Flight attendant rules and regulations come primarily from the Federal Aviation Administration under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, with security and drug-testing requirements added by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Transportation. The rules cover six practical areas: who can be hired, what training is required, how many attendants a flight must carry, what they must do in the cabin, how long they can work before rest, and what substances they cannot use on or near the job.
Who Can Be Hired as a Flight Attendant
Before anyone works a flight, the airline must run a fingerprint-based criminal history records check through the FBI. Federal regulation prohibits a carrier from letting someone serve as a flight crew member until that check clears of disqualifying offenses.1GovInfo. 49 CFR 1544.230 – Fingerprint-Based Criminal History Records Checks If the check turns up an arrest without a final disposition, the airline must investigate and may suspend the individual’s flight crew privileges within 45 days if the matter stays unresolved.
The FAA does not set a minimum age. Airlines do, and their floors generally sit between 18 and 21. Most carriers also require a high school diploma or equivalent, legal work authorization, a valid passport, fluent English, and the physical ability to reach overhead bins and operate emergency equipment. Those are airline standards, not federal mandates, and they vary by carrier.
Required Training and Certification
No one can work a flight until they finish an FAA-approved initial training program and hold a Certificate of Demonstrated Proficiency. The certificate is tied to a specific aircraft type and a specific airline, so moving to a new carrier or a new aircraft means training again.
Initial Ground Training
Initial ground training covers the authority of the pilot in command, procedures for handling passengers who pose a safety concern, and crew resource management focused on communication and teamwork.2eCFR. 14 CFR 121.421 – Flight Attendants Initial and Transition Ground Training Each aircraft type also gets its own instruction on the physical characteristics of the plane as they relate to emergencies, including evacuation routes and ditching procedures.
Emergency Training
Emergency training is hands-on. Flight attendants must be taught evacuation coordination, rapid decompression response, in-flight fire procedures, smoke control, ditching, and hijacking scenarios. During initial training, every attendant must complete a live firefighting drill with a portable extinguisher while wearing protective breathing equipment, and an evacuation drill using an actual emergency slide.3eCFR. 14 CFR 121.417 – Crewmember Emergency Training Training on lithium battery thermal runaway events from personal electronic devices in the cabin has become a growing focus.
Recurrent Training
Certification is not a one-time event. Recurrent ground training runs on a regular cycle and includes a knowledge review, refresher instruction on the initial subjects, a competence check, and updated crew resource management training. The minimum programmed hours depend on aircraft type, from 4 hours for smaller reciprocating-engine planes up to 12 hours for larger transport-category jets.4eCFR. 14 CFR 121.427 – Recurrent Training Emergency drills, including operating each type of exit and deploying evacuation equipment, must be repeated at least every 24 calendar months.3eCFR. 14 CFR 121.417 – Crewmember Emergency Training
How Many Flight Attendants a Flight Must Carry
Federal rules tie the required number of attendants to passenger seating capacity. Aircraft with 20 to 50 seats need one flight attendant. Planes seating 51 to 100 need at least two. Above 100 seats, the airline must add one more attendant for every 50 additional passenger seats or fraction thereof.5eCFR. 14 CFR 121.391 – Flight Attendants A 200-seat aircraft, for example, needs at least four.
In-Cabin Duties
Pre-Flight Checks and Passenger Briefings
Before every flight, attendants verify that emergency equipment is present, accessible, and functional. Once passengers are aboard, they deliver the required safety briefing covering seat belt operation, exit locations, and any flotation equipment. The briefing must also state the federal prohibition on tampering with lavatory smoke detectors.6eCFR. 14 CFR 121.571 – Briefing Passengers Before Takeoff
At the emergency exit rows, at least one crew member must verify before taxi or pushback that no one seated there appears unable to perform evacuation functions such as operating the exit door and directing other passengers.7eCFR. 14 CFR 121.585 – Exit Seating
Taxi, Takeoff, and Landing
During taxi, attendants must stay at assigned duty stations near floor-level exits, distributed through the cabin so evacuation can move quickly. Seat belts and shoulder harnesses stay fastened, and they can leave stations only for duties directly related to the safety of the airplane and its occupants. During takeoff and landing, they must be positioned as close as practicable to those exits.5eCFR. 14 CFR 121.391 – Flight Attendants
Interference With Crew
Federal regulation prohibits anyone from assaulting, threatening, intimidating, or interfering with a crew member performing their duties.8eCFR. 14 CFR 121.580 – Prohibition on Interference With Crewmembers The criminal side of that prohibition is covered further down.
Duty Hours and Rest
A duty period runs from the moment an attendant reports for an assignment to the moment they are released. The baseline scheduled limit is 14 hours.9eCFR. 14 CFR 121.467 – Flight Attendant Duty Period Limitations and Rest Requirements Airlines can extend that limit only by adding attendants beyond the minimum required for the flight:
- Up to 16 hours with at least one additional flight attendant above the minimum.
- Up to 18 hours with at least two additional.
- Up to 20 hours with at least three additional, and only when the duty period includes flights landing or departing outside the 48 contiguous states and D.C.
Rest Between Duty Periods
After a standard duty period of 14 hours or less, the attendant must receive at least 10 consecutive hours of scheduled rest, and that floor cannot be reduced.9eCFR. 14 CFR 121.467 – Flight Attendant Duty Period Limitations and Rest Requirements After an extended duty period over 14 hours, the minimum climbs to 12 consecutive hours. Airlines can reduce that 12-hour rest to 10 only if the attendant then receives 14 consecutive hours of rest starting no later than 24 hours after the reduced rest began. During that 24-hour recovery window, the attendant cannot be scheduled for any duty period longer than 14 hours.
Deadhead Time Is Not Rest
Time spent traveling to a duty assignment as a passenger on another flight, known as deadheading, does not count as rest.10eCFR. 14 CFR 121.491 – Flight Time Limitations Deadhead Transportation An airline can count deadhead time inside a duty period, but it cannot use that travel to satisfy the rest requirement. An attendant who deadheads to a hub still needs the full mandatory rest before working a revenue flight.
Alcohol and Drug Rules
Flight attendants are safety-sensitive employees under DOT rules, which puts them under some of the strictest substance-use standards in any profession.
The Eight-Hour Rule and the 0.04 Limit
No crew member can work within eight hours of consuming any alcoholic beverage, and no crew member can work with a blood or breath alcohol concentration at or above 0.04 percent, regardless of when they last drank.11eCFR. 14 CFR 91.17 – Alcohol or Drugs That 0.04 threshold is half the legal driving limit in most states. A result between 0.02 and 0.04 does not trigger a full violation, but the employee still cannot perform safety-sensitive duties until either eight hours pass or a retest confirms the concentration has dropped below 0.02.12eCFR. 14 CFR 120.217 – Tests Required
Required Testing
Airlines must maintain a drug and alcohol testing program covering all safety-sensitive employees.13eCFR. 14 CFR Part 120 – Drug and Alcohol Testing Program Pre-employment drug testing is mandatory; the airline cannot hire anyone without a verified negative result. Beyond hiring:
- Airlines must randomly test at least 50 percent of covered employees each year for prohibited drugs.
- After an accident, any employee whose performance contributed or cannot be ruled out must be drug tested within 32 hours. For alcohol, testing must be attempted within two hours and stopped after eight hours if not completed.14eCFR. 14 CFR Part 120 Subpart F – Alcohol Testing Program Requirements
- Two supervisors, one trained in detecting signs of drug use, can require reasonable-suspicion testing.
Refusing a required test is treated as a violation of DOT regulations and carries the same consequences as a positive result.15U.S. Department of Transportation. 49 CFR Part 40 Section 40.191 In practice that means immediate removal from safety-sensitive duties, mandatory evaluation by a substance abuse professional, and potential termination.
Criminal Penalties for Interfering With a Flight Attendant
Passengers who assault or intimidate a flight attendant face federal prosecution, not just an airline ban. Under federal law, anyone who interferes with a flight crew member’s duties by assault or intimidation can be fined, imprisoned up to 20 years, or both. If a dangerous weapon is used during the assault, the penalty rises to any term of years up to life.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 46504 – Interference With Flight Crew Members and Attendants The FAA and DOJ have increased enforcement in recent years, and even non-violent interference incidents regularly bring federal charges and substantial fines.