Warner Bros Adds Third Jet, Hires Flight Attendant

Warner Bros Discovery is hiring a flight attendant. Not for an airline — for its own private jet fleet, which has just grown to three aircraft based at Teterboro, New Jersey, a short drive (or helicopter ride) from the media conglomerate's Manhattan headquarters.

Until recently the company operated just two aircraft: an ultra-long-range Gulfstream G650ER and a Dassault Falcon 7X. Earlier this year it emerged that Warner Bros Discovery had acquired a second Gulfstream G650, taking the fleet to three.

Those aircraft have been busy. The proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery by Paramount Skydance has come under intense regulatory scrutiny, and deals of that scale generate an enormous volume of executive travel — lawyers, bankers, regulators, board members, all needing to be in different cities on short notice. A third jet, and a bigger cabin-crew roster, is the operational consequence of a corporate transaction.

What the job actually involves

The company is looking for candidates with at least two years of experience in the airline industry. That could mean a commercial carrier background, though Warner Bros Discovery notes in the job description that corporate flight attendant training is an advantage.

The distinction matters, because private-jet cabin work bears only a passing resemblance to the airline version. A corporate flight attendant does not simply serve the food and drink; they source it. They buy the catering, confirm menus with passengers ahead of the flight, and make sure any additional requests are fulfilled. Nor is there a separate cleaning crew waiting at the end of the day — you are the cleaning crew, and the aircraft has to be left immaculate.

Predictably, the schedule is the hard part. Warner Bros Discovery says the ideal candidate must be able to "manage a constantly changing schedule and irregular hours, including nights, weekends, and holidays." In practice, that means being reachable at short notice — rather like the crews depicted in Succession, the HBO series the company itself owns.

The corporate jet as compensation

Chief executive David Zaslav holds a time-sharing agreement to use the jets as part of a compensation package that tripled to $165 million last year, despite the majority of shareholders rejecting the increase. The aircraft are, in that sense, not merely logistics — they are a line item in an executive pay dispute.

Big media companies operating their own jets is hardly unusual. In 2023, Netflix — which lost out on Warner Bros Discovery — was reported to be hiring a flight attendant based at San Jose International Airport in Northern California. Netflix did not shy away from the numbers: it suggested its private-jet flight attendants could earn as much as $385,000 a year.

Warner Bros Discovery has not advertised a salary for its new hire. Netflix's fleet includes the Gulfstream G550, an aircraft that can cost as much as $41 million for the latest model, with a maximum range of around 12,500 km and a cabin that can be specified with recliner seats or full-sized beds.

For a cabin crew member weighing a move out of commercial aviation, the trade is clear enough: a fraction of the passengers, several times the responsibility, and a schedule that belongs to somebody else.

Sources: Paddle Your Own Kanoo. Featured image: AI-generated by AviationShop. By James Holloway.