onewithwings
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2006
- Posts
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The biggest airline in the world, Atlanta’s own Delta Airlines, is in serious trouble: a $125 million hit this quarter, reduction of system capacity by ten per cent this year, and the loss of 8,000 jobs in the past 12 months. But I know how to fix all this and, at the same time, advance western civilization: bring back the stewardesses and impose on them an upper age limit of 30.
One of the most bizarre marketing ploys in history was when the airlines dropped “stewardess” and picked up “flight attendant.” It seems that “stewardess” was demeaning and that “flight attendant” more professional. The job did not change, only the attitude. Think nose dive. And by the way, how do you attend a flight?
Stewardesses were attractive women in their twenties. Many were from small towns and believed that flying was the greatest job imaginable. They could sashay up an aisle in their high heels and tight skirts and the men onboard wouldn’t have noticed if the pilot performed three loops, two snap rolls, and a hammerhead stall. Stewardesses brought sparkle and joie de vivre to their work. They laughed and joked with passengers and did not take themselves too seriously. The job made it all worthwhile and they usually were married and gone before they were 30.
Stewardesses were trained in emergency procedures but had enough sense to know they could fly for years and never use the training; they were airborne waitresses and their job was to be bright and perky and to take the passengers’ minds off flying. That was okay. They loved their work.They loved their work.
Then they became flight attendants. The twenty-somethings became waspish grandmothers more concerned with where they are going to shop when the plane lands rather than with service to passengers. They go into the galley and read newspapers and chit-chat with each other. And the real reason there are fewer flight attendants than there were stewardesses is not because airlines are downsizing crews, but because today’s flight attendants usually are big ole girls and a jet aircraft can carry only so much weight.
More of the story:Bring Back the Stewardesses
One of the most bizarre marketing ploys in history was when the airlines dropped “stewardess” and picked up “flight attendant.” It seems that “stewardess” was demeaning and that “flight attendant” more professional. The job did not change, only the attitude. Think nose dive. And by the way, how do you attend a flight?
Stewardesses were attractive women in their twenties. Many were from small towns and believed that flying was the greatest job imaginable. They could sashay up an aisle in their high heels and tight skirts and the men onboard wouldn’t have noticed if the pilot performed three loops, two snap rolls, and a hammerhead stall. Stewardesses brought sparkle and joie de vivre to their work. They laughed and joked with passengers and did not take themselves too seriously. The job made it all worthwhile and they usually were married and gone before they were 30.
Stewardesses were trained in emergency procedures but had enough sense to know they could fly for years and never use the training; they were airborne waitresses and their job was to be bright and perky and to take the passengers’ minds off flying. That was okay. They loved their work.They loved their work.
Then they became flight attendants. The twenty-somethings became waspish grandmothers more concerned with where they are going to shop when the plane lands rather than with service to passengers. They go into the galley and read newspapers and chit-chat with each other. And the real reason there are fewer flight attendants than there were stewardesses is not because airlines are downsizing crews, but because today’s flight attendants usually are big ole girls and a jet aircraft can carry only so much weight.
More of the story:Bring Back the Stewardesses