American Airlines is the world’s largest airline, flying to over 360 destinations across 61 countries, stationed in all major cities across the US. We’ve compiled the following guide to show you how to get a job at American Airlines because, in addition to its reputation as one of the best places to work, the airline offers impressive wages and benefits.
If you’re here to learn how to get a job at American Airlines, read on to learn more about the company’s recruitment process, benefits, and career opportunities you can take advantage of.
American Airlines: Company Background
American Airlines, known simply as AA, began its operation in 1930 when two pioneer aircraft organizations, Robertson Aircraft Corporation and Colonial Air Transport, merged to become one corporation headquartered in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.
AA is the largest global airline in terms of fleet size, revenue, flights, and passengers carried per day. Today, the airline transports over 500,000 people daily to 365 destinations in 61 countries. It has hubs located across all major cities in the United States, and the largest maintenance and repair operation in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
As of the end of 2021, American Airlines had 123,400 employees in different sections of the company, and 205 job openings in departments such as customer service, cabin crew, operations, maintenance, and grounds crew.
How Hard Is It to Land a Job at American Airlines?
It can be difficult to land a job at American Airlines. For example, only 2,000 American Airlines flight attendants were hired from 500,000 applications. The hiring process at American Airlines is also quite extensive. It can take anywhere from a few weeks to a month before a recruiter calls for an in-person interview as part of AA’s formal interview process.
How to Apply for a Job at American Airlines
- Job Application. To get a job at AA, interested parties must apply through the official website. Typical forms requested are a resume, cover letter, and completed application form, alongside specifically requested per the particular job being applied for.
- The Assessment. All job seekers at American Airlines complete an online assessment that includes a cognitive and a personality test completed through questionnaires or deductions. American Airlines pilots also must take a pilot test in addition to the cognitive and personality tests.
- Interviews. AA has a three-step, formal interview process. First is a video interview, then an in-person interview with very difficult questions, and then finally a performing interview where applicants complete tasks and the panelists judge how they perform as an individual and in a team of six.
- Training. Almost all AA jobs have an intensive training process that includes a fast-paced classroom with hands-on training that takes approximately six weeks, depending on the field. For example, American Airlines flight attendants undergo a six-week rigorous training with all materials provided.
- Acceptance. Upon successful completion of the airline training, applicants are presented with an acceptance letter to the American Airlines family. The letter includes terms of employment, salary, and benefits.
American Airlines Application Process
To get a job at American Airlines, begin the application process by signing up for an account on the official website. Job seekers must open the job page area of the website, create a personal account and a candidate’s profile, upload all the necessary documents, and then save. This process can take 15 to 30 minutes to complete.
Once finished, applicants should navigate to the American Airlines career page and find the job they want to apply for, read the job description and requirements, and then apply. Applicants will then be redirected to the profile they just created and asked to complete any missing fields before submitting the application.
American Airlines Interview Questions
- “Tell us about yourself.” Job seekers should detail their career journey, and why they chose to apply at AA in a way that showcases who they are as people.
- “Describe a time you faced a difficult situation and how you overcame it.” This question tests critical thinking and problem-solving abilities and shows how well an applicant can deal with a crisis.
- “What would your last employer say about you?” The interviewer wants to know about the applicant’s self-concept and if they think their former employer would say great things about them.
- “How would you deal with an angry customer?” Maturity, calmness, problem solving, and tact are tested here. Applicants should let their answers reflect that.
- “If you and several customers are faced with danger, how would you handle such a situation to ensure everyone’s safety?” The bulk of questions asked have to do with a job seeker’s character, but here, the interviewers are testing problem-solving, critical thinking, calmness under pressure, and people skills.
What’s It Like to Work at American Airlines?
Working at a major airline like AA has perks and drawbacks just like any other workplace. The best part is that employees are thoroughly trained and supported to be good at their jobs. Below we explore some of the areas that employees at AA experience during their employment.
Work Environment
The most exciting thing about working for AA is the chance to meet and work with so many different people. The American Airlines diversity, equity, and inclusion policy creates an inclusive company culture to work with and learn about coworkers from all races, genders, and sexual orientations.
Growth
There is an amazing opportunity for growth and promotion at AA. Once employees advance past the probation stage and work for a year or two, they can work their way up the ranks through advancing education and by demonstrating a strong work ethic.
Pay and Benefits
The pay and benefits are a big plus, especially the flight benefits that allow employees to travel around the world at steeply discounted prices. American Airlines flight attendants travel to different parts of the world free of charge.
While American Airlines employees often work overtime due to flight delays and other unavoidable circumstances, the overall type of work environment is good, and the company provides everything its employees require, including meals.
American Airlines Benefits
- Travel perks. AA employees get travel privileges for themselves and their immediate families across the American global network.
- Health benefits. Employees receive health benefits including medical, prescription, dental, and vision benefits beginning from the date of their official hire.
- 401(k) program. The 401(k) retirement program is available for most workers, depending on the workgroup.
- Education. The company has set up programs and online learning platforms to support its employees in their career growth.
- Education Foundation. Dependents of employees are eligible to apply for educational grants and scholarships.
American Airlines Career Opportunities: Job Titles and Descriptions
American Airlines has over 30 departments from San Francisco to Washington, DC, each with a range of job positions, so it’s not possible to list all of them here. If you would like to join the company on the technical side, below are the 10 options we recommend based on pay and opportunity for growth, and a job description and minimum qualifications needed for each.
Developer/Senior Developer, IT Applications
- Salary: $123,991/year
- Benefits: Travel perks, 401(k), health benefits, wellness programs
- Required Experience: 3 years of Software Development Life Cycle experience, 3 years of professional, design, and open-source experience
- Required Education: Master’s Degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems and Engineering
A senior developer leverages technology to solve business problems at AA. They participate in all development process phases, using specific development tools to identify, analyze, design, and solve issues.
Engineer/Senior Engineer, IT Infrastructure
- Salary: $118,777/year
- Benefits: Travel perks, 401(k), health benefits, wellness programs
- Required Experience: 3+ years of airline industry experience and demonstrated leadership skills
- Required Education: Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Technology Information Systems (CIS/MIS), or Engineering
As a member of the IT division, engineers with this job title are responsible for traditional and cloud-based infrastructure implementation.
Project Manager/Senior Project Manager, IT
- Salary: $101,217/year
- Benefits: Travel perks, 401(k), health benefits, wellness programs
- Required Experience: 3 years of broad-based information systems and business experience, 3+ years of experience managing and delivering mission-critical, high-availability IT development projects
- Required Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Technology, or Information Systems (CIS/MIS)
A project manager oversees all aspects of multiple fast-paced projects among teams, designs project visions and standards, and manages the project scope.
Analyst, Contact Center – Continuous Improvement
- Salary: $85,486/year
- Benefits: 401(k), health insurance, employee travel discount
- Required Experience: 3 years of experience in industrial engineering, public contact, marketing, sales or operations, experience working and presenting to senior management.
- Required Education: Bachelor’s degree in relevant field, basic airline operations knowledge
This job of a systems analyst is at the center of all customer experience initiatives. This professional is responsible for supporting contact center leadership and operations to improve the customer journey.
Senior Analyst, Regional Strategy and Business Planning
- Salary: $73,000/year
- Benefits: Travel perks, health benefits, wellness programs, 401(k)
- Required Experience: 3+ years of commercial or operational experience, advanced experience with PowerPoint presentation and Excel modeling
- Required Education: Undergraduate degree in aviation, economics, business, or finance
This position is under the network strategy umbrella, and its role is to support and help American Eagle. The holder works with multiple dockets to make decisions that improve the airline’s performance.
Plant Maintenance Mechanic
- Salary: $62,299/year
- Benefits: Travel perks, health benefits, wellness programs
- Required Experience: 3+ years experience as a stationary engineer
- Required Education: A valid FAA Airframe/Powerplant mechanics license or a valid EASA license
The work of a plant maintenance mechanic includes repair, maintenance, and troubleshooting of all mechanical systems within the airport and ensuring all emergency equipment is ready.
Associate Analyst/IT Operations Help Desk
- Salary: $45,637/year
- Benefits: Travel perks, health benefits, wellness programs, 401(k)
- Required Experience: 2 years of help desk and customer experience, 2 years of troubleshooting experience
- Required Education: Technical degree, Apple Certification, A+ Certification
The associate analyst is a member of the IT team who’s responsible for troubleshooting first-level problems via telephone for any hardware and software in the company.
Coordinator, Customer Experience Product Support
- Salary: $45,057/year
- Benefits: Health insurance, 401(k), wellness programs, flight benefits
- Required Experience: 3 years of airline service work experience, supporting business solutions and doing analytical work
- Required Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Technology, Aviation Management, Communication, Operations, or a related field
The position supports product teams and applications. Ideal candidates will identify project impact, source and groom data, track OKRs and draw meaningful conclusions from the analysis. They will also possess excellent communication skills.
Specialist, Flight Operations Technician
- Salary: $44,589/year
- Benefits: Travel perks, health benefits, 401(k) program, and more
- Required Experience: 3 years of flight operations experience, 3 years of experience with aviation safety standards and safe operating practices
- Required Education: Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field
The holder of this position is a flight team member responsible for developing, executing, and maintaining quality assurance programs to support flight operations. Their duties include ensuring regulatory compliance, audits, new station starts, and safety risk-management processes.
Cabin Service Person
- Salary: $28,187/year
- Benefits: 401(k), health insurance, employee travel discount
- Required Experience: 1+ years of service work experience, valid driver’s license, and basic computer and arithmetic abilities
- Required Education: High school diploma/GED
Cabin services employees are responsible for cabin cleaning, picking trash from passenger points, stocking the planes with supplies, and generally ensuring the environment is properly sanitized. This entry-level position comes with full benefits and travel perks.
What Does It Take to Get a Job at American Airlines?
The best way to get a tech job at AA is to let your application show compelling reasons why they should hire you. You can showcase this during the hiring process by sharing your personality, prior endeavors, and abilities that set you apart, such as excellent communication skills or exemplary customer service skills.
How to Get a Job at American Airlines FAQ
To work for American Airlines, you need to be a US citizen or have a valid passport and a US work visa and maintain a legal right to fly to and from other countries. You must also have a high school diploma or GED, at least two years of post-secondary education, and prior work experience.
Yes, AA provides in-house training for many of their jobs. While the training is unpaid, the airline provides trainees with accommodation and three meals a day as they work through the program.
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Yes, American Airlines pays well. The average annual salary at American Airlines is $128,274. This, of course, is on the higher side, and the significant salaries of top-level employees pull up the average number. That said, the highest-paid job position is director, which earns $249,932 annually. The lowest is sales associate, at $35,000. Salaries of union employees can go as low as $19,000.
Yes, it is hard to work for AA. The airline has a fast-paced working environment with high expectations, strict bosses, and very close supervision. Employees are always on their toes to ensure customers come and go smoothly, and this sometimes means working overtime.
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