Pros
-going to cool places and get paid for it -lots of time off -great benefits -work with some amazing, fun people -pay almost nothing to travel on your own time, even fly in first class -work stays at work: when you're off, you're done. no stress -opportunity to try different positions within the company. There are always postings for short-term assignments, e.g., sales, if you are interested -unionized -company provides cab if they call you on short notice/plane lands early in the morning
Cons
-compensation is mediocre (although it's supplemented with allowances and occasionally profit sharing) -hard to rest well due to jetlag. A lot of crew use sleeping aids. I personally can only sleep for 2-4 hours on a 24hr Asia layover -schedule is tough for people on reserve. A new FA can be on reserve for 8 yrs based in YYZ, and an extra decade for other bases. There's no AM/PM reserve. Qualifying in a route language helps,e.g., German and Mandarin -the seniority system lets everyone hired before you pick anything they want. You always get the leftovers. It could be decades before you can hold some decent flights, unless you have a language qualification. -work is not hard, but repetitive. Boredom is your worst enemy on long flights -you work with some great people on a flight, but then you never see them again afterwards; always working with new people so it's hard to form deep connections -you forget something on the plane it's gone forever. They won't let you go back through security, and once the plane gets towed away there's no more hope. I forgot my mug once and I called STOC, tracked the plane, checked lost and found and crew centre, posted on the flight attendant fb group... never got it back