By country / Brazil
How to become cabin crew in Brazil
The only country here where you must get licensed by the regulator before an airline will look at you.
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Brazil works differently from every other market on this list. You cannot simply apply to an airline and be trained - by ANAC rules you must first hold a second-class Certificado Médico Aeronáutico (CMA), complete an ANAC-homologated comissário de voo course, log supervised flight hours and pass a practical evaluation to obtain your CCT/CMS licence. Only then are you employable. That course costs roughly R$2,000-7,000 and takes three to five months, and it is a genuine legal requirement rather than an optional extra - which makes Brazil the one country where paying for training is correct.
Once licensed, the employers are LATAM, GOL, Azul and Voepass alongside charter and executive aviation operators. Salaries are set against the aeronautas union convention: the 2026 convention base is around R$2,695, with LATAM near R$2,875 and GOL near R$2,806, and Azul running a base band of roughly R$2,800-4,800. Real monthly income lands well above the base once hora de voo, adicional noturno, diárias and overtime are added - commonly R$4,000-6,000, and more on international routes with foreign-currency diárias.
The important nuance: because the entry requirement is a paid, regulated course, Brazil also has the largest number of schools with a commercial incentive to over-promise. The course is legally necessary; the placement guarantee attached to it is not real, and separating those two things is the single most valuable thing a Brazilian candidate can understand.
What Brazil employers and recruiters expect
Age
18+ to hold an ANAC comissário licence; 21+ at joining for Emirates and Qatar Airways.
Education
Ensino médio completo is the legal minimum for the ANAC comissário course and for airline hiring. A degree is not required.
Licence
Second-class CMA (aeronautical medical certificate), an ANAC-homologated comissário de voo course, at least five supervised flight hours and a practical evaluation, leading to the ANAC licence. This is a legal prerequisite for Brazilian airlines - though not for Gulf carriers, which train their own crew.
Height / reach
Brazilian carriers generally look for around 1.58 m for women and 1.70 m for men with proportionate weight; Gulf carriers measure 212 cm arm reach on tiptoe instead.
Language
Portuguese plus English for international routes; Spanish is a strong asset across the LATAM network and both are worth stating explicitly on a Gulf application.
Documents
Passport valid 12+ months, CPF, RG, ensino médio certificate, and a clean criminal record certificate for airport access.
Airlines that recruit here
LATAM AirlinesActively hiring · Santiago
EmiratesActively hiring · Dubai
Qatar AirwaysActively hiring · Doha
Etihad AirwaysActively hiring · Abu DhabiWhat you can realistically earn
Comissário de bordo, piso da convenção (2026)
R$ 2.694 - R$ 2.875 base per month
The aeronautas convention base; LATAM around R$2.875 and GOL around R$2.806. Roughly USD 500-530 - but this is base only and nobody actually takes home just the base.
Realistic total, domestic routes
R$ 4.000 - R$ 6.000 per month
Base plus hora de voo, adicional noturno, diárias and overtime. Roughly USD 740-1,110 at about R$5.40 to the dollar. Azul quotes a base band of R$2.800-4.800 with flight-hour bonuses of R$1.500-3.500.
International routes / senior crew
R$ 7.000 - R$ 12.000+ per month
Roughly USD 1,300-2,220. Foreign-currency diárias on international layovers (R$600-2.500 range) are the main driver and are worth considerably more than the domestic equivalent.
The route to a Gulf or international carrier
Emirates and Qatar Airways recruit in São Paulo and periodically Rio de Janeiro, announced only on their own careers sites, and Brazilian crew are well represented in Gulf rosters - Portuguese is operationally useful on South American routes and both airlines actively want it. Note that you do not need your Brazilian ANAC licence to be hired by a Gulf carrier: they train you themselves and hire from zero experience, so a candidate who cannot afford the Brazilian course can still go straight for Emirates or Qatar. What eliminates Brazilian candidates is almost always English. Portuguese-to-English candidates often have good comprehension and weaker spoken production under pressure, and the assessment day - group exercise included - is entirely in English. The rest of the filter is the standard one: 212 cm arm reach on tiptoe, no tattoos visible in uniform (a stricter standard than Brazilian carriers apply), BMI, and the pre-joining medical including dental. Put Portuguese and Spanish on your CV explicitly - the combination has real route value.
Your step-by-step plan
- 01Obtain your second-class CMA (Certificado Médico Aeronáutico) from an ANAC-accredited examiner - do this before paying for a course, because a medical problem discovered afterwards wastes the whole fee.
- 02Verify the school on ANAC's own list of homologated training centres. Do not take the school's word for its homologation - check the register.
- 03Complete the comissário de voo course (typically three to five months, R$2.000-7.000), then your supervised flight hours and practical evaluation to obtain the licence.
- 04Apply directly to LATAM, GOL, Azul and Voepass career portals. Recruitment is cyclical and often base-specific (Guarulhos, Campinas, Brasília, Recife), so apply broadly.
- 05If you want the Gulf, apply separately on emiratesgroupcareers.com and qatarairways.com/careers - you do not need the ANAC licence for these, only English, reach and the standard requirements.
- 06Work on spoken English continuously. It is the single differentiator between a domestic career and an international one, both at LATAM and in the Gulf.
Avoid these traps
- ⚠The ANAC course is legally required - the "job guarantee" attached to it is not. Schools advertising "parcerias" with GOL, Azul or LATAM are describing a relationship, not a placement. Always verify the school's homologation directly on the ANAC register, and never pay for a course whose homologation you have not personally confirmed.
- ⚠Beware schools that bundle expensive extras - grooming, image consulting, English packages, "international certification" - onto the mandatory course. Only the ANAC-homologated content is legally necessary. The rest is optional and is where the price inflates from R$3,000 to R$15,000.
- ⚠Fake airline recruitment ads on Instagram and WhatsApp asking for a "taxa de inscrição" or an exam fee are common. LATAM, GOL and Azul never charge candidates. Neither do Emirates or Qatar, which also never recruit through agencies.
- ⚠Read the contract for training bonds and base allocation before you sign. Some operators recover training costs if you resign within a set period, and being allocated to a base in another state is a normal outcome that has a real financial cost you should plan for.
Training providers in Brazil
Listed for reference — remember that airlines train their own crew for free.
Lito Aviation Academy
São Paulo · ~$800
In Brazil an ANAC-homologated course is legally required, so this is a real prerequisite — just budget for exam fees and the practical stage on top.
Do you actually meet the requirements?
Answer five questions about your age, reach, tattoos, languages and documents — we check them against every airline's published requirements and show you exactly where you stand.
Frequently asked questions
Como ser comissário de bordo no Brasil - o que precisa?
Ensino médio completo, ser maior de 18 anos, obter o Certificado Médico Aeronáutico (CMA) de segunda classe, concluir um curso de comissário de voo homologado pela ANAC (cerca de três a cinco meses, R$2.000 a R$7.000), cumprir no mínimo cinco horas de voo supervisionadas e ser aprovado na avaliação prática para obter a licença. Só depois disso as companhias brasileiras podem contratá-lo. Confirme sempre a homologação da escola diretamente no registro da ANAC.
Quanto ganha um comissário de bordo em 2026?
O piso da convenção dos aeronautas em 2026 fica em torno de R$2.694, com LATAM perto de R$2.875 e GOL de R$2.806. Na prática, somando hora de voo, adicional noturno, diárias e horas extras, o total mensal costuma ficar entre R$4.000 e R$6.000 em rotas domésticas, e bem acima disso em voos internacionais, onde as diárias em moeda estrangeira pesam muito.
Do I need the ANAC licence to work for Emirates or Qatar Airways?
No. Gulf carriers train their own crew from zero and hire people with no aviation background, so the ANAC course is not required for an Emirates or Qatar application. What they do require is operational English, a 212 cm arm reach, no tattoos visible in uniform and the ability to relocate. If cost is the barrier to the Brazilian licence, the Gulf route is genuinely open to you first.