The relatively high wages and lingering glamor of the flight attendants made it one of the more popular occupations among jobseekers, but since the so-called "nut rage" incident it has lost its luster.

"The job used to look appealing, but I no longer plan to apply for it," says one 24-year-old job seeker.

The incident, in which the daughter of the Korean Air owner forced a purser off a flight and verbally and physically abused a flight attendant for serving her nuts incorrectly, exposed the kind of daily indignity suffered by what are essentially waitresses in a confined airborne space.

Another 26-year-old jobseeker said, "I heard many stories about passengers treating flight attendants like servants, and now it seems those accounts really describe the reality of the job."