Flight attendants are paid for the time spent in flight. Median salaries for flight attendants are about $37,000, with starting salaries around $16,000. The hourly wage system is used by the three major US carriers — Delta, United and American — as well as a several other airlines. Flight attendants’ hourly rates are generally calculated from the time the aircraft door closes until the time it’s reopened. Alaska and Southwest use this much more complex payment method called trips for pay, which is based on a combination of miles flown and block time. A flight attendant earns 1.0 TFP for any flight that is 243 miles or less from origin to destination. Airlines like Lufthansa and Emirates use monthly salary system have a base salary of roughly $2,000 per month.