Considering pursuing being a Flight Attendant - some concerns about year to budgeting

Hi folks,

I’m a 26 y/o (single; no kids) man in Minneapolis and I’m really considering pursuing work as a flight attendant. I currently work in University food service, and have been doing customer service work since before I graduated High School, including around 2 years in MSP restaurants.

There’s a lot I like about my job but I know it’s not something I want to do forever. Seeing many “lifers” that have been in it much longer than me, well I just don’t want to see myself go down some of those roads, and I think I have more potential than that.

I currently take home ~2400 a month, so let’s say around 30k a year I take home. I live pretty cheaply, and am able to save a good bit of my current income. My rent +utilities with 2 roommates averages out to around 650 a month, factoring in other required expenses like insurance and food, clothing, and having at least a little money for myself after “staying alive” spending, I think I could reasonably live off of 20,000 a year before getting uncomfortable with it.

I just don’t really at all have a good picture of how much first time Flight Attendants make. I know seniority is a huge factor in the pay scale and I’m comfortable taking my lumps for the first year/few years. But I don’t want to find myself jumping ship from my safe job only to find myself unable to make ends meet, moving back in with mom, or taking out loans or something. Especially knowing mainline carriers like Delta (which has a hub in my city) are both the higher paying roles as well as the most highly competitive.

So my question is, if I got hired, how survivable would this transitionary period be? Like I said I have some money saved up, but most of my savings go towards retirement and my emergency fund is only about 2 months. I’d like to beef that up for a transition period but also, just would really appreciate a more clear picture of what year 1 might look like. I also have a strong family support network but absolutely do not want to burden them financially if at all possible.