Glossary
Flight Attendant Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential flight attendant terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key flight attendant vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in flight attendant training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Base
- The airport where a flight attendant’s trips start and end.
- Cabin secure
- Confirming the cabin is ready for takeoff or landing.
- Deadhead
- Flying as a passenger to position for work.
- Evacuation
- Getting everyone off the aircraft in an emergency.
- Exit row briefing
- Confirming exit row passengers can assist.
- Galley
- The aircraft kitchen.
- Jumpseat
- A flight attendant’s seat near exits.
- Layover
- Rest time away from base between flights.
- Line holder
- A flight attendant with a regular monthly schedule.
- Purser
- The lead flight attendant.
- Recurrent training
- Annual refresher training.
- Reserve
- On-call status for open trips.
- Seniority
- Length of service, used for bidding.
- Sterile cockpit
- Rules limiting non-essential communication during critical phases.
- Turbulence
- Rough air that can cause injuries.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Flight Attendant practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Flight Attendant training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.