Copy linkEmailFacebookWhatsAppXLinkedInBlueskyThreadsImpact Link
SaveSaved
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider
subscribers. Become an Insider
and start reading now.Have an account? .
Getting past the interview stage for some airlines is said to be harder than getting into Harvard.
China Photos/Getty Images
It's been said that it's harder to get invited to the Delta flight-attendant training center than to get into Harvard University.
2017-08-22
"It's very competitive, and people get passed over all the time," Annette Long, a flight attendant with 14 years of experience, previously told Business Insider about the flight attendant hiring process.
If a candidate has a compelling enough résumé, they may face a variety of interview techniques including video interviews, Q&A sessions, and in-person meetings.
Long says that many flight attendants apply and interview several times before getting the job, having to wait six months to a year between interviews because job openings are so scarce.
"When you make that first impression, you've gotta do it perfectly — you don't get a second chance," she says.
Here are some of the toughest questions flight-attendant candidates have faced along the way, according to anonymous candidates on Glassdoor:
'You have one seat left on a flight, and you have five passengers waiting on standby: A military man in uniform, a pregnant woman, a woman and her infant child, an elite customer who is a frequent flyer of Northwest Airlines, and a gentleman trying to go and see his ill sister. Who will be the one to get the empty seat on the flight, and why?' — Northwest Airlines (now Delta Air Lines) flight attendant candidate
AP
'You are mid-flight and the pilot asks you to preform a task which you are not authorized to preform. How would you handle the situation?' — Air Wisconsin Airlines flight attendant candidate
Airplane/Paramount
'Create a PA announcement for a couple celebrating their 50th year anniversary' — Delta Air Lines flight attendant candidate
'If a coworker was removing items from the aircraft would you talk to them about it first or report to management?' — Delta Air Lines flight attendant candidate
'What would you do if a passenger told you it was their loved one's remains inside the urn they were holding and they didn't want to place it underneath the seat?' — Alaska Airlines flight attendant candidate
Shutterstock.com
'Describe the color yellow to somebody who's blind' — Spirit Airlines flight attendant candidate
REUTERS/Chris Helgren CLH/CN
'If you were working and there was a passenger complaining about sitting next to someone of a different race, how would you handle it?' — ExpressJet Airlines flight attendant candidate
'I'm a customer who refuses to close their laptop before takeoff — what do you do?' Then, 'You come back and I still haven't turned it off — what do you do now?' — United Airlines flight attendant candidate
REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
'Can you recall a time when you had to break an obligation, and for what reason?' — JetBlue flight attendant candidate
Rachel Gillett is a senior lifestyle editor at Insider overseeing a team that covers travel, home, alternative living, photography, and visual features.She was formerly the visual features editor for Insider Inc. and careers editor at Business Insider.She previously wrote and edited for Fast Company's Leadership section. Her work as a multimedia journalist has been featured on PopPhoto.com, AOL.com, The Huffington Post, and syndicated all around the world.She graduated from Rutgers University with a double major in journalism and media studies and German studies.
