The Flight Attendant season 2: Everything we know so far

The Flight Attendant season 2
(Image credit: The Flight Attendant/HBO Max)

Prepare for takeoff, because The Flight Attendant season 2 is flying to HBO Max in just a few weeks. The dark comedy/thriller has set a release date and unveiled the first teaser.

The first season of The Flight Attendant was not only a hit for the streaming service, it also racked up a ton of Golden Globe and Emmy nominations. Star Kaley Cuoco celebrated her first-ever Emmy nom, after years of being blanked for Big Bang Theory. Season 2 is introducing a big change when it returns to HBO Max — a move to Los Angeles! The series got a tax break from California, so it's shifting from New York to sunny L.A. 

The Flight Attendant follows the titular character, Cassie Bowden, a hard-drinking, good-time girl who jets all over the world for Imperial Airlines. On a flight to Bangkok, she meets and flirts with a handsome passenger, Alex Sokolov (Michiel Huisman). After landing, they hook up, but Cassie wakes up the next morning to discover Alex dead in the bed next to her. 

Terrified and hungover, she decides not to call the police. It's the first in a string of bad decisions that lands her in trouble. Cassie's predicament eventually draws in her lawyer friend Annie (Zosia Mamet). 

The Flight Attendant was initially billed as a miniseries, but a second season was in the manifest from the beginning. And thank goodness, because it quickly became one of the best HBO Max shows and movies.

"I hope it doesn’t sound too cocky, but we have always had a vision for a season 2,” Cuoco said. “We have had a very clear path for what a season 2 would look like and we know exactly what it’ll look like."

Here's everything we know about The Flight Attendant season 2 so far.

The Flight Attendant season 2 release date

HBO Max has set The Flight Attendant season 2 release date for April 21. 

It will premiere with two episodes. Two more episodes will air on April 28, then the show will transition to one episode a week.

The streamer ordered season 2 on Dec. 18, 2020, a day after the first season finale aired. In March 2021, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar announced that Flight Attendant was HBO Max’s most-watched series. 

The Flight Attendant season 2

The teaser trailer for The Flight Attendant season 2 kicks off with Cassie unloading to a support group. She explains she's still working for the airline, but is "making better choice" after moving to L.A. Now, she's dating a great guy, but she's also picked up a "part-time job" — helping the CIA!

The Flight Attendant season 2 cast

The cast of The Flight Attendant is led by Kaley Cuoco as Cassie Bowden, an employee of Imperial Airlines. 

Other cast members who could return for season 2 include:

  • Zosia Mamet as Annie Mouradian, Cassie's best friend and a lawyer
  • T. R. Knight as Davey Bowden, Cassie's brother
  • Rosie Perez as Megan Briscoe, an Imperial Airlines flight attendant now on the run
  • Griffin Matthews as Shane Evans, a flight attendant and secret CIA agent
  • Deniz Akdeniz as Max, Annie's boyfriend
  • Michelle Gomez as Miranda Croft, an assassin for hire
  • Merle Dandridge as Kim Hammond, FBI agent
  • Nolan Gerard Funk as Van White, FBI agent

It's unlikely we see other major cast members, like Michiel Huisman as Alex Sokolov and Colin Woodell as Buckley Ware, since their characters are dead. However, never say never. After all, Alex died in episode 1 but appeared throughout the season in Cassie's "mind palace." Both he and Buckley could come back as visions/ghosts or in flashbacks.

The Flight Attendant season 2 story and plot

Before we dig into possible stories for season 2, let's review The Flight Attendant season 1 ending.

Cassie and Miranda's plan to fly to Rome and ensnare Buckley (aka Felix) fell apart and Cassie ended up facing him alone. She was saved in the end by Shane, who turned out to be a CIA operative. Meanwhile, Miranda retrieved Alex's book (with the bank account numbers) and disappeared with the money. With her name cleared, Cassie got sober and returned to work at Imperial Airlines. She also got an offer from Shane to be an "asset" for the CIA. 

That's where The Flight Attendant season 2 could pick up — with Cassie continuing to fly around the world, outwardly as an airline employee but embarking on secret missions for the CIA. Since she's not trained, we expect that her tasks would be of the "soft" variety (eavesdropping, forming relationships, etc.). 

Season 2 could also follow up on what happens to Megan, who went on the run after selling government secrets to North Korea. And we'd love to see what Annie will do after she quit her prestigious law firm and get a peek at the whereabouts of Miranda (and all that money). 

As showrunner Steve Yockey told Variety, "I think that the way forward, really, for us if we decide to do another one is that it would be another adventure for Cassie, much like a Hitchcock character: how did she stumble into another misadventure and get caught up in it?"

He added, "It may look a little different because she’s really trying to live a sober life and make better choices, but you saw in the show she chooses the crazy thing a lot of the time and that doesn’t all have to do with alcohol."

During a Deadline panel, Cuoco previewed more of what we can expect from Flight Attendant season 2. One thing fans won't see is Cassie pulling a Sydney Bristow on Alias. 

"I was very clear when we decided we wanted to do a second season, that I didn’t want Cassie to all of a sudden be like an amazing FBI agent,” she explained. “We are going to be adding in that slight CIA asset on the side. [Cassie] moves to L.A., first year sober, and she makes all the wrong decisions on what you’re not supposed to do when you become sober and she’s going to learn very quickly that it’s not as easy as she thought.”

The Flight Attendant on TBS

On May 19, TBS announced it is airing Flight Attendant season 1 in 2022 ahead of its second season premiere on HBO Max.

And it's not the only HBO Max original to replay on the cable network; the rom-com Love Life, starring Anna Kendrick, will also air on TBS.

Kelly Woo
Streaming Editor

Kelly is the streaming channel editor for Tom’s Guide, so basically, she watches TV for a living. Previously, she was a freelance entertainment writer for Yahoo, Vulture, TV Guide and other outlets. When she’s not watching TV and movies for work, she’s watching them for fun, seeing live music, writing songs, knitting and gardening.