Question
Can an HIV positive person work as a flight attendant?
14 December 2020. Related: All topics, Disclosure.
I am currently a long haul flight attendant and recently found out that I am HIV+. I am deciding if a career might help in the long term fight with the virus.
My flight times are no less then 12 hours and often find it difficult to have any sleep pattern when off work.
I’m also aware that the nature of being around so many people in a enclosed enviroment I have always been at higher risk of catching common diseases.
I have not yet had a second consultation with my doctor and am not on medication at the moment but am also concerned of side affects and my job once I am.
Will changing my job help a lot with my body dealing with HIV?
Answer
Update: This question was first posted in 2007. We have updated it in December 2020 because it might still be relevant for come people.
The biggest change is that HIV treatment (ART) is now taken routinely used by everyone who is HIV positive. This is because it has become so much better and easier to take. In 2020 it would be very unusual for someone to think about changing this job just because they are HIV positive.
Having an undetectable viral load on ART also means that being HIV positive is also not a problem for most jobs, including working as crew or as a pilot (at least in the UK).
There is no reason why an HIV positive person should avoid a job as a flight attendant. In reality, there are many people who are in your position and everything is fine with them (working shifts, not getting enough sleep, etc).
Keeping fit, having a healthy lifestyle and getting enough rest is always better, but this is equally true for HIV negative and HIV positive people.
Whether you should change your job or not is a personal decision. But HIV will not progress quicker just because of your job.
In the past, some companies did not allow HIV positive people to work on some of their routes. This was because the regulations in the destination countries were unfair towards HIV positive people. This might still be the case in the few countries that ban HIV positive people. This is something that you’ll have to check with your employer.
This answer was updated in December 2020 from a question first posted in November 2007.
Hi Edward, thanks. Most airlines should now have much better policies. Usually, so long as someone is on effective treatment they should have the same opportunities as someone who is HIV negative. Contacting any UK-based airline might be a good place to start.
I was FA in Dubai based crew ( Don’t want to mention company name but you guys which one I’m talking about)
I found out HIV+ recently can’t get back my job…I really want to back to sky asap! However, they don’t hire HIV+ flight attendant… can you guys guide me which airlines hire HIV+ people?
Hi Mark, thanks. As the original question was posted in 2007 I have just updated the answer:
https://i-base.info/qa/219
The advances in HIV treatment make it very likely that most airlines are very happy to employ HIV postive people as crew. It might be worth checking this anonymously for any airline you are interested in joining though. i-Base in based in the UK and airlines here would be okay.
how about hiv positive patients that are now undetectable, can they still be a flight attendant?
Hi Nelisiwe,
Please can you let us know what the drug is in the 3in1 pill? Could it be efavirenz in Atripla? If so you can ask your doctor to switch to medication that will be easier for your to take. And get the DD50 certificate.
If you live in South Africa you can contact the Treatment Action Campaign at this contact link. They can give local support.
I was there at aviation doctor to do DD50 BUT they didn’t approve because of my status and she told me that the treatment I take is 3in1 and there is a drug that is not allowed to aviation so I must ho to my doctor to change my medication
Hi 07435,
As it says above, there is no reason why an HIV-positive person should avoid a job as a flight attendant.
Are you on HIV treatment (ART)? How’s it going? Do you have access to your CD4 count and viral load results?
Please let us know.
I am looking for a job as flight attendant but I’m scared of my hiv status what should I do? I have found out about my status while I was studying.now that I have completed I don’t know what to do.flight attendant has always been my dream career.
Hi Avik, Perhaps you can contact various companies and ask about policy?
No I don’t have any friend working in aviation