From Business Insider · Jane Ridley · · 1m 50s
Flight attendant at 56: why age became my advantage
Craig Celek left retail management to become a Delta flight attendant in February 2026. His age and customer service background turned out to be exactly what airlines wanted.
In brief
Craig Celek left retail management to become a Delta flight attendant in February 2026. His age and customer service background turned out to be exactly what airlines wanted. Craig Celek, fifty-six, changed careers to become a Delta flight attendant in February twenty twenty-six after fifteen years in retail, finding…
From retail to the skies
Craig Celek, fifty-six, from Brooklyn, left his job in retail management to become a flight attendant. He applied to airlines in November twenty twenty-five and started training in early February twenty twenty-six.
Three decades of work before act three
Celek worked for a publishing company in Hong Kong for fifteen years, then spent fifteen years in retail as a store manager at New Balance and in a leadership role at Saks Off Fifth.
Airlines wanted older workers
American, United, and Delta all offered Celek jobs. He chose Delta after being impressed by its interview process, where half his tryout group was over forty-five, including one person who was sixty-two.
Age brings patience and wisdom
Celek credits his retail background and life experience with helping him understand people's needs and respond in emergencies. He quotes Dolly Parton: a little sugar is better.
“A little sugar is better.”
Keeping two hundred fifty passengers happy
On a flight from Atlanta to New York City that stretched to eleven hours due to weather, Celek and his team kept all two hundred fifty passengers happy. He now travels to destinations including Jackson Hole, Lisbon, Rome, and Athens.
Eighty thousand dollars and a new life
Delta told Celek he could earn up to eighty thousand dollars in his first year. Since April, he has flown two hundred nine flights, twenty-nine of them long-haul, and says he is having the time of his life.
The takeaway
Craig Celek, fifty-six, changed careers to become a Delta flight attendant in February twenty twenty-six after fifteen years in retail, finding that his age and customer service experience were valued assets rather than obstacles.
