Bases, pay, training, hiring windows and the interview process — from dated sources.
Last updated August 2026 — dated facts carry their own as-of dates below.
Delta is a legacy U.S. network carrier headquartered in Atlanta, and for flight attendant applicants it is the hardest door to get through in the industry. Widely cited press coverage puts a recent cycle at roughly 150,000 applicants for about 1,200 openings — on the order of a 1% hire rate (treat those totals as order-of-magnitude, not audited figures). When the 2025-class window opened on September 4, 2024, the application site crashed under load: about 60,000 applications arrived in the first week, more than double the same period a year earlier.
Hiring-window status (as of August 2026): OPEN. Delta opened applications in June 2026 for the 2027 hiring cycle — English-speaking and bilingual (Language of Destination) roles, with training set to begin in early 2027. Delta's own careers language says the posting stays up only "until the needed number of applicants is received," so the window can close at any moment. Delta has opened a wave every fall-ish cycle since 2022, so if you miss this one another is likely — but never guaranteed.
Two structural facts shape everything else about Delta FA life: Delta's flight attendants are non-union (an AFA-CWA card drive has been active since January 2026 — the fourth major attempt — with no election filed as of August 2026), and Delta is the most profitable U.S. airline, which funds its marquee benefits: annual unilateral raises, industry-famous profit sharing, and boarding pay, which Delta pioneered among U.S. majors in June 2022.
Baseline requirements from the current posting cycle: at least 21 at time of application, high-school diploma or GED (degree preferred, not required per prep-site consensus — verify against the live posting), a passport with at least 30 months' validity remaining, and authorization to work in the U.S. with unrestricted travel to all Delta destinations. There is no minimum height; the real physical gate is a functional reach test at the in-person Event Day (roughly 74–76 inches depending on which spec you read — tiptoes allowed per candidate reports).
Delta's FA bases per 2026 prep-site consensus: ATL, BOS, DTW, LAX, MSP, NYC (JFK + LGA), SLC, SEA, plus smaller FA stations including CVG, HNL, PDX, and SFO, with additions that vary by year. Treat any exact base list as intel-grade — Delta adjusts stations, and the pre-training bid list you actually see is what counts.
New hires bid for a base before training, but assignments are made by operational need — bids are not guaranteed. Expect to relocate or commute.
Base seniority matters enormously for how long you sit reserve (details in the next section): junior bases like NYC and BOS historically move people off reserve fastest; senior bases like ATL, LAX, and SEA — and small senior stations like CVG, HNL, PDX, SFO — mean long reserve. DTW and SLC swing seasonally.
One quirk worth knowing before day one: Delta seniority is set by training-class arrival date, and within a class, classmates are ranked by age — oldest first.
Delta FAs are paid per flight hour — roughly door-close to door-open — not per duty hour. This is the single most misunderstood thing by applicants: a typical month is 75–90 flight hours, so never compute "salary" from a 160-hour office month. Airport standby, ground delays before door close, and layover hours are not paid at the hourly rate (per diem covers time on a trip).
Numbers below are as of mid-2026 and drift annually — re-verify before you rely on them:
Reserve reality: expect on-call scheduling (A-days), holidays worked, and roughly your first year or more on reserve at most bases — with wide variation by base seniority as described above. Do not walk into the interview expecting a line and weekends off in year one.
Delta requires flight attendants to be at least 21, hold a passport with at least 30 months of validity remaining, and pass a functional reach test — there's no height minimum.
Requirements change between hiring windows — confirm them on the Delta Air Lines careers page before you apply.
Data compiled from airline careers pages, union publications, industry press, and candidate-reported interview intel — wave-dependent facts carry as-of dates. Candidate reports are unofficial; confirm requirements on the airline's own careers site.