Corporate Cabin Flight Attendants: Beyond Service

This article is featured in our upcoming BJT Buyers' Guide , which will be published soon. Make sure you are signed up for a free copy here.

“We’re not going to make the runway. We’ve lost both engines.”

That was the final transmission from the cockpit of Hop-A-Jet Flight 823 on Feb. 9, 2024. Seconds later the Bombardier Challenger 604 attempted a forced “dead stick” landing into the southbound lanes of Interstate 75 near Naples, Florida, during rush-hour traffic.

The twinjet touched down but then veered into the breakdown lane, collided with a pickup truck and SUV, hit a concrete sound barrier, stopped, and then burst into flames. Pilots Edward Murphy and Frederick Hoffman were killed. But thanks to the quick thinking of flight attendant Sydney Ann Bosmans, who was just 27 years old at the time of the accident, she and her two passengers survived. 

Sydney Bosmans speaking at NBAA 2024. (Photo: Jessica Reed)

Seeing that both the main cabin door and emergency exit were blocked by the crash’s conflagration outside, Bosmans led passengers Aaron Baker and Audra Green to the rear of the aircraft and successfully evacuated them through the baggage compartment door mere moments before a secondary explosion consumed the aircraft, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board. The makeshift exit was unknown to most passengers and not part of the cabin safety briefing. But Bosmans had been instructed on it less than two years earlier during her safety training at Aircare FACTS (Flight Attendant Crewmember Training System) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) recognized Bosmans’ quick thinking in 2024, bestowing her with its “Above and Beyond Award for Heroic Achievement” at the organization’s annual Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition. In accepting the award, Bosmans acknowledged the role her safety training played in surviving the accident.

“If I hadn’t made the personal and professional development decision to invest in proper safety training for my role, it would have resulted in five souls lost that day, and my parents would have had to deal with burying the charred remains of what was left of their 27-year-old daughter,” Bosmans told the convention audience.

She used the opportunity to advocate for mandatory safety training for corporate (Part 91) flight attendants, something not required by FAA regulation. (There are training standards for cabin/flight attendants aboard Part 135/charter-operated aircraft, but only such aircraft with more than 19 passenger seats are required to have these crewmembers.)

“Most people think something like this will never happen to them. And of course, I never thought this would happen to me, either,” she said. “But if it happened to me, it could happen to you.”

Statistically of course, an accident like Bosmans’ is very unlikely. But a well-trained flight attendant is just as valuable, perhaps even more valuable, than the most sophisticated piece of safety equipment on the flight deck. Yet roughly only half of super-midsize and larger private jets are likely to fly with them.

Aircraft owners and charter customers who do not use cabin attendants often recoil at the associated costs or what they perceive as an intrusion into their privacy. They also tend to think that the pilots will provide all the service and safety that is required. And that can be a mistake.

Sheryl Barden, CEO of Aviation Personnel International, frequently works with corporations and high net worth individuals on their private jet staffing needs. She continues to confront resistance to hiring professionally trained flight attendants. “I call them cabin safety attendants because that is what they are,” Barden told BJT.

“You don’t want pilots getting out of their seats” in the event of a passenger medical event or other onboard cabin emergency, noted Jennifer Guthrie, CEO of In-Flight Crew Connections, a recruiting and staffing firm that focuses on the private jet industry and has placed and hired thousands of flight attendants. These types of passenger events “happen more often than you would think,” she said. “The price of having a flight attendant on board is often less than the catering bill.”

“No one is going to save anyone in an emergency with a nicely-folded napkin,” said Bethan Williams-Velenosi, chief of cabin experience for Bombardier and lead flight attendant for its factory demonstration team. “We’re not there to invade your space. We can be very discreet, but we are there for safety. Incidents and accidents happen all over the world. When they do, if there wasn’t a cabin attendant, the results could be very, very different.” 

Bombardier’s annual Flight Attendant Safety Summit attracts more than 150 people who share vital safety information. (Photo: Bombardier)

Williams-Velenosi has more than 25 years’ experience working in airline and corporate aviation. Three years ago, she and the company’s chief pilot founded Bombardier’s annual Flight Attendant Safety Summit, a standalone annual event that attracts more than 150 flight attendants.

The latest summit was held in August 2025 at Bombardier’s Laurent Beaudoin Completion Centre in Dorval, Quebec, Canada. Topics covered included security, firefighting, mental health, fatigue, and crew resource management. “Mini” summits complement this gathering in other venues: Hong Kong, Nashville, and Dubai in 2025.

“Safety is the key. It has to be paramount,” she maintained.

Guthrie pointed out that her firm won’t even consider hiring a flight attendant who does not have safety training from a recognized provider. “We don’t put waitresses in the air. They have to get their emergency evacuation and safety training from a recognized company. They have to have yearly evacuation, AED, and CPR training. Those are the requirements to work for us.”

Aside from basic safety and what Guthrie calls the “soft skills” of excellent cabin service and people skills, there is another reason she believes aircraft owners should consider when deciding whether to bring a flight attendant on board. “It protects the integrity of your aircraft. When you have large parties on your aircraft, you want to make sure that your guests are not in there slamming doors and drawers. It’s nice to have help managing the crowd.”

It also can help protect the owner with warranty claims, as some OEMs recommend always carrying a flight attendant on aircraft with 10 or more seats as the flight attendant can assure that passengers understand the cabin equipment and operate it properly.

According to Guthrie, customers are also becoming increasingly security focused with some requested flight attendants having personal security experience and training. Additionally, she said, male flight attendants are specified only in certain situations, including when operating in countries with strict cultural and dress requirements for women. “And we do have some customers who feel more comfortable with an all-male crew,” Guthrie added.

Bombardier’s Williams-Velenosi explained that excellent crew resource management is the key to effective onboard communications that are critical on any flight, but particularly in an emergency. “On many flights the pilot and the flight attendants have never met before, so you have to create that bond immediately.

“You never know what is around the corner. It’s important to create that connection and make sure everyone’s on the same page, everyone is comfortable, and the communication is flowing. It’s just as important as being able to fight a fire or opening an exit in an emergency.”

And when that emergency exit is blocked, it’s nice to know that a flight attendant such as Bosmans knows another way out.