Private Aircraft Flight Attendents

Many of the flight attendants on private aircraft have come from the commercial travel world. They make the move to private jet work for the varied schedule and typically better salary. Here are some of the differences between working on a private aircraft and working as a member of the cabin crew on a commercial jet  

Flying Alone

The majority of private jets require only one flight attendant. The exceptions are when working on a larger aircraft such as an Airbus or Boeing business jet. Being the sole flight attendant means that the responsibility for the aircraft cabin lies completely in their hands -- for better of for worse. They have no team to help out or to back them up like they would have working on a commercial plane.

Same Aircraft

Usually a flight attendant working on a private jet will usually only have to become familiar with and work on one or two types of aircraft. As such, they become very familiar with them and know exactly where everything is -- likely they were the ones to put it there. By contrast, cabin crew working for a commercial airline might only occasionally fly on the exact same aircraft.

Small Team

When a flight attendant works for a commercial airline, they will almost never fly with the same team of people again. On private jets, you work as a very small team. So you will get to know your fellow flight attendants and pilots quite well.

Meeting the aircraft

A private jet might be based in only one place in the case of private owners, but a charter operation could have the aircraft anywhere. So typically, the crew members are flown out to meet the aircraft wherever it happens to be.

No Roster

In the commercial flying world the roster of passengers and crew are very important. In private or business aviation, there are no rosters at all. You can be on standby endlessly, waiting to be called for a specific flight. Alternatively, private flight attendants might have a rotation, working for a certain period of time (e.g., two weeks) and stay with the aircraft the entire time. 

Catering

On an airline, catered meals usually come on preset trays with the hot meal element added later before distribution to the passengers. On private jets, the catering usually comes from a a smaller catering company that specializes in provisioning private jets. Its not uncommon for the catering to come from a 5-star hotel or restaurant.

Flight Attendant Duties

While airline cabin crew have very specific duties, in business aviation, flight attendants have many more tasks. The private flight attendant will order the food, plan the menu, cook and serve the meals. They may also decorate and clean the cabin, and whatever else needs to get done on the plane. For instance, the flight attendant order extra supplies that are needed onboard -- like newspapers and flowers.

Cleaning

The commercial cabin crew will do their final safety and security checks on the aircraft before leaving. Some commercial airlines do require their crew to clean the cabin and pick up trash, especially on turnaround flights. 

Alternatively, most private jets are initially cleaned by the private flight attendant. This is due to the fact that they may have silverware and expensive dishes and other items on board.  

Ground crew will rarely be allowed onboard. Most private jets have specialized cleaners either at their base, or at a frequently visited airport. The exterior (and sometimes the interior) of aircraft are usually cleaned, detailed and maintained by specialized cleaners such as Van Nuys Clean Aircraft.