Deaf Flight Attendant??

Hi, I am Deaf and I am strongly encouraged by my acquaintances to pursue this profession as Flight Attendant couple months ago. At first, I laughed so loudly after I was recommended to be one of the great Flight Attendants. I thought my friends were joking and they were not laughing. They were serious. (Two of them used to be flight attendants.) I told them that it is not going to happen in any airline industry at any time due to infamous employment discrimination, emergency procedures and security measures. They smiled, protested, insisted me to gather information, and they dared me to pursue – They are still on me to get started. I believe they are challenging to prove me wrong. Until this morning, I saw this forum and I thought I'd start to ask around. The matter of fact, even in eyes of my friends who were flight attendants, I have nice smile, great personality and customer service experiences and they want me to use my talents to provide excellent services in the airlines. Your thoughts?!

I hope you persue it, and I hope you don't let others push you out of anything that interest you. besides it is so loud on a plane that no one can hear anyone anyway. can you read lips? if you can that might even be seen as an assest!!!

Thanks! I received few optimistic messages, some suggested reading list and encouragement from this group. Their main question for me to consider about was on the subject of relocation after my “training.” I am not aware of relocation as a part of the new job in the beginning, and I am not prepared for relocation at this moment because of my current budget.

For now, I’d ask few people how they dealt with with their relocation with their tight budget, current affairs/circumstances such as their relationships, living arrangements, family, etc. after the new FAs were hired, trained, relocated, and reported to their new work assignment. I have been studying messages and replies in the whole FA Forum. I am glad to discover what is on this forum. I am comfortable with the discussion over preparation and interviews. Relocation looks as if it is a big compact.

Definitely go for it!!
Millions of people with hearing impairment fly every day! Who will "speak" to them properly? I think that flight attendants should have a basic course in sign language anyway. You will definitely be an asset!

Ricky Harris in Denver, Colorado said: Hi, I am Deaf and I am strongly encouraged by my acquaintances to pursue this profession as Flight Attendant couple months ago. At first, I laughed so loudly after I was recommended to be one of the great Flight Attendants. I thought my friends were joking and they were not laughing. They were serious. (Two of them used to be flight attendants.) I told them that it is not going to happen in any airline industry at any time due to infamous employment discrimination, emergency procedures and security measures. They smiled, protested, insisted me to gather information, and they dared me to pursue – They are still on me to get started. I believe they are challenging to prove me wrong. Until this morning, I saw this forum and I thought I'd start to ask around. The matter of fact, even in eyes of my friends who were flight attendants, I have nice smile, great personality and customer service experiences and they want me to use my talents to provide excellent services in the airlines. Your thoughts?!

Ricky, I do not want to disappoint you in any way, but I want to tell you that being a Flight Attendant would require that you can hear. Depending on how large your hearing loss is?? I am hearing, years ago I dated a deaf man , learned ASL and eventually translated a lot for friends for doctors appointments, etc. So, please do not think that I have any type of prejudices towards anyone in the deaf community. I have been a Flight Attendant for almost 20 years. It is is an issue of safety. Crews need to be able to communicate quickly in dangerous situations....also, passengers need to be able to communicate easily and request things. I do think more people should learn sign language, but unfortunately, it is just not realistic that passengers would. I am sorry to discourage you, but I am wishing the best for you in whatever you decide : )
Good Luck....peace...Cat

Ricky !!!!! Do NOT listen to Cat, I have applied and have an interview in atlanta next week... I am Hard of Hearing, I have had numerous friends, colleagues, mom! tell me i should go for it. I called the FAA to confirm that you have to have hearing to work as a flight attendant. they said flat out no!!! the only requirements are that you have good vision, you are able to reach bulkhead while still flat on your feet, and that you pass the FAA phsyical exam and certified as a flight attendant by faa regulations. Delta knows that I am hard of hearing and they do know that i cannot hear very well on the phone and that they will have to comply with ada regs, to buy an fm system for me to hook up to the sound system, The FAA said that there would be charges brought against any airline and employees that discriminate against their employees/co-workers, and same goes for the union afa-cwa confirmed that as well, in fact there are 29 listed employees with the union as hard of hearing and or deaf flight attendants

so by all means go for it dude :) who knows we may even be in the same training class :)

Higbee,EEOC they and only they are only gov't body that can bring charges for discrimination. The FAA simply governs rules of flying, they do not dictate airline protocol. Please don't mislead.

That being said: Ricky, there is a degree of hearing loss you can work with, especially if it correctable. NO one should discriminate against a non-issue challenge (heck I wear glasses). However I do know this: The job of a flight attendant is not simply serving soft drinks and meals, in the face of danger we are literally the lifeline to the customers onboard.

One of the things you'll do during training is a mock evacuation from a smoke filled aircraft module, during this exercise you will rely solely on your earring as you make your way through a darkened smoke-filled cabin. OK let's say hypothetically your door is a good exit. The door across is a bad exit (blocked..etc) You don't hear the F/A at that door scream bad exit, and direct survivors to your door, while you simultaneously are trying to prevent a crunch at your door sending folks in both directions. Now what happens?

Your working a night flight, someone is choking...of course it's a night flight you're passing by the aisle and don't see them...but you could have heard them choking, but you didn't and now they are aphyxiating.

Your beginning a take-off roll out of JFK, there is a loud noise something broke loose from the aircraft near your seat, but you didn't hear it.....and didn't make an emergency call to the cockpit allowing them to abort. The loud sound was a part of the stabilizer, now the pilots are unable to control the airplane.

I know what I'm saying is harsh, but......I would feel terribly frightened to work with another cabin crewmember who was completely absent of hearing.

Ricky, there are so many things we want in life, some of them may not be ours to have, would you really want to risk the lives of others, to prove you can do it?

ok first of all, I didnt mention the EEOC at all did I?? I said the FAA,(they have their own anti discrimination board of investigators) I checked !!! I also asked them a lot of questions about all your concerns and they simply said that you do not know what you are talking about. The TSA also confirmed this. The FAA is a governmental body that can fine, arrest, investigate discrimination cases.

as far as your examples and scenarios.. so far your information is wrong as far as the smoke out drill they can use strobes to indicate that it is a safe door to go to. second of all yes maybe someone is choking but someone around them would definitely alert someone else. but i do have more hearing than you think I do. the loud noise is a sham, deaf people have an advantage to feel more vibrations and pops and shakes that are not normal. i know you dont think that you are saying things to what you believe but these statements you are making are your opinions and not facts.

I shared Tony's comment to several Flight Attendants. They stated that the most examples and scenarios except choking are fictitious.

They said that there are visual emergency lights and strobes. Planes are constantly updating with technology to accommodate the passengers with disabilities, such as wheelchairs, blind, and deaf/hard of hearing. Working inside crafts next to engines is loud and they could manage to hear couple sounds. Deaf people have great advantage to identify the vibrations. Flight Attendants reassured me that passengers are usually the first ones to respond for anything unusual sound or something else. When in the emergency, passengers do screams and you hardly hear other attendants in the distance. They had one real situation and gave me an emergency scenario, when the phones were offline due to broken/burned/torn wires - what would you do? They used body language/gestures to communicate.

What is more, (no hard feelings) for the record and it's been for a long time, they tell their stories and pass on to others. It almost never resolve couple issues with Deaf passengers on flights. Deaf passengers are constantly complaining about safety procedure/demonstration, nobody knows sign language, they don't understand what was that flight attendant saying; communication - especially other announcements than demonstrating the safety procedure; such as weather condition, flying circle around storms, turbulences coming up, announcements from cockpit, gates for other flights at airport, etc. They detest flying with Flight Attendants. That's why I am pursuing this career to bring great flight experiences to Deaf passengers and put them at ease with my skills. This surely boosts the airline's reputation for better services to Deaf passengers.

Funny thing is that smiling flight attendants saying to me they are afraid of another cabin crew member with absent of common senses every day. They disagree on most parts in Tony's comment.

Well I for one am very happy that you are going at this with the comfort know that some people just do not know what they are talking about. Sometimes people just put their own fear into beliefs and try to pass it on as fact.

I have been in the industry as a flight attendant and various other operations positions for over 25 years, you're welcome to go to my linkedin page to get an idea.

Many of those years were spent in in-flight safety procedures where we put the manuals together. The only degree of discrimination the FAA deals with is violation toward passenger rights, OH, and keep in mind it's an FAA Regulation that prevents those with functional limits from sitting at an emergency exit.

The choking scenario, Ricky...I didn't pull that out of my axx. That happened in January on a LAS-LON flight. It was a night flight, and it was one of the crewmembers who hurdle the man churtling that alerted them to a choking scenario.

I am truly one to support anyone in their endeavors, but I think it's down right juvenile to offer encouragment for the sake "goodwill". I applaude that this young man wants to be a cabin crewmember, but the job has changed so,so,so much from when I started. We are on guard for things we never had to worry about when I started.

I we could have everything we want it would be great, but once in a great while we are bound by circumstances that should make us think twice before moving forward.

Like I said if you want my full aviation background let me know and I'll be glad to link any of you.

Anyway higbee, I have an over 25 year verifiable background, what's yours??

Hi, I know this's forum's really old, because it's the only one I could find on the internet!
It's my dream to be flight attendant for one of the award winning airlines espically Emirates or British Airways but obviously they will think I'm weird calling them asking if they accept hearing imparient cabin crew.

I'm deaf but I can lip read well and have experience in customer facing role and have numerous of customer service qualifications. I like making a customer/guest/pax's day and going for the extra mile.

I'm curious if there's a deaf cabin crew in the world maybe even one or more and previous blog, by highbee who says there's 29 hearing imparied cabin crew according to the afa-cwa? I can't find that information online, did you ring them? I'm surprised about that fact becuase I been searching for years and years and no result! I can hear really loud like screamings in the cabin or loud bang like if there's problem outside of the aircraft maybe the wings and I defitnately will hear and feel! The problem about Cabin Crew is they work with different crew on every flight so most of them don't know about deaf and the awareness of it.? means I will have to introudce? also about the debriefings , interpreters possible?? under government scheme in the UK, access to work

I wont be able to hear the PA from the pilot but one of the crew can inform me of the situation etc...

and for cat and tony, in case. Don't even bother to write back as obviously you have different point of view about deaf cabin crew.

I hope someone comments on this forum maybe with great results.

I worked with a hearing impaired FA at my old company. She did wear hearing aides. There is a difference in regulations between US regulations and European so I'm not sure what to say about your chances of being hired. I do know that that in order to sit in US emergency exits, you have to see and understand (among other criteria), but I don't recall if to had to hear.
Look, instead of asking everyone else, apply. They will either hire you or not. Sometimes, it isn't because they want to discriminate, but because you have to be able to hear an evacuation horn, commands from other FAs and other things like you yourself not being injured or killed because you couldn't hear evacuations, but that doesn't mean you can't succeed dispite of your hearing abilities. Being a FA is more than serving people, but it seems that you have those other things like committment to a dream and heart. You sound intelligent and very nice, good luck to you in all that you do in life. Again, if you want to be a FA, like Nike says, "Just do it!"

Ok, I am a deaf FA for Delta Airlines, for those of you who think this is scary think again ! for you that doubt that people who are deaf and work as FA are a safety risk, think again ! I was on a flight from LON to ATL and was the only one that noticed a difference in the planes usual behavior. We took off from LON and about 30 minutes i felt a thud and vibration thumping. Went a grabbed another FA and ask him about it, he said I was crazy but if I felt that strongly he would call the captain and tell him. within 15 minutes we were re-routed to LON. they found a hole the size of a grapefruit in the tail end of the plane but if it would gone on without being taken care of we would have lost the tail end of the aircraft in the atlantic!! I was recognized as being a valuable employee.

thanks for listening and treat people with respect will ya!!

underdog, thanks for your blog,
Are you like proudfoundly deaf, do you use ASL or lip reading? I;m surprised that USa airlines emnploys some deaf crew! Why can't britian do the same! I rung BA and they say it would depends on the medical test and it's the BA doctor's decision whether if I can work as cabin crew!

Thanks Again!
Robert

I am profoundly deaf :) and I use ASL and Lip reading.... Delta Airlines tried to get rid of me and others but I asked the to prove that I was risk to passenger safety during an emergency. they couldnt find any reason due to me passing all my safety exams, physical and classroom. It is just the same with people who are nearly blind without glasses they can work when they have contacts or glasses !

anyway good luck :) i hope you do make it, it is a fun job ! maybe when I come to london we can have lunch or something ?

Underdog.
Wow, impressive, do you know any more deaf flight attendants?
How do you find working with different crew on every flights, informing that you are deaf, explain about the awareness etc? the de-briefing at the terminal with purser/senior flight attendant. do you have asl interpreters for de-briefings? also cant hear the pilot's Personal announcements onboard? I would love to meet you one day and listen to all of your experiences.

Not many airlines are recuriting crew right now, hopefully soon in the future.
Thanks again,
Robert

Well, to tell you the truth I just happened to be a senior Crew Member for Delta Airlines, and no I do not have any problems with informing the crew that I am hard of hearing. The flight team is well aware of my limitations and my abilities to "hear" in other ways that may be beneficial to them. I have met one other member of our "Team Delta" that is hard of hearing and he is a great guy. I also met someone who worked in PDX for NWA before we merged, but I cant seem to get in contact with him. He was great with passengers and public, and always had a smile on his face.

I am not able to hear the pilots announcements to a "T" but I can hear some of it and put two and two together but if there is an emergency the pilots know to blow the signals for me at random lights off/on and that lets us know that there is an emergency and that we need to get to our stations. I have actually been involved with 7 emergency situations and it worked out fine. I have even delivered a baby, on board, at 32000 feet! So, to those people that tell someone no, better get those facts straight. I am almost ready to retire, I have been working since 1985 when we were still western airlines. good luck !

Robert in London, United Kingdom said: I'm curious if there's a deaf cabin crew in the world maybe even one or more and previous blog, by highbee who says there's 29 hearing imparied cabin crew according to the afa-cwa? I can't find that information online, did you ring them? I'm surprised about that fact becuase I been searching for years and years and no result!

I have the same question again and again -- No way I could either find out or confirm the information. I'd love to meet those people working in the airlines. Those people said things to look us down or put us down - Those people are not aware the FAA regulation, ADA and disability laws.

Please keep me posted about your coming interviews with airlines you mentioned. Definitely love to hear from you. Good Luck!

underdog in Minneapolis, Minnesota said: Well, to tell you the truth I just happened to be a senior Crew Member for Delta Airlines, and no I do not have any problems with informing the crew that I am hard of hearing. The flight team is well aware of my limitations and my abilities to "hear" in other ways that may be beneficial to them...

I am not able to hear the pilots announcements to a "T" but I can hear some of it and put two and two together but if there is an emergency the pilots know to blow the signals for me at random lights off/on and that lets us know that there is an emergency and that we need to get to our stations. I have actually been involved with 7 emergency situations and it worked out fine. I have even delivered a baby, on board, at 32000 feet! So, to those people that tell someone no, better get those facts straight. I am almost ready to retire, I have been working since 1985 when we were still western airlines. good luck !

You ROCK!! I am Deaf and fluently in ASL -- underway getting CIs. I am digging some information to get aboard the airline industry. Deaf passengers are increasing frustrated with those customer service reps. and flight attendants, so that's where I come in to ease their frustration up. 7 emergency incidents? That beat all others' comments saying such things about emergency situations that Deafies could not handle. You made me smiling. Thank you.

underdog in Minneapolis, Minnesota said: Ok, I am a deaf FA for Delta Airlines, for those of you who think this is scary think again ! for you that doubt that people who are deaf and work as FA are a safety risk, think again ! I was on a flight from LON to ATL and was the only one that noticed a difference in the planes usual behavior. We took off from LON and about 30 minutes i felt a thud and vibration thumping. Went a grabbed another FA and ask him about it, he said I was crazy but if I felt that strongly he would call the captain and tell him. within 15 minutes we were re-routed to LON. they found a hole the size of a grapefruit in the tail end of the plane but if it would gone on without being taken care of we would have lost the tail end of the aircraft in the atlantic!! I was recognized as being a valuable employee.

thanks for listening and treat people with respect will ya!!

Love this story - Thanks for sharing with us. You are awesome!

Ricky Harris in Denver, Colorado said: Hi, I am Deaf and I am strongly encouraged by my acquaintances to pursue this profession as Flight Attendant couple months ago. At first, I laughed so loudly after I was recommended to be one of the great Flight Attendants. I thought my friends were joking and they were not laughing. They were serious. (Two of them used to be flight attendants.) I told them that it is not going to happen in any airline industry at any time due to infamous employment discrimination, emergency procedures and security measures. They smiled, protested, insisted me to gather information, and they dared me to pursue – They are still on me to get started. I believe they are challenging to prove me wrong. Until this morning, I saw this forum and I thought I'd start to ask around. The matter of fact, even in eyes of my friends who were flight attendants, I have nice smile, great personality and customer service experiences and they want me to use my talents to provide excellent services in the airlines. Your thoughts?!

I used to work with a girl at my no longer existant airline that was deaf. She wore hearing aids.. I would think you would have to be able to hear a little for example an alarm.. since you can't read its sign language or lips..

cdnflygurl in Chicago, Illinois said: I used to work with a girl at my no longer existant airline that was deaf. She wore hearing aids.. I would think you would have to be able to hear a little for example an alarm.. since you can't read its sign language or lips..

Not understanding your message. Alarms usually come with Visual signals. Hearing aids may not be workable while in-flights due to noises from engines. Questions regarding communication method can be accommodated under ADA and disability laws. Customer Service experience is the key to success to your career. Deaf person grows up and is trained to notice unusual things. This is not a problem -- only problem is the hiring practice in the airline industry is violating the FAA regulation, ADA and disability laws. Many qualified Deaf applicants are trying to get in. That's the basically idea what is going on.

It amazes me how hearing people think of deaf or hard of hearing people. I hate the phrase "hard of hearing." The "normal people" think we're akin to retarded, and treat us as such.

I went for a assessment for the role of Cabin Crew with British Airways and was unfortunately unsuccessful as I didn't demonstrate enough about customer service plus it was my first cabin crew job interview. So I know I will be better on my next interview(hopefully with Virgin soon or BA again next year if it's a NO from VS)

BA is non-discrimating company and they will give you some reasonable adjustments on the role as long you meet the criteria for the role and have customer service experience.

"Deaf people can do anything but hear" As cabin crew you will need to be able to hear and hearing aids will help plus it's noisy up at 35,000 feet anyway, hearing people find it noisy as well and relies on lip reading or talking louder. In case of emergency on-board which RARELY happens. Deaf person can assist PAX, GESTURES AND BODY LANGUAGE! (go go go, dont go that way, that way. etc etc...) and shout Brace Brace Brace when other member of crew notify deaf crew member "brace" and as its difficult to hear the announcement from the pilot. Deaf people shall be able to say the emergency drills clearly after numerous of practise.

Deaf people detect things quicker than non-disabled people, its true I am sure you all agree, and our eyes are everywhere, when working on-board we can detect when PAX requires the attention from the crew.

Just found out that American Airlines has 4 deaf Flight Attendants and still none in the UK, as for deaf cabin crew enthusiastics out there (UK), we got to keep trying and nail the job. And show that we have the ability to execute the role of cabin crew and of course with some reasonble adjustments made on the role such as making the personal announcements, pass onto other colleague to make the welcome PA, plus most airlines now have automated PA system on-board.

I will keep updating on here, I'm applying Virgin next month and hope I'm invited for a assessment. Really want to be in the Red! :-) plus Virgin's fabulous airline.

I been a flight attendant for 25 years with a major carrier in the US. I have participated in numerous inflight emergencies, and a couple of planned emergency landings. I am hard of hearing...moderate hearing loss. I am currently in the process of getting hearing aids, but have been working without for at least 7 years. I will not tell you that it is easy, but it certainly should not keep a person off the plane. I do inform my crew of my disability, and let them know what I need in order to stay in good communication with them. I found that I am very good at remaining aware of my surroundings, and reading non-verbal cues. I have often been the lead in my onboard emergencies.

To those with hearing loss, as a flight attendant I can tell you that you absolutely need some form of reliable hearing. While we do signal each other a lot when asking for service supplies from the galley or whatever the case may be, our most important form of communication is being able to hear eachother. In the event of an emergency (though unlikely, this is the flight attendants main duty, not customer service) we need to be able to hear and communicate over our interphone system. while other methods of communication can be used, they are often more time consuming (like walking to each other to notify one another of the situation instead of using the interphone). and seconds can decide a life or death situation. Furthermore, after 9/11 the interphone is how we communicate with the flight deck. We all need to know what is going on, and attempting to relay that information is difficult through use of signals when we should be preparing for landing. having said all that, a hearing aid is necessary, and while i do not know about the rest of the airline federations and their hearing requirements, i do know that my friend worked for an american airline and had a hearing aid in place! everything is possible. just remember your main duty is to save lives not serve drinks.

I'm hard of hearing and I was wondering if Flight Attendant is a good career for me. Also, when the plane is about to take off, officially your ears pop, right? What can I do to avoid ear popping? Will the popping lose more of my hearing? How many tests are required to take? if so, could you name the tests for me? Lastly,do you have to go to any training?

To Sroachie7.
It is indeed good career and very rewarding.

The ears popping whilst taking off and landing won't affect your hearing. It's perfectly normal when they pop and you will get used to it. When you are up in 35000 feet high. The cabin is pressured and you might feel a little pressure in your ears. Exactly the same when you dive deep down in the sea.

You will have to attend training in order to become a qualified cabin crew member and recieve your wings and the license to fly those airbus and boeings. Training takes between 4 to 6 weeks, those varies between the airlines. In the Middle East (Emirates, Etihad and Qatar)t I think it is 6 weeks and in the United Kingdom with major scheduled airlines such as Virgin it's 5 weeks. I don't know how long the training takes in the United States, Sorry!

As for the hearing tests, some airlines don't do this, and some do. It really varies. Just sound test.

I would like to encourage you to apply the cabin crew positions with those airlines in the United States and the Middle East if you consider re-locating to the sandpit.

Hi Rob,

I have a deaf friend who is close to being offered and one airliner employer wants to know if there are deaf flight attendants out there. I read that you already found four deaf flight attendants. Can we correspond and share more information? I especially my friend will greatly appreciate your information. It is his lifetime dream and he had three interviews already.

I just registered and hope my screen name will show as a link to my email, I will figure as when I see your reply.

Thanks,

Anne Marie

Rob, my email address is AnneMarieBaer@gmail.com.

Hi, this is the first time I saw this encouraging message. Been asking around and those people brought me down. I would like to know what airline that your deaf friend is offered. Let me know and I will definitely try this airline.

Thank you,
Ricky Harris - the author of this topic.

Supportingmyfriend in Tel Aviv-yafo, Israel said: Hi Rob,

I have a deaf friend who is close to being offered and one airliner employer wants to know if there are deaf flight attendants out there. I read that you already found four deaf flight attendants. Can we correspond and share more information? I especially my friend will greatly appreciate your information. It is his lifetime dream and he had three interviews already.

I just registered and hope my screen name will show as a link to my email, I will figure as when I see your reply.

Thanks,

Anne Marie

I am so excited to see this wondeful message. I am definitely checking this out. Thank you for sharing this with us. I guess a sandpit would be a great experience.

Hey Anne Marie, are you in the US or UK?

I am aware that Delta Airlines, based in Atlanta U.S, the largest carrier in the world has deaf flight attendants but I dont know if they still do. Also try AA based in Chicago I think... First Choice (UK) used to have one girl but they have now merged with Thomson Airways.

British Airways is a big NO. They are just thick and doesn't understand deaf people's abilities. They just think they know it all but they haven't tried it or give deaf person the opportunity to show that they can do it in the training.
They have wasted my time. Giving me a false hope... I went for Assesment day TWICE! At the end I received the same feedback. First one was Gatwick Fleet and then Mixed Fleet.
BA is bad now, low salary, short layover, ONE NIGHT STAY IN NRT, LAX, LAS. Mixed Fleet works you to the max till you quit. Dont try BA, trust me. They are discrimating airline, lots of lawsuits against them. They just don't employ deaf people for any role. Even a job in Waterside.

easyJet is a NO.

Can't apply to Qantas cos I am too tall also I can't try Air New Zealand, (both London Based) lol

Try Virgin. But they are very image conscious. Virgin Atlantic have some cabin crews with hearing aid but I don't exactly know if they are profoundly deaf or hard of hearing and fluent in English.

Which airline offered your friend. I would like to try if I haven't tried with that "airline"

Airlines in sandpit are very hard to get through. I have tried EK twice, no assessment day offered, same with EY. I haven't tried QR yet.

Please do let me know what happened and I am so pleased that this forum is getting heavier :)
Rob

Wow, my... I am USA citizen living in Israel.

Given the precarious situation of possible hiring, I unfortunately cannot go in more details but yes later when the situation develops.

I will investigate to find more current information on deaf flight attendants where they are and if we can reach them. I promise to be back on the forum as I get more information.

We appreciate you updating your situation in details, they are helpful and yes we need to be persistent. The main problem is unwillingness to make some adaption that does make difference in a long run especially when it comes to overall burden on the society and consequences we live with.

Ricky Harris in Denver, Colorado said: Hi, I am Deaf and I am strongly encouraged by my acquaintances to pursue this profession as Flight Attendant couple months ago. At first, I laughed so loudly after I was recommended to be one of the great Flight Attendants. I thought my friends were joking and they were not laughing. They were serious. (Two of them used to be flight attendants.) I told them that it is not going to happen in any airline industry at any time due to infamous employment discrimination, emergency procedures and security measures. They smiled, protested, insisted me to gather information, and they dared me to pursue – They are still on me to get started. I believe they are challenging to prove me wrong. Until this morning, I saw this forum and I thought I'd start to ask around. The matter of fact, even in eyes of my friends who were flight attendants, I have nice smile, great personality and customer service experiences and they want me to use my talents to provide excellent services in the airlines . Your thoughts?!

I hope they do let you do it. What they should do is have you work with several attendants who have hearing ability and have them announce to the passengers, at the beginning of the flight, that you are hearing impaired and just be casual about it but also to let the passengers know and to briefly explain to them how to best communicate with you. Personally, I would be more likely to fly on an airline that
had great diversity in their crew/employees.

There is a whole major difference between no hearing and impaired hearing. As a flight attendant you need to have some sort of hearing. If wearing a hearing aid you can hear, then go for it. Unfortunately an individual with no form of hearing can not be a cabin crew. This is strictly safety issue. The same way one is required to have a good collectable vision. I read on here that there are visual signs to help in emergency but these are kept for passengers not crew members. How would you communicate on the interphone? Total hearing loss no, impaired or partial yes.