‘When y’all hiring lol?’: Southwest flight attendant reveals the insane paycheck she takes home every month, and TikTok is jealous

Everyone’s got their own airlines horror story, but maybe things ain’t so bad when you’re on the other side of the (cabin) curtain. One flight attendant who works for Southwest Airlines left TikTok users with their jaws on the floor when she revealed how much money she brought in on her last paycheck, and now some people are starting to reconsider their careers.

“Me getting sick of my job,” begins the caption on a video from @josette_nicole, in which she pretends to look glum while in uniform on a Southwest plane before she suddenly perks up. “Then I remember my check last month was $9980.66.”

Yes, that’s almost $10,000 for a single month, which — for those who are struggling to do the math — must mean Josette brings in around $120K per year. Before you quit your job and apply to become a flight attendant, though, Josette offered some much needed context in the video description, which clarified that this level of pay didn’t happen overnight and to get this kind of money you need to be ready to invest a lot of time into the job.

“For context i have been at southwest for 14 years (first 4 were in reservations),” Josette explained. “This was my gross pay. I work about 150 trips (“hours”) a month. Pay does vary depending on how long you’ve been here and how many hours you work.  I am very good at my schedule and get a lot of VJA.”

Despite the caveats Josette supplied, some were still seeing dollar signs so were suitably tempted to switch careers. “When y’all hiring ? lol” someone asked, probably only half-joking. Others, meanwhile, are not willing to work as hard as Josette must for any amount of cash. “Omg, there’s is no amount of money to convince me to have job like this,” someone admitted, noting how their two big problems with being a flight attendant would be “working weekends” and simply “people” (honestly, same).

For a peek into the reality of what it’s like for most people in Josette’s career path, however, take a closer look at the comments to her video. Many other flight attendants from either different airlines or who are greener to the job shared their own less affluent experiences. “As an Emirates crew, I’m jealous,” said one, while another confessed, “I’m in year 2 and it’s so hard you’re literally poor and have to get a second job but I’m keeping hope alive.”

Josette herself was open about the reality of the slow climb to the bigger paychecks to those inquiring about becoming flight attendants. “Probably about at 5 years is when you get a big pay jump and you start to see money,” she replied to one question.

Still, if you’re looking to travel, see the world, and earn a solid slice of cash along the way, Josette’s career might be the one for you. According to figures shared by US News, the average flight attendant made $63,760 in 2022, with the best-paid 25% making as much as $82,410. Even the lowest-paid 25% earned a not inconsiderable $47,760. As one commenter put it, “flight attendant/pilot or just aviation in general is a cheat code for life honestly.”