§44728 Flight attendant certification

Summary

Flight attendants must have an FAA certificate that proves they are trained and able to do the job. An airline tells the FAA when a person finishes the airline’s FAA-approved training, and then the FAA issues the certificate. The airline’s director of operations may decide someone completed the required training under 14 CFR part 183. Certificates must be numbered and recorded, list the person’s name and address and the airplane group, look like other airman certificates, and be issued within 120 days after the FAA is told the person is proficient. If someone was already working as a flight attendant when the rule started, they can keep working until they finish required recurrent training and must get their certificate no later than 1 year after the rule’s effective date. Holders must show the certificate for inspection to the FAA, the NTSB, or another federal agency when asked. Airlines’ training programs must be approved by the FAA. Programs approved in the 1-year period before the law’s enactment count as showing proficiency. A flight attendant must also demonstrate the ability to read, speak, and write English well enough to understand English materials, speak and answer questions with English speakers, write reports and logs, and follow written and oral instructions. The English rule does not apply to attendants who work only between places outside the United States. Definition: flight attendant = a person working in the cabin of an air carrier aircraft that has 20 or more seats.