Walking into the world of aviation for the first time, you would assume that every Flight Attendant starts at the same salary, but you would be terribly wrong.
Just like most companies, you will find a wide array of pay scales across the aviation industry.
Each airline offers their own unique wages, and Frontier Airlines is no different.
If you are interested in more in-depth knowledge on becoming a Flight Attendant for Frontier Airlines specifically, I would also suggest reading my Frontier Flight Attendant Guide for all the deets on requirements, bases, the interview hustle, and training. Dive in and get the scoop! Both of these articles will give you pertinent information on this carrier specifically.
How much does a Flight Attendant at Frontier Airlines make?
Flight Attendants at Frontier Airlines start earning $20,000-$35,000 annually, increasing to $25.50-$60.00 per hour over 20 years. Senior attendants can earn $80,000-$120,000 yearly.
However, know that just because they make a certain hourly wage, doesn’t mean their salary is consistent.
Most Flight Attendants love the job for its flexibility, which means the hours you fly are all over the board. One person could be flying 40 hours a month, and another flying 120 hours.
It just depends on the pay scale you’re currently at, and how many hours you fly.
You also have to add in “per diem”, which is calculated from the time you leave your home base, to when you get back. Each flight sequence ranges drastically when it comes to this piece.
You can expect your monthly pay to fluctuate every month.
Factors Affecting the Salary of a Frontier Flight Attendant
1) Seniority
Seniority is a huge factor in this industry.
The longer you stay at one airline, the more money you are going to make. At least, this is typically what would happen. You need the company to continue hiring people underneath you.
Each year you will go onto a higher pay scale. If you leave to another airline, you have to start right back on the bottom of the pay scale.
Many senior Flight Attendants can be making anywhere from 80,000 – 120,000$ a year, if not more.
2) Amount of hours flown
The amount of hours you fly monthly will drastically impact the amount of money you are taking home.
Unfortunately, your schedule will fluctuate month-to-month depending on what you can hold. If you “have a line”, you know your schedule, you can get a better gauge of what your monthly paycheck will amount to.
If you are on reserve (aka on call), this will depend on what flying they give you while you are on-call.
3) How many days off you decide to have
In many cases, you will bid for a schedule, and it will give you designated days off.
However, as you gain seniority, you will be able to manipulate your schedule, including days off, a lot easier.
You have the ability to trade/drop trips, which would in turn affect your take home pay. There are many flight attendants who load up their schedules, and many who want to fly low time.
4) Types of trips you work and how many hours they are scheduled
There are many types of trips in the system you will be able to bid for, or that could be placed on your schedule if you are on reserve.
Each of these trips will be worth different hours, depending on where you are flying (flight-time), how long your layovers are, and how many days you will be on the road for.
5) Short or long layovers
The long layovers get more “per diem”, but also might lead to a low time trip.
The “per diem” is paid from the time you close the main cabin door in your home base, to when you open the main cabin door at the end of your trip, back in base. Thus, the longer you’re gone, the more per diem you’ll make.
There are so many factors that go into how much you are going to make on a monthly basis it will make your head hurt.
If you want a job that offers consistency, this is not for you. You can usually figure out how many hours you need to fly to pay your bills and go from there.
Frontier Flight Attendant Pay Scale Per Hour
Right now, Frontier Airlines is starting their initial one year Flight Attendants off at 25.50$, which is less than most major carriers start their Flight Attendants off at, but when you look at the rest of their pay scale, it actually is comparable to most airlines.
Not to mention all the other perks you get from this airline that you could wait years for at other airlines, such as a line!
A stable schedule where you actually know what you’re doing month-to-month.
After this, the pay scale seems to go up about two, or three dollars an hour, which is great!
Of course, these numbers can change down the road, as Frontier Airlines is part of a Union. Each new contract usually has changes to the pay scale. In favor of the Flight Attendants.
About Flight Hours and Scheduling Challenges
How many hours do Frontier flight attendants fly per month?
Again, this is really hard to determine.
If you’re on reserve (Standby or on call)
The amount of flying time you end up with is truly at the discretion of the airline. You are there for the operation to run smoothly.
Reserve means you are on call for either A or B shift, midnight to 1 pm or 11 am to midnight. They may give you a courtesy call a day in advance or many hours in advance however it can be also as little as 2 hours in advance.
You will also be required to work Ready Reserve: where you sit a the airport for 6-8 hours ready to fill in for a missing crew and be able to make the flight depart on time. You may or may not fly and if you don’t you will be paid half of the hours you sat.
While on reserve, you will be guaranteed 75 flying hours, no matter what you end up flying.
You do have to remember this is without per diem (meal allowance) though. Which, honestly adds quite a lot to your paycheck at the end of the day. You want to fly!
If you’re on a line (instead of being on call you have scheduled trips)
When you hold a line, you basically are assigned your trips for the entire month.
Those schedules go to more senior Flight Attendants.
After graduation from training, you are on Reserve (on call) for several months determined by the base you are in, and it takes sometimes years for Reserves to finally graduate into holding a line.
At this point, you personally bid (request) for how many flying hours you will get.
If you bid high time, you could have anywhere from 85-120 flying hours.
You also have the opportunity to drop trips (give away trips if you don’t want to fly), trade trips (change trips with other crew), and pick up trips (work on your days off and fly trips that other people drop).
It’s really up to you how much you want to fly. And you have much more control on how much you earn.
If you’re keen on discovering more about the world of flight attendants, don’t miss out on our guides to the salaries of other major airlines!
- What is the best paying airline for flight attendants?
- Delta Flight Attendant Salary
- American Airlines Flight Attendant Salary
- JetBlue Flight Attendant Salary
- Southwest Flight Attendant Salary
- Spirit Flight Attendant Salary
Frontier Flight Attendant Earning Potential Example
First year salary:
85 hours • $25.50 per hour = $2,167.50 a month
Before taxes and without per diem – we’re getting to it.
Your first year isn’t always very lucrative, but the more time you put in the better!
Per diem
Per diem is an amount of allowance that you get paid when you are on layovers, in addition to the guaranteed hour salary.
Per diem rate is $2.15 per hour that you are away from your base.
It starts when you sign in and it ends when you get back to your base.
So it really adds up when you are having many trips.
Others
There are many other things that can increase your salary.
A great way to make more money is to pick up trips from other Flight Attendants who are offering money. A lot of people need certain days off, for whatever reason it may be, and they will offer money to take their trip. This is one great way to make extra money.
Holiday pay is time and a half (meaning that is 50% more than the regular rate of pay) and they always give everyone food vouchers to buy something from the airport for yourself for the holidays. They also usually offer extra points on these days, which will go towards your sick time. This is highly beneficial if you get sick, have to call out last minute, etc.
Credit card applications! I never understood why people didn’t do this. Frontier Airlines has its own credit card that gives passengers perks when they apply and get accepted for a credit card. All you as a Flight Attendant has to do is: sign up for the program, get approved, make an announcement on the flight, walk through the cabin, and pass them out to passengers who want them. The more you get approved, the more money you make on the side. That and they have prizes you can win throughout the year. It’s well worth it!
Payment frequency
You will get paid bi-weekly.
The first check, paid on the 5th over every month, you receive will be the check that has the most money on it. This will be your: over time, per diem, bonuses, etc.
The end of the month check, paid on the 20th, will be your bare hourly pay.
You can expect this check to always be around $800 the first couple of years. You’ll learn to change most of your bills to the big paycheck date.
Frontier Airlines Flight Attendant Salary Examples
➡️ Example: Frontier Flight Attendant Salary for New Hires
85 hours x $25.50 pay per flight hour = $2,167.50
Add in per diem, say 400$. 2,167.50 + 400 = $2,567.50 a month (this is before taxes).
$2,567.50 x 12 months = $30,810 a year (before taxes).
➡️ Example: Frontier Flight Attendant Salary at 8 Years
As you get more seniority this will start becoming more lucrative.
Let’s look at year 8:
You will be making $41.46 hourly.
Say you are still flying around 85 hours a month.
85 x $41.46 = $3,524.10
Add in your per diem, let’s go with $400 again.
$3524.10 + $400 = $3,924.10 a month (this is again before taxes).
$3,655.50 x 12 months = $47,089.20 a year (before taxes).
➡️ Example: Frontier Flight Attendant Salary at 19 Years
Then let’s look at year 19:
60.00$ per flying hour.
85 hours • $60.00 = $5,100.00
Per diem $400:
$5,500.00 + $400 = $5,900.00 (before taxes).
This is before taxes.
$5,900.00 x 12 months = $70,800.00 (before taxes).
Now remember, this is all subjective! It can change drastically based on flying hours, how long you’re away from base, credit card apps, etc! But not bad right?
Other benefits & Deductions
Of course, you will have tax deductions, medical deductions, eye, dental, 401K, short-term disability, long-term disability, HSA accounts, etc.
Most of these you will have options to choose from that will determine just how much is going to be pulled out of your paycheck.
I would highly suggest putting as much as you can into your 401K, but this will probably fluctuate from the start of your career to the end.
Financial Planning: Maximizing Your 401K and Understanding Deductions
Really take the time to sit down and go over this information. The airline will have plenty of people you can talk to, that will give you a better understanding of what everything means and how much they suggest you put into things such as your 401K.
During training, they will have a day they dedicate specifically to this information.
You should take it as an opportunity to really understand what everything means. It can drastically change how much money you are bringing home.
Do you have a family?
Does your spouse have better coverage, or will this job make it cheaper to get health insurance?
Are you still on your parent’s benefits?
All questions you will want to sit down and think about. Just know that once you put your submission in, and the deadline closes, you will be locked into this until the next year. Unless something drastic happens like your spouse passing away. Again, they will go over all of this information after you get the job.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQ
➡️ How much does a Frontier flight attendant make per month?
Frontier Airlines’ Flight Attendants earn $25,000-$35,000 in their first year, with a guaranteed 75 hours of pay monthly for reserve attendants, ensuring steady income. Per diem payments for nights away boost earnings.
With experience and more flight hours, annual salaries can reach $50,000.
➡️ What is the pay scale for Frontier flight attendants?
The pay scale for Frontier Flight Attendants starts out at $25.50 and top out at 60.00$ after 19 years of service as a Flight Attendant for Frontier Airlines.
➡️ What is the starting salary for a Frontier flight attendant?
Starting salary for a Frontier Flight Attendant can vary depending on the flying that you get while on reserve. This will fluctuate month-to-month, depending on operational need, but the more you fly, the higher your first year salary will become. Many are starting out at 25,000-30,000 per year, but that could be lower, or higher.
➡️ How much does a Frontier flight attendant make per hour?
Starting pay for Frontier Airlines Flight attendants in 2024 is USD $25.50.
➡️ How much does a Frontier flight attendant make per flight?
Frontier Flight Attendants are paid per flight based on their current pay scale.
For instance, a first-year flight attendant would earn $25.50 per hour, which is multiplied by the flight time.
Unlike hourly pay, flight attendants don’t start earning until the aircraft departs from the gate.
Per diem payments, which commence when flight attendants leave their base and continue until they return, supplement their per-flight earnings.
➡️ How do tips affect the salary of a Frontier flight attendant?
Frontier Flight Attendants are afforded an opportunity to get tips on the plane, when providing service.
Their devices allow passengers to provide a tip, after they swipe their card for their purchase.
I will say that this will significantly impact your salary. The more sales you make, the more opportunities you have to get tips, which are split between your working crew members for that flight.
➡️ What are Frontier flight attendant benefits?
Frontier Flight Attendants have many benefits including: travel benefits, buddy passes, the ability to opt-in to their 401K, other travel benefits across the travel industry, medical, dental, vision.
➡️ Does Frontier pay for flight attendant training?
Frontier does not pay for Flight Attendant training, which you will find across the aviation industry in the United States.
They do provide a small amount of money, after you complete and pass initial training.
This is essentially a per diem check, but it is extremely small.
I would highly suggest saving money before you attend initial training, you will need it.
Very informative. I’ve been applying for 2 years now but have also done multiple interviews. Got lots of practice and knowledge of the questions they ask. Pick your 5 favorites. Keep applying every 6 months.
That’s the attitude! Practice makes perfect ☺️
This was great information and exactly what I was looking for. I was a flight attendant 2006-2008 and seeking to return. It was nice to know it’s still very much the same! Thank you!!
You’re welcome Michele 😉
I have been trying to get into certain airlines and am becoming frustrated! I got as far as a video interview with Delta but was unsuccessful afterwards! I am a retired teacher and have excellent oral communication skills! I am very good with people and a team player! I am also very flexible! I want a career change as a flight attendant and my resume looks very good! I am frustrated with how difficult it is to get to the final interview process! Any suggestions are very much appreciated! I know I can do this job and do it well!
That’s a lot of !!!
I just applied.. I worked for SWA for 25.5 years. Took early retirement due to health issues at the time. I loved my job. Looking forward to starting again and I could reapply to swa but I want to try a different airline. One thing all airlines have in common, customer safety and service is the most important thing.
Thank you for all this information.
Dawn