Overview
1. Automation Risk
2. User Poll
3. Growth
4. Wages
5. Volume
Description
Resources
Comments

Flight Attendants

Low Risk
38%
Where Would You Like to Go Next?
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Vote Comments (27)
Or, Explore This Profession in Greater Detail...
AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
38%
(Low Risk)
POLLING
38%
(Low Risk)
Average: 38%
LABOR DEMAND
GROWTH
9.9%
by year 2033
WAGES
$68,370
or $32.87 per hour
Volume
126,020
as of 2023
SUMMARY
JOB SCORE
6.7/10

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Calculated automation risk

38% (Low Risk)

Low Risk (21-40%): Jobs in this level have a limited risk of automation, as they demand a mix of technical and human-centric skills.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Some very important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Cramped Work Space, Awkward Positions

  • Assisting and Caring for Others

Some quite important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Social Perceptiveness

  • Persuasion

User poll

38% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 38% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Flight Attendants will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?






Sentiment

The following graph is included wherever there is a substantial amount of votes to render meaningful data. These visual representations display user poll results over time, providing a significant indication of sentiment trends.

Sentiment over time (yearly)

Growth

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Flight Attendants' job openings is expected to rise 9.9% by 2033

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Wages

High paid relative to other professions

In 2023, the median annual wage for 'Flight Attendants' was $68,370, or $32 per hour

'Flight Attendants' were paid 42.3% higher than the national median wage, which stood at $48,060

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2023 there were 126,020 people employed as 'Flight Attendants' within the United States.

This represents around 0.08% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 1 thousand people are employed as 'Flight Attendants'.

Job description

Monitor safety of the aircraft cabin. Provide services to airline passengers, explain safety information, serve food and beverages, and respond to emergency incidents.

SOC Code: 53-2031.00

Comments

Leave a comment

annie (No chance) 9 months ago
because companies wont be willing to pay for that amount of robots and the maintenince that is needed on them, real people would be cheaper
0 0 Reply
trained as flight attendant 4 months ago
For real people need to pay for hotels and meals, and sometimes flight attendants are transported as passengers if the flight is from another city. Their holidays can last two months to prevent overwork. People are always more expensive, need just the higher level of technology.
0 0 Reply
Anonymous (Highly likely) 1 year ago
You automate the plane to give instructions during turbulence and emergencies. Ease passengers into by updating the seats, rows, and overhead panels with attendants still onboard. From a safety perspective what is 2 attendants per class going to do for 20+ people, nothing other than give instruction and help 1 or 2 women and children. After introducing passengers to those improvements kick it up a notch and introduce 1 robot attendant for every 1 human attendant. This robot would initially be programmed to serve drinks and snacks. You would order it prior to the flight and on your phone or TV during the flight. Now that you have safety and procedures programmed right in to the plane and passengers have interacted with it over the last 10 years with a few iterations to their programming over time and passengers have been able to be served by a robot, the in cabin experience can now be fully automated. You could even design the robots to be smaller in size to fit more than two attendants in the class. Ultimately decreasing burnout by human staff, boarding times, the time it takes to get to the customer, etc.
3 2 Reply
D. H. 12 days ago
More than tens of thousands would need to be spent per robot just to create and maintain it. The airplane would need more fuel and more space for your plan. You would need super advanced plus millions of dollars in technology for a first responder robot.
0 0 Reply
passionate FA 3 months ago
This proves to me you have a very low understanding of what Flight Attendants actually do. Our main priority is not serving drinks and snacks, its safety. We are trained in water evacuation, fire evacuations, to preflight all our equipment, memorize the detail of every aircraft, ect. There is a greater risk/safety breach with AI being in these positions than a human. It is not simply “customer service”, it is problem solving and ensuring safety of all passengers. If anything would be replaced, potentially gate agents. But FAs and pilots are crucial.
0 0 Reply
PK (No chance) 1 year ago
FAA requires a crew member 1 for every 50. Flight attendant position is based on safety and security designated by FAA not customer service!!!
4 0 Reply
tony (Low) 2 years ago
You're still going to need human intervention in an emergency. There are too many changes on a moments notice during flight to completely trust it to AI.
3 0 Reply
Philip (Uncertain) 2 years ago
I think aspects of the job could be automated but parts of the job won't be
0 0 Reply
Sofie (Highly likely) 2 years ago
Humans can decide quicker in an emergency situation, but robots can take a while.

Plus, robots can't do such things as CPR or use a first aid kit, for example. So, it's pretty risky.
1 0 Reply
h (Low) 3 years ago
AI and robots could mess up emergencies and need a connection to stay "alive"
2 0 Reply
A flight attendant (Low) 3 years ago
By federal law (FAA), there needs to be 1 flight attendant per 50 seats on a plane. The number can never decrease even with robots. Good luck getting those robots to handle medical emergencies or breaking up fights between ignorant passengers or helping all you ungrateful passengers evacuate during an emergency in 90 seconds or less with no ability of rational thought LOL
2 0 Reply
Collin Tredo (Low) 4 years ago
This job requires a friendly human face, people will be less comfortable having to talk to and trust a robot/AI when they get on a plane.
0 0 Reply
A (No chance) 4 years ago
Flight attendants use their knowledge to solve a situation given the surprise factor... it’s impossible to programme a robot that knows how to act in front of a surprise factor situation.

And by the way flight attendants are there to save u not to make u happy.

First priority is safety the If it’s possible the service time will come.
0 0 Reply
Spiros (No chance) 4 years ago
Flight attendants are there for one specific reason: safety. For this, human presence is important
0 0 Reply
Erebus (Low) 4 years ago
It involves emotional labour which only a human is capable of.
0 0 Reply
JP (Moderate) 4 years ago
With the global pandemic focusing minds on the amount of human contact passengers have on flights, I could see cabin crew being reduced in number to improve safety, with a Purser and assistant at each end of the aircraft being supplemented by robots which would handle more of the non-emergency workload. Robots would reduce the expense of accommodating cabin crew at destinations and would be able to clean the cabin autonomously using UV lights to disinfect the cabin air and surfaces.
1 0 Reply
A flight attendant (No chance) 4 years ago
Will absolutely not happen. What most do not realize is that flight attendants are on board for safety. It's just not something that can be replaced by robots.
1 0 Reply
Ebork (Highly likely) 5 years ago
Flight attendants make or break flying. They'll be robots soon enough.
0 0 Reply
Izme;-; 4 years ago
I think that is wrong you see robots can also break easy, if there is a drunk passenger or causing harm robots can break with their wires. In medical procedures or any emergency humans would be faster than the robots having to mechanically bend down taking longer than humans.
0 0 Reply
THM 5 years ago
Flight attendants make your flying safe you ignorant.
2 0 Reply
JD (Highly likely) 6 years ago
With the lousy customer service and the awfully attitudes these "air stewards(esses)" possess nowadays, I wouldn't be surprised that a machine will end up doing their job not only more quickly and efficiently, but for little to no cost of maintenance on said droids compared to paying salaries w/ benefits, retirement, etc & dealing with greedy unions, to people who don't do their job properly and are not even qualified to in the first place.

Given the recent horrific experiences passengers had to endure from these "flight attendants", I see machines replacing these incompetent humans in the future. It'll save the airlines plenty of revenue and avoid lawsuits and having to pay these poorly trained service attendants for mediocre to dismal services provided.

The only ones to blame would be the flight attendants themselves, because a machine did a better job than they ever would.
0 1 Reply
Dolly 7 months ago
Your ex a flight attendant?
0 0 Reply
MC 2 years ago
JD I don't know what airline you have been flying on. I have been involved in the airline industry for over forty years, have traveled on numerous air carriers, and have never experienced what you have described in terms of lacking flight attendant professionalism, training, emergency, and medical preparedness.

I have witnessed a decline in the manners and decorum of the passengers traveling. Possibly, the added stress to passengers of airport safety procedures has taken a toll on their nerves. I remember when friends and family could accompany passengers to the gate. Now, the seats are packed in like sardines in a can.

Airline competition made the way for no-frills service and more passengers in smaller seats on airplanes. This has taken a toll on everyone's stress levels. Still, I see friendly FAs who are doing their best to accommodate everyone onboard and assuage those who are already frazzled by the time they take their seats.

A robot may make the dispersion of in-flight commodities easier but it can never take care of all of the emergencies that FAs are trained to handle, the medical emergencies, the duplicate and other seating problems, the myriad of human interactions that FA's handle, unaccompanied children, wheelchair passengers, interaction with cockpit and ground staff, etc., etc. the list goes on, not even considering a major emergency like a hijack incident.

You have vastly underestimated the uber-selective hiring, initial and ongoing training that FAs have. Did you know that they have to take FAA-mandated emergency testing yearly on every airplane which they are qualified to work and pass the test with a 90-100% grade. This includes physical testing in airplane simulators., first aide, resuscitation and cardio procedures etc.

If you see an FA behaving in the unprofessional manner you have described, you should write a letter to the airline about that employee.
1 0 Reply
GG 6 years ago
JD deserves the most awful flying experiences after the rudeness he showcased here.
3 0 Reply
Karen 6 years ago
When you have a heart attack on the plane who’s going to administer first aid to you? A robot? A flight attendant is there to save your ass not kiss it and their customer service is based on your attitude. It goes both ways
1 0 Reply
Eternity 5 years ago
With COVID, it would be ideal if airlines used robots instead. We'd rather not use flight attendant "services".
0 0 Reply
Ordinary Internet User 5 years ago
They will hire some flight attendants for those situations.
For example,
Today : 10 human flight attendants
Future: 1-3 human flight attendants, 7+ robot flight attendants.
Capish? :P
1 0 Reply

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