Height and reach · 2026

Flight attendant height and reach requirements

A person’s height is not a reliable shortcut for flight-attendant eligibility. Some airlines publish a height range, some publish a vertical or combined reach test, and some leave the criterion to an active listing.

Official airline sourcesReviewed Independent comparison
Airline-by-airline table

Published height or reach rules

The wording below reflects the reviewed official career pages. “Check active listing” means no stable numeric rule was available in the reviewed evergreen source.

Reviewed flight attendant height and reach requirements by airline
AirlinePublished height or reach ruleVerification
United AirlinesCombined 76-in vertical and 43.5-in horizontal reach assessmentOfficial source
Southwest AirlinesPublished cabin-task requirements; no stable numeric reach rule reviewedOfficial source
Delta Air LinesCheck active listingOfficial source
American AirlinesCheck active listingOfficial source
Alaska Airlines82-in vertical reach on toes without shoesOfficial source
Frontier AirlinesCheck active listingOfficial source
Sun Country Airlines80-in barefoot vertical reachOfficial source
SkyWest Airlines60–72 in tall without shoesOfficial source
Prepare for an official assessment

How to use a self-measurement responsibly

A home measurement can tell you which question to investigate; it cannot reproduce an airline-administered assessment. Shoes, posture, arm position, simultaneous horizontal reach, and the measuring surface can all change the result.

  1. Match the exact metric.Do not compare standing height with vertical reach, or a single-arm reach with United’s combined vertical-and-horizontal assessment.
  2. Match the published conditions.Alaska specifies on toes without shoes; Sun Country’s reviewed rule specifies barefoot reach; SkyWest’s range is height without shoes.
  3. Leave a close result unresolved.If a home result is near a threshold, treat it as Check details until the airline conducts its own process.
Three very different examples

Why one “minimum height” answer would be misleading

No medical conclusion:

This guide compares published job criteria only. It does not assess disability, accommodation, safety, or medical fitness. Ask the airline about its current process and any accommodation procedure.