| Of course the job itself is not always glamorous, but | | | | Of course, those of us who fly know that in reality the |
| most people do not possess the mobility of the flight | | | | job is hard work, sometimes with long hours and |
| attendant to see the world while they are still young | | | | grouchy customers. It is difficult to find the glamour in |
| enough to enjoy it. What is it about a flight attendant | | | | your job when you are down on your hands and |
| that makes little kids longingly stare and adults | | | | knees in the galley, going through tray carriers looking |
| charmed and envious? Could it be the lifestyle and | | | | for someone's lower dentures they left on a tray! Or |
| freedom to jet away to faraway places? The | | | | working a 14-hour day due to a mechanical delay. Or |
| uniform? The star quality of these chosen few? | | | | dealing with a planeload of airsick passengers during |
| Maybe it is all these things, and more. I remember | | | | heavy turbulence. These things are all part and parcel |
| viewing a children's program at about age 6, seeing the | | | | of a flight attendant's job. But the fun and excitement |
| flight attendant standing in the doorway of a large | | | | far outweighs these things, and I don't know many |
| airplane, wearing a military- looking uniform, with shiny | | | | flight attendants who would trade it all in for a |
| wings on her jacket. How elegant and important she | | | | nine-to-fiver! |
| looked working on the airplane! I decided right then and | | | | The charisma has as much to do with the look of flight |
| there that this was what I wanted to be someday. To | | | | attendants as the places they travel. These sharply |
| me, it wasn't just a job - it was a life! | | | | dressed men and women who serve you meals or |
| Initially, the first cabin attendants were men who helped | | | | beverages in the air seem to be the epitome of |
| maintain the integrity of the airplanes while swatting | | | | romance; what will they do when they are off duty - |
| flies and lifting mailbags. Then in the 1930's female | | | | shop in Rome? Party in Frankfurt? Catch glass beads |
| attendants were hired as stewardesses or hostesses | | | | at a Mardi Gras parade? Tour the Pyramids or |
| and worked on piston engine or propeller aircraft, such | | | | Catacombs? What celebrities do they commonly |
| as the Curtiss Condor. Their duties included providing | | | | meet and what interesting stories could they tell about |
| sandwiches and thermoses of water and passing out | | | | these people? |
| gum and cotton to provide comfort for passengers' | | | | Each airline has a unique uniform, smartly tailored, |
| ears. These flight attendants originally were registered | | | | complete with the airline logo and wings. Wings are |
| nurses, but this requirement was dropped in the 1940's. | | | | earned, and flight attendants go to a lot of trouble to |
| The job was now considered glamorous and even | | | | get them! Training is sometimes long and arduous. |
| though many young women wanted to become airline | | | | Flight attendant trainees must not only be strong and |
| stewardesses, only a few were chosen. In those days | | | | resourceful but intelligent, healthy and energetic to |
| when stewardesses got married, they were | | | | graduate. |
| terminated. | | | | Possibly the most important component of the aura of |
| By the 1960's, men were on the job. United Airlines | | | | mystery surrounding the flight attendant is the fact that |
| hired eight men from Hawaii to fly their Hawaiian | | | | that which is difficult to obtain is often the most |
| routes. As a result of the influx of males from that | | | | coveted. Not just anyone can become a flight |
| point, Eastern Airlines created the job title of "flight | | | | attendant; thousands of flight attendant wannabes |
| attendant". The job held wide appeal to men and | | | | apply for these jobs every month, but few are chosen. |
| women and it became commonplace for flight | | | | Statistics show that on average, less than 10% of |
| attendants to be male or female, young or older, | | | | those who apply are selected for the job. What |
| married or single, any race, even parents. The salaries | | | | separates the people chosen from the ones left |
| were beginning to climb - airline fever had claimed | | | | behind? That is part of the magic, and sometimes it is |
| more lives! | | | | not something that can be even put into words. After |
| Once you have "the fever", it will be with you for the | | | | meeting the requirements, applicants must convey a |
| rest of your life; there is no cure, and anyone who has | | | | certain persona to the recruiter, and the recruiters are |
| never experienced a flight attendant career will never | | | | adept in discovering those who have what it takes. |
| comprehend just how powerful it is. Flight crews are | | | | No one can say for sure just what the charm of a |
| very close comrades as a result of having this unique | | | | flight attendant is. But I remember the look on a young |
| passion in common. There is a wide belief that the job | | | | man's face on one of my flights. He was taking his first |
| is a daring and unusual dream experience; flight | | | | airplane ride and gazed up at me with wonder, and |
| attendants are considered to be gutsy individuals who | | | | asked, "is this what you do for your job - meet people |
| regard the world as their playground. | | | | and fly to different places all the time? Kewl. |