comfortably.
Main tasks
- Checking key details before the flight, such as the number of passengers and infants
- Checking before departure that the emergency equipment and service items needed are on board and that the cabin is in order
- Holding a briefing with the captain and others on expected turbulence and weather
- Holding meetings with the other cabin crew
- Welcoming passengers on board and showing them to their seats
- Announcing the destination and arrival time before departure and explaining what to do in an emergency
- Bringing meals and drinks to passengers' seats on a trolley and serving them
- Giving passengers newspapers and magazines on request
- Selling souvenirs and duty-free goods on board
- Handling customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) tasks on international flights
- Interpreting for passengers
- Dealing with passenger complaints
- Keeping track of passengers' health information and acting as needed
- Looking after passengers who suddenly fall ill
- Contacting the captain and instructing passengers what to do and how to evacuate if something goes wrong during the flight
- Keeping track of what is happening in the cabin at all times during the flight in case of emergencies such as a hijacking
- Making announcements to tell passengers the expected arrival time and about turbulence
- Farewelling passengers at the door after arrival
- Checking the cabin for lost property and damaged equipment
- Cleaning and disinfecting the toilets and galley
- Writing reports on the flight
- Looking after cabin crew health
- Taking emergency and rescue training to be ready for emergencies
Workers in this job say university is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.
How to become one
A junior college degree or higher is usual, but no special qualifications are needed. However, English skills are often required, and some airlines set eyesight standards. You join an airline or similar, receive specialist training in in-flight service and safety, and then work as cabin crew. At a Japanese airline, you first build experience mainly on domestic flights, learning safety and service. After gaining the basic skills, you build expertise and experience by working on international flights and so on. Equipment differs between aircraft types, so you also train for each type. With experience, some are promoted to cabin manager or to management roles on the ground.
Ways in
- Vocational college, junior college, kosen and trade skills tests: Vocational college (専門学校) course: Travel and tourism. 専修学校 courses in 旅行 (商業実務関係) had 4,204 graduates in the 2024 school year, 3,573 of whom started work in a related field (School Basic Survey 2025, table 237). Course matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
Pay · Job openings · AI and this job
- Average annual income: ¥5,724,800 Private sector only: employers with 10 or more staff. Public servants, such as public school teachers and police officers, are not in these figures.
- Monthly base pay (before overtime and bonus): median ¥342,200, and the middle half earn ¥262,900 to ¥464,300 a month.
- 2.59 job openings per applicant at Hello Work (2025). A current demand signal, not a projection. It counts only the jobs and job seekers registered at Hello Work, Japan's public employment offices, and many graduate and professional hires never pass through it.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Related jobs
- Hotel Guest Service Staff
- Sommelier
- Restaurant Server
- Hotel Front Desk Clerk
- Hotel Room Attendant
- Restaurant Chain Crew Member
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Questions people ask
How do I become a Flight Attendant?
A junior college degree or higher is usual, but no special qualifications are needed. However, English skills are often required, and some airlines set eyesight standards. You join an airline or similar, receive specialist training in in-flight service and safety, and then work as cabin crew. At a Japanese airline, you first build experience mainly on domestic flights, learning safety and service. After gaining the basic skills, you build expertise and experience by working on international flights and so on. Equipment differs between aircraft types, so you also train for each type. With experience, some are promoted to cabin manager or to management roles on the ground.
How much does a Flight Attendant earn in Japan?
Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥5,724,800 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).
Do you need a degree to become a Flight Attendant?
Usually not. In this job's census occupation group, only 15% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: Vocational college (専門学校) course: Travel and tourism.
Will AI change the work of a Flight Attendant?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Basic Survey on Wage Structure (賃金構造基本統計調査) 2025: earnings by occupation (2025 survey (June 2025 pay, 2024 bonus), published 2026-03-24), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Employment Referrals for General Workers (一般職業紹介状況): Hello Work job-openings-to-applicants ratio by occupation (2025 annual (release of 2026-10-02)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Statistics Bureau of Japan (MIC): 2020 Population Census (令和2年国勢調査) detailed sample tabulation: employed by occupation, sex, age and education (2020 Census (tables 9-1 and 15-1, published 2022-12-27)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- JILPT (職業情報データベース) via MHLW job tag: job tag download data: 解説系 (descriptions, how to become, related qualifications) and 簡易版数値系 (interests, tasks, education) (解説系 ver.7.01 (2026-06-04); 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00 (2026-03-17)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成
独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成
Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.
Updated 4 October 2026