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- For aspiring flight attendants, Delta Air Lines, ranked by its employees as one of the best places to work, is also one of the most difficult places to get a job.
- It's harder to get invited to Delta flight attendant training than it is to get into Harvard University.
- Keep reading for some of the most interesting details about the intensive training school.
Delta Air Linesflight attendant is perhaps one of the most competitive jobs out there.
On Glassdoor, employees rate Delta Air Lines 4.3 out of 5 stars, citing pros like great perks and benefits, a professional and friendly environment, and flexibility.
Danny Elkins, who's been a flight attendant with Delta since it acquired Pan American World Airways' North Atlantic routes in 1991, would agree.
"I started this career at 22, left my home in North Carolina, and soon found myself living in NYC, flying around the world. Both my home life as well as my professional life became an instant adventure," he told Business Insider.
Of course, getting the job is no walk in the park.
"I am told it's harder to get invited to the Delta Flight Attendant training center than to get into Harvard University," Elkins said.
And he's not wrong. According to Delta, of the 150,000 people that applied to be a Delta Flight Attendant in 2016, only 1% made the cut. By comparison, the acceptance rate for Harvard's class of 2021 was 5.2%.
"Our culture at Delta is important to us, so we have to make sure those we hire can not only serve to keep our customers safe and comfortable on board but also fit well within our organization," Elkins said.
Delta implements an array of techniques, including video interviews, Q&A sessions, and in-person meetings to evaluate candidates to see if they'll be successful as a Delta flight attendant. "It's a rigorous process, but we make sure it's fun and engaging for prospective crew members. And we often have an opportunity to select some amazing flight attendants," Elkins said.
For the chosen few who make it past the interview stage, an eight-week training school awaits.
Delta Air Lines gave outsiders an inside look into the intense training school as part of its "Earning Our Wings" series. Read on for some of the most interesting details:
SEE ALSO: Here's what it's REALLY like to be a Delta Air Lines flight attendant, one of the most competitive jobs out there
DON'T MISS: A day in the life of a United Airlines flight attendant, who woke up before 3 a.m. and ran circles around me for 9 hours
SEE ALSO: 9 things you need to do if you want to become a flight attendant
It's so difficult to become a Delta flight attendant that candidates often have to wait years and have entirely different careers before they land the job
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One flight attendant trainee featured on the series named Jean-Baptiste said he had a career as a network engineer before joining Delta.
Another trainee named Kasey said that, having grown up with parents who worked for Delta, she always knew she wanted to become a Delta flight attendant. But when she first applied six years ago, she didn't make it past the face-to-face interview.
Kasey said that the job was in the back of her mind from then on, so when she heard once again Delta was hiring, she went for it. This time around, she made it to training school.
Other flight attendants joined Delta from other airlines.
Delta has its very own mission control center, which is the airline's lifeline in an emergency
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Every one of Delta's flights is controlled from one room in the operations and customer center (OCC) at Delta's headquarters in Atlanta.
Much like NASA's mission control center, in Delta's flight control center — otherwise dubbed the "911 of Delta" — employees can monitor all of Delta's flights, weather, and potentially dangerous current events.
During training, flight attendants learn that any Delta flight can call the flight manager at the OCC for help.
Delta has a strict dress code and grooming policy, including that flight attendants must wear watches
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In the early days of training, flight attendant trainees go through personal image consultations, where instructors check to see whether trainees are in compliance with Delta's uniform and grooming rules. Flight attendants continue to receive these checks throughout their career as a flight attendant.
"Image consultation is very important to us because, as flight attendants for Delta Air Lines, you are, and we are, the brand," said a Delta instructor named Ed.
During these one-on-one assessments, staff look at how flight attendants are dressed and styled, from head to toe, and make note of any issues. They assess all manner of things including hair, shoes, socks, fingernails, and watches.
"If you're working a flight, you must have a wristwatch," Delta initial training leader Jennifer said. "It's a part of the uniform, and each flight attendant trainee is required to have one every single day."
"The responsibility of what it takes to be a flight attendant starts here," Ed said. "We take it very seriously."
One flight attendant trainee named Daniel, who was not wearing his wristwatch during the assessment, expressed his dismay at not following the rules: "It was a total fail, and I've got to figure out how to bounce back from that." Too many strikes, and you could flunk out of flight attendant training school.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider![]()
