When and where flight attendants appeared?

The presence of flight attendants on board the aircraft now will not surprise anyone, although 80 years ago, the appearance of stewardess became one of the decisive factors of popularizing civil air transportation.

The first flight attendants appeared on the airships, but on aircraft this position was not provided. The aircraft of those times were very close and another crew member, except for the pilot, would simply not fit.

Fate attendants appeared in airplanes in the 1920s, the first airline, which decided to introduce this position became British Imperial Airways. Then the flight attendants appeared from American airlines Western Airlines and Pan Am. By the way, Pan Am The first airline in the obligations of flight attendants of which included passengers with food and drinks.

The first woman on board was the 25-year-old Nurse Ellen Church. In 1930, she appealed to the management of the airline Boeing Air Transport (which is now known as United Airlines) with a request to take it as a pilot. The company refused, but Ellen did not give up and offered to hire a nurse, to accompany passengers in flight.

The fact is that the first aircraft were not very comfortable for passengers, they flew pretty low above the ground because of which they were very shaking. Most passengers became bad in flight and the help of the nurse would not be superfluous. In addition, many passengers were afraid to fly, and the view of the fearless fragile girl could calm them. The first flight accompanied by Stewardles took place on May 15, 1930 from San Francisco to Chicago. The flight took 20 hours and 13 stops were done on the way. The girl in the sky produced Furior and Ellen was asked to score a group of seven nurses not older than 25 years and no heather 115 pounds (about 52 kg), ready to become flight attendants for a decent time for the standards of $ 125 per month. As we have already written above, airplanes were small and girls should have been as miniature as possible to move around the cabin and serving passengers.

The first form of the stewardess was the usual nurse bathrobe, but a little later, again, thanks to Ellen Church, a special uniform appeared.

The duties of flight attendants included the cleaning of the aircraft, loading baggage and even help to pilotes when refueling and turning out the aircraft from the hangar. In addition, the flight attendants of those times took the role of a guide and entertained passengers showing and telling about the places on which they fly now.

In the following 3 years, almost all American airlines have acquired flight attendants.

Despite the stringent requirements, for example, age up to 25-30 years, the ban to marry and start the children, the profession of flight attendant was very popular. In 1935, when TRANSCONTINENTAL AND WESTERN AIRLINES was announced about the stewardess set, more than 2000 nurses responded to the vacancy.

During World War II, most nurses went to the front and the carriers decided to recruit not only the holders of a medical diploma in flight attendants, but also any girls suitable by parameters.

Hard demands for age were canceled only in the 1970s, and the ban on marriage and children in American airlines lasted as much as 1980.