korean air uniform — Travel

My earliest memory of flying is on a Korean Air flight from Washington D.C. to Seoul. I spent a number of my childhood summers in Korea so I spent a significant amount of time on these 14-hour flights observing the Korean Air fight attendants (stewardesses as they were known back then). Tall, beautiful, and graceful, dressed impeccably in their fitted uniforms, they were supermodels in my young eyes.

Korean Air, the largest airline based in South Korea, has a series of strict requirements flight attendants must meet. As the dream of world travel and glamour remains elusive for most South Korean women, the competition is fierce. Cabin crew jobs are considered prestigious and highly esteemed; it’s common for judges to weed out close to 20,000 applicants for a couple of hundred openings each year.

Korean Air, similar to most Asian airlines, places significant emphasis on physical appearances. Flight attendants must be at least 5”4, have straight, white teeth, a smooth complexion, and be physically trim. According to a former flight attendant turned lecturer at ANC, the largest flight attendant academy in South Korea, "bright, clean and sophisticated" is the look that is most sought after in the recruitment process for Korean airlines. In addition, Korean Air flight attendants must speak English, hold a college degree, and be under the age of 27.

The following are my favorite flight attendant uniforms across the world.

1. Emirates