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Cabin crew is an airline job you can apply for straight after Class 12, without a degree. The catch: each airline sets its own rules, and they change from one hiring drive to the next.
What do airlines ask for after 12th?
Start with a real example. An Air India cabin crew walk-in notice on tata.com listed these requirements:
Age 18 to 27 for freshers, and up to 35 for experienced crew.
Class 12 from a recognised board or university with at least 50% marks.
A minimum height of 155 cm for women, with weight in proportion to height.
A BMI of 18 to 22 for women, and 6/6 vision.
No tattoos visible in uniform, and fluent English and Hindi.
Indian nationality, with a current Indian passport, PAN card and Aadhaar card.
The numbers move between drives. An earlier Air India drive reported by India.com in May 2022 asked for 60% in Class 12, minimum heights of 157 cm for women and 172 cm for men, and a BMI of 18 to 25 for men. So treat any list online, this one included, as a guide. The notice for the drive you are applying to is what counts.
The job is about safety as well as service. A draft DGCA rule on cabin crew duty time describes cabin crew as "crew who perform duties in the interest of safety of passengers".
How do you work out your weight range from a BMI rule?
The WHO defines BMI as weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. If you are 160 cm tall, square 1.60 to get 2.56. Multiply by 18 and by 22 and you get roughly 46 kg to 56 kg, the range that matches the 18 to 22 band in the Air India notice. Work out your own range first. If you are outside it, talk to a doctor or dietitian rather than crash dieting.
Do you need a paid cabin crew academy?
None of the airline requirements above asks for an academy certificate. Airlines train the people they hire. A draft DGCA rule on cabin crew training, summarised by TeamLease RegTech in October 2025, says the airline must run an approved training programme "to be completed by all persons before being assigned as a Cabin crew member", followed by recurrent training every year. Akasa Air's crew careers page says new crew must clear the trainings DGCA makes mandatory, and mentions the airline's own Learning Academy in Gurgaon.
An academy can still help with spoken English, grooming and mock interviews. Before you pay, ask these four questions:
Can I get this coaching cheaper, for example from a spoken-English class plus mock interviews with friends?
Does the academy promise a job? Only the airline decides whom it hires, so treat any job promise with suspicion.
Can I speak to past students who are now flying, not just read testimonials?
What is the full fee, in writing, and what is the refund policy?
That IndiGo statement was reported by Business Today in October 2021. In an earlier case, AirAsia India warned in 2018 about fake emails asking applicants for a Rs 9,600 "refundable" fee. Our guide on how to spot fake job offers covers the other warning signs.
What happens on cabin crew selection day?
Formats vary, but the official pages give you the outline. Akasa Air says interviews are held online or at walk-in drives. After that come pre-employment medicals and a drug test, and a psychometric test that the airline pays back after you join. The Air India walk-in notice asked candidates to bring an updated resume and to wear Western formals. Go in expecting that any rule in the notice, from height to documents, may be checked, and practise speaking clearly and listening well in a group.
A simple script for "Why do you want to be cabin crew?":
One line on what draws you, such as looking after people under pressure.
One true example, such as handling a crowd at a school event.
One line on why this airline, taken from its own careers page.
How should you prepare for a cabin crew drive?
Check your height and work out your BMI range, as in the worked example.
Get your PAN and Aadhaar ready, and apply for a passport early if you do not have one.
Speak English aloud every day. This daily plan for speaking English confidently is a good place to start.
Do three mock interviews. Here is how to practise interview answers with a friend.
Watch airline careers pages and note each drive's dates and rules.
Keep a backup plan, such as a distance-learning degree, in case the first drive does not work out.
If you are still in Class 12, your marks come first, because notices set a minimum percentage. When a board topic stops making sense, Fermi's AI tutor works out what you already know and builds a plan for the session, so you sit down to a clear next step and keep time for your English practice.
