No Indian airline publishes what it pays cabin crew. Air India’s own cabin crew careers page states only “competitive salary: attractive compensation package with performance-linked incentives”. That is the entire published position from the country’s largest full-service carrier. Every specific rupee figure you will find online is an estimate, and this page explains what is actually knowable instead.
On this page
Why we removed the numbers from this page
An earlier version of this article carried airline-by-airline monthly salary tables for Air India, IndiGo, Vistara and Akasa. We could not source a single one of those figures to an airline, a regulator, or any published document. They were projections.
Under our editorial policy a figure we cannot source does not get published, so they are gone. That is a worse page for anyone who wanted a number, and a better one for anyone about to make a decision with it.
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What cabin crew pay is made of
Compensation is a structure, not a salary, and this is the part that holds across carriers even though the amounts do not.
| Component | What it is | Why it varies |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed base | The guaranteed monthly amount, paid regardless of hours flown | Set by airline, grade and contract type |
| Flying allowance | Paid per hour actually flown | Depends on your roster. A light month is a lighter payslip |
| Layover allowance | For meals and expenses on night stops away from base | Route network and how many overnights you hold |
| International component | Additional pay on international sectors, sometimes partly in foreign currency | Only if you are rostered internationally |
The practical consequence: two crew members at the same airline on the same grade can take home materially different amounts in the same month. That is why a single “average salary” figure misleads even when it is honestly meant.
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What the airlines do publish
Not pay — eligibility. Air India’s cabin crew careers page publishes its criteria in full, and this is sourced and current at the time of writing:
| Requirement | Air India’s stated criterion |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Indian national with a valid passport |
| Age | 18–27 for freshers; up to 35 for experienced crew |
| Education | Class 12 with a minimum of 50% from a recognised board |
| Height | Minimum 155 cm (women), 170 cm (men) |
| BMI | 18–22 (women), 18–25 (men) |
| Vision | 6/6 |
| Appearance | No visible tattoos in uniform |
| Languages | Communication skills in Hindi and English |
| Experience | None required |
| Base | Willing to be based at any domestic hub |
Source: Air India cabin crew careers page, retrieved 4 September 2026. Criteria change; check the current page before applying.
Other carriers publish their own criteria on their own recruitment pages, and they differ. Read the airline’s page, not a summary of it.
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How to read the salary figures you find online
You will find plenty of numbers. Knowing where each kind comes from tells you how much weight to give it.
- Aggregator sites. Self-reported by employees, in samples that are usually small and never audited. Useful as a rough shape, worthless as a specific figure, and impossible to verify.
- Training institutes. Published by organisations selling cabin crew courses. The incentive runs one way. We are a training institute ourselves, which is precisely why this page has no figures on it.
- News reports of pay revisions. Occasionally genuine and worth reading, but they describe a change at one airline at one moment, not a standing pay scale.
- The airline. Publishes nothing. If a page claims an official figure, ask where it is published, because we could not find one.
What to ask before you accept an offer
This is the part that actually determines what you earn, and it is answerable — unlike the question this page is usually asked.
- What is the fixed component, separately from allowances? Get the number that arrives in a month when you barely fly.
- How is the flying allowance calculated, and what is a typical roster? Per hour, per sector, and how many hours a new joiner actually gets.
- Is there a training bond? If so, its value, its duration, and what leaving early costs you.
- Is this direct employment or through a contractor? It changes pay, benefits and job security, and it is not always volunteered.
- What is the probation period and what changes at the end of it?
Written answers to those five questions are worth more than every salary table on the internet combined.
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Cabin crew and pilot training are different paths
Cabin crew recruitment is an airline process with airline criteria. It is not a DGCA licensing process, and it has no connection to the computer number, theory papers or medical requirements that govern a pilot licence. If you are weighing the two, that difference matters more than the pay: one is an employer’s hiring decision, the other is a regulated licence you hold independently of any employer.
Frequently asked questions
What is the salary of an air hostess in India?
No Indian airline publishes a cabin crew salary figure. Air India's official cabin crew careers page states only "competitive salary: attractive compensation package with performance-linked incentives". Every specific number circulating online is either self-reported by employees on aggregator sites or an estimate published by a training institute, and neither is an airline's stated figure.
Why does every website give a different air hostess salary?
Because none of them has a source. Aggregator sites publish self-reported figures from small, unverified samples, and training institutes publish ranges that help sell courses. Airlines treat compensation as commercially confidential, so there is no published number for anyone to cite.
What is cabin crew pay actually made of?
Typically a fixed base component, a flying allowance tied to hours flown, a layover allowance for time spent away from base, and for international routes an additional route or overriding component. The proportions vary by airline and contract, which is one reason a single monthly figure is misleading even when someone quotes one.
What are the eligibility requirements for Air India cabin crew?
Air India's cabin crew careers page states: Indian national with a valid passport; age 18 to 27 for freshers and up to 35 for experienced crew; Class 12 with a minimum of 50%; minimum height 155 cm for women and 170 cm for men; BMI 18 to 22 for women and 18 to 25 for men; 6/6 vision; no visible tattoos in uniform; and communication skills in Hindi and English. No prior customer service experience is required.
Do I need a degree to become cabin crew in India?
Air India states Class 12 with a minimum of 50% from a recognised board. Requirements differ between airlines, so check the specific carrier's current recruitment page rather than a general figure.
What should I ask before accepting a cabin crew offer?
Ask for the fixed component separately from allowances, how the flying allowance is calculated and what happens in a low-roster month, whether there is a training bond and what it costs to exit, and whether the offer is direct employment or through a contractor. Those four answers tell you more than any published range.
More: the FAQ for short sourced answers, the glossary for the terms, and our editorial policy for how these figures are checked.
- Cabin Crew Salary
- Air Hostess Salary
- Cabin Crew India
- Airline Careers