Burton’s Flight Attendant and Custom series are key snowboards in the directional all-mountain category. The Flight Attendant verges towards the freeride side of the spectrum, while the Customs are more freestyle oriented.
The Flight Attendant impresses with hard and long radius carves in big-mountain conditions. The Custom series is better suited to all-mountain freestyle riders who enjoy bombing steep hills, rail carving at high speeds, and hitting the park.
The Custom snowboards are very popular options for a variety of conditions and terrains and will handle hardpack groomers, deep powder, and backcountry cliff drops with style.
| Key features | Burton Flight Attendant | Burton Custom series |
| Style | All-mountain, freeride. Directional | All-mountain, freestyle. Directional |
| Price | $550 | Custom – $600Custom X – $750Flying V – $600X Flying V – $750 |
| Stiffness | Medium/stiff flex | Custom – medium Custom X – stiff Flying V – medium/soft X Flying V – medium/stiff |
| Profile | Hybrid camber | Custom – camber Custom X – camber Flying V – hybrid rocker/camber X Flying V – hybrid rocker/camber |
| Rider level | Intermediate-expert | Custom – intermediate-expert Custom X – advanced-expert Flying V – intermediate-expert X Flying V – advanced-expert |
| Size | 152, 156, 159, 159W, 162, 162W, 168 | 150, 154, 165, 158, 162, 154W, 158W, 162W, 166W |
See the Flight Attendant on Evo or Amazon
See the Custom on Evo or Amazon
Burton Flight Attendant vs Custom: who are these snowboards for?
The Flight Attendant is a directional all-mountain snowboard designed for upper intermediate to expert riders who like to combine big-mountain carving with all-mountain aggression.
It’s the ideal board for powder enthusiasts and feels most at home when leaning into low gravity carves, and cutting through deep powder with precision.
The Flight Attendant has a hybrid camber with camber underfoot, offering the stability of a traditional camber. It has an elongated rockered nose, a setback stance, and a taper at the nose which helps the front of the board lift and float through powder. The setback stance gives extra confidence to lean low into your carves.
The Burton Custom series comes in four shapes – the Custom, Custom X, Custom Flying V and Custom X Flying V. The Flying V boards have a hybrid rocker profile with camber under the bindings and a rocker in the middle of the board and towards the tip and tail.
The Custom and Custom X in comparison, have a traditional camber profile.
The biggest difference between the Flight Attendant and Custom range is that the Customs don’t have a taper, whereas the Flight Attendant does.
Boards labeled with an X are typically stiffer. They are more aggressive all-mountain boards shaped for advanced and expert riders.
The Burton Custom is ideal for riders who crave riding steep and deep – those who like to cruise down steep corduroy lines at speed, pop off kickers in the park, float over shallow backcountry powder and explore unpredictable tree lines.
The Custom is an all-rounder that is appropriate for progressing intermediate riders. It’s a single quiver board that can handle itself across the whole mountain.
See the Flight Attendant on Evo or Amazon
See the Custom on Evo or Amazon
Burton Flight Attendant vs Custom: powder
With its elongated rockered nose, taper, and set-back stance, the Flight Attendant is one of the best powder boards on the market. It balances float and stability with maneuverability and agility in powder and will serve you well from tight powder tree lines to wide open deep powder patches.
It feels effortless pushing your back foot into powder, and the nose of the board lifts easily. The only downside is that the rockered nose section towards the front foot is more likely to catch a toe edge.
With a setback stance, elongated nose, and lightweight core material, the classic Custom camber won’t disappoint in shallow powder but isn’t floaty enough for deep snow. The cambered profile makes it feel easy to dig the nose.
The Flying V models are impressive powder boards too. The rockered nose helps float the board above powder with little effort.
Of these boards, the Flight Attendant and Flying V Custom models will fare best on deep powder days.
Burton Flight Attendant vs Custom: carving
The Flight Attendant’s camber gives the board unrivaled edge precision. The board has great edge hold and a solid balance between a smooth carve and poppy response from turn to turn.
For both the Flight Attendant and the Custom Flying V models, carving in softer snow and powder feels great. If you take the Flying V’s onto hardpack or icy snow, however, you’re more likely to slide out as the rockered profile doesn’t hold its edges as well as a camber does.
The Custom has a strong edge hold and will hold well on hardpack groomers, but can feel loose in icy conditions. Like the Flight Attendant, the board has adequate edge hold and offers the rider a lot of pop from carve initiation to completion.
The Custom X boards are carving machines and were designed for carving low, hard, and fast. The board grips the snow like no other and the combination of lightweight core and stiff flex make the board extra springy between carves.
While all the boards discussed here have great edge hold, the stiff flex on the Custom X boards make them the best boards to carve on groomers.
Flight Attendant vs Custom: turning
As the name suggests, the Flight Attendant is a speed machine when it comes to turning. The board has fast turn initiation and feels nimble transitioning from toe to heel.
Even though the board has a medium/stiff flex, it has a springy feel and drives fast off the front foot compared to other tapered boards.
It can be dicey on skidded turns and might slide out in icy conditions. It feels more stable when riding on the rails than on the base, making it tricky to maneuver through slow and controlled turns.
The Customs camber profiles offer strong edge hold on soft to firm snow, but can also get slippery on ice and isn’t ideal for skidded turns.
In contrast, the Flying V rockered boards make skidded turns feel much more controlled and manageable.
Overall, while all the boards have adequate edge hold for turning, the Flight Attendant is the best option for fast turns and the Flying V is better for skidded turns.
See the Flight Attendant on Evo or Amazon
See the Custom on Evo or Amazon
Flight Attendant vs Custom : trees & slow sections
The narrow waist of the Flight Attendant, together with its stiff flex gives the snowboard a balance between solid edge hold while still being agile and maneuverable at slow speeds.
Although it rides best when going fast, it doesn’t feel too locked-in when snowboarding slower through tight and unpredictable lines.
The Custom snowboards are very nimble and quick for their aggressive flex. Especially when doing short radius turns, these boards are quick from rail to rail regardless of your speed, and are the best option for tree runs.
Flight Attendant vs Burton Custom: fast riding
As mentioned, the Flight Attendant is a speed machine. The board is crafted with a damp base and extra absorbent pores. It also has a sintered base, making it durable, fast, and stable in most conditions.
The Customs are also designed with extra absorbent sintered base materials, making the base damp, dense, and fast. Of these boards, the X models are the most stable at speed and will maintain good pace from steep groomers through cat track sections.
While the Flight Attendant takes the prize for the fastest board, the Custom X and Custom X Flying V are also impressive in the speed department.
Flight Attendant vs Custom: rugged terrain
The Flight Attendant and Customs are all directional snowboards. The additional surface area towards the front of the board, combined with their medium to stiff flex ratings make them ideal for riding over choppy terrain.
The Flight Attendant and the classic (“non X”) Custom are fast enough to avoid bumps and maneuver around rugged terrain, yet forgiving and meaty enough to plow through bumps without catching an edge.
All of them strike a balance between agility and forgiveness and will push through moguls and icy patches without trouble.
With its extra-long rockered nose, the Flying V is damp enough to cruise over bumpy terrain without passing vibrations through the base of the board.
The X boards, on the other hand, are slightly too stiff to ride through rugged snow comfortably, and even the damp base won’t protect you from reverberations.
If you like maneuvering your board around rugged terrain, you might prefer the agility of the Flight Attendant.
See the Flight Attendant on Evo or Amazon
See the Custom on Evo or Amazon
Flight Attendant vs Custom: jumps and tricks
As expected with a camber profile, the Flight Attendant has lively pop and flex. The board prefers bigger kickers to small ones and is great for doing straight airs.
The Attendant is less ideal for spins and switch landing because of its directional shape and asymmetrical hybrid profile.
The Custom boards also have a good amount of pop and flex for such aggressive boards. They can pop and ollie off natural terrain and park objects with ease. They have carbon-fiber integrated into the base, making them slightly lighter and snappier.
The Custom boards are stable when approaching and landing big kickers as well as side hits, and are also well suited to big jumps. The X boards are a bit too stiff for the park.
The Flight Attendant is a better option for popping off more natural terrain backcountry. The Custom and Flying V are more freestyle oriented and work best for jibbing and hopping around a designated park.
Burton Flight Attendant vs Custom: switch riding
The cambered boards (Custom and Custom X) are typically the best choice for riding switch because of their minimal setback and more symmetrical profile.
Riding switch on the Flight Attendant and Flying V’s is a bit tricky because of the hybrid profile and dominant forward-facing shape of the boards, as well as the Flight Attendant’s tapered nose.
Final words
Burton’s Flight Attendant and Custom series snowboards are versatile options for the all-mountain rider looking for a single board to handle a range of terrain and conditions.
The Flight Attendant is a solid carver and does equally well off-piste and in deep powder. It’s a flexible option for advanced and expert freeriders.
The Customs are tried and tested. They are versatile and reliable all-rounder boards for those looking to ride backcountry, groomers, and in the park.
See the Flight Attendant on Evo or Amazon
See the Custom on Evo or here Amazon
See also: What is the best Burton snowboard?
