Why becoming a flight attendant is the career switch you want to make

My sister called me a few months ago. “Look, fashion crisis. I have a job interview at KLM tomorrow. What should I wear?!” “Huh, what? KLM, how cool!”, I yelled through the phone. My sister and I both have the travel gene. After her world trip last year, I was already wondering what she would do. She is social, has worked in customer service for years, speaks good English, and loves to travel. 1+1=2, you would think.

But ‘just’ flight attendant becoming seems to be not so easy. First an email, then an IQ test, then a phone call, followed by a group assignment, another phone call, and finally a final interview. Holy lord. My sister went through all the phases and will soon be able to don the iconic blue jacket. And is it just me or is she not the only one? Everyone suddenly seems to want to work on a plane. Is it ‘that time of the year’ again? Or is something happening in the aviation landscape?

I open Instagram and see one chick after another quitting her job to become a flight attendant. Then social media accounts are created with airplane windows, Schiphol selfies, and outfit of the day work outfits. Articles like ‘11 Flight attendants to follow on Instagram’ are popping up (ha, flying) all over the web. Flight attendants are becoming the bosses of the skies. A career as an influencer has never seemed so close. A niche has never been born so quickly.

And honestly: I get it. When you tell someone you are a flight attendant, it sounds cool right away. You sit behind that dusty desk five days a week, she sits in Shanghai for five days. Last week in Dubai, and Chicago is already on the schedule. The whole waitress-in-the-air image has made way for the next generation of travel-hungry millennials who want freedom. Office job? So passé. We want to explore the world. We want variety. We want status. To be part of the cool kids group. Adventure. And I must say: I get it, sis. It's just that I'm a claustrophobic weirdo on the plane, but otherwise...