Flight attendant interview intel — hiring windows, bases, pay and reserve reality, training, culture, and the interview process. Know the airline inside and out before you walk in.
American is the world's largest airline by fleet (1,013 mainline plus 567 regional aircraft at year-end 2025), headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, with ten hubs anchored by the DFW super-hub. It is mid-pivot toward premium (Flagship Suite 787-9P, A321XLR transatlantic since March 2026) while running financially near breakeven — record Q2 2026 revenue of $16.7B but only $71M GAAP net income on a fuel-cost spike. That margin picture matters to FA applicants for one concrete reason covered under Pay below: profit sharing that looks good on paper pays out little while AA isn't making much profit.
Hiring-window status (as of August 2026): CLOSED. Aggregators tracking the jobs.aa.com flight attendant page report the application as closed with a "check back soon" note. American hires in discrete windows that historically fill within days. The recent arc: active post-COVID waves through 2023–early 2024; a summer 2025 hiring freeze (applicants were emailed that interviews and summer training classes were pushed to fall — no official AA statement); and, since Spirit Airlines shut down on May 2, 2026, a "Supporting Spirit" portal prioritizing former Spirit employees' applications — roughly 2,000 former Spirit employees across all workgroups (not 2,000 flight attendants) had applied by June 2026. Any future window will have a large experienced-FA pool competing in it.
Requirements below are quoted from third-party reproductions of the most recent posting cycle (2025–2026) because the posting itself is offline while the window is closed — re-verify verbatim when a window opens: at least 20 years of age (younger than Delta/United's 21); high school diploma or GED; roughly two years of customer service experience; a valid U.S. or foreign passport with applicable visas, the legal right to work in the U.S., and unrestricted travel rights (note: this is work authorization, not a citizenship requirement — ignore content claiming otherwise). No published height minimum — the gate is functional: jumpseat and harness without modifications or extenders, cabin aisle, emergency exits, overhead bins, tested at the in-person day.
The single most important expectation-setter in the posting's own words: be "able to attend up to 6 1/2 weeks of unpaid training in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas," and accept reserve duty that "may continue for an undetermined amount of years."
Sources listed at the end of each profile. Data compiled from airline careers pages, union publications, industry press, and candidate-reported interview intel — wave-dependent facts carry as-of dates.