by English Translator and Lawyer Mariana Prandi.
May 31, Flight Attendant’s Day
May 31 marks the day of the flight attendant. A flight attendant’s main mission is to monitor flight safety and passenger comfort.
In Spanish they are called: auxiliar de vuelo, sobrecargo, aeromoza/o, azafata/o, comisario de a bordo and in English: air hostess, airline steward, airline stewardess, cabin attendant and cabin crew.
The word «azafata» comes from the 16th Century in Spain, and refers to the person who carried the dresses and jewelry that the queen would wear that day, in a basket called «azafate». Although it originated as a name for a woman, the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) accepts «azafato».
Heinrich Kubis: The World’s first Flight Attendant
The first person to work as a flight attendant was a man named Heinrich Kubis.
In March 1912, Kubis, a German professional waiter, began serving passengers on the Zeppelin LZ 10 on flights from Berlin to Friedrichshafen.
He survived the explosion of the Zeppelin Hindenburg in 1937. He almost missed the trip because he was ill, but he recovered in time. At that moment, he led a team of 15 people. He was in charge of «confiscating» matches and cigarette lighters from the passengers boarding the ship and helped them get out of the aircraft during the fire. He was not injured in the accident.
Ellen Church: The World’s first female Flight Attendant
18 years after Heinrich Kubis’ debut, in 1930, the Boeing Airtransport company considered the idea of hiring extra personnel to fill the role of flight attendants to help passengers.
It was then that Ellen Church, a nurse who dreamed of becoming a pilot, was hired. She became the world’s first female flight attendant.
Her first flight was on May 15, 1930, between Oakland and Chicago. It lasted 20 hours and had 13 stopovers. Stewardesses were paid a salary of 150 dollars a month, had to be under 25 years of age, be less than 1.60 meters tall and weigh less than 52 kilos.
Bette Nash: A Stewardess with a Guinness World Record
The record for longest-serving flight attendant is held by Bette Nash, who is 86 years old and has more than 65 years of service.
When Bette Nash began working as a flight attendant in the early 1950s, airline tickets cost $12 and no reservations were required for flights.
The treatment of flight attendants was also very different: the companies imposed mandatory weigh-ins to check that they did not put on weight, and they received surprise visits to their homes to verify that they were not living with a partner.
Flight Attendants in show business
Carole Middleton, mother of Princess Kate of England, met her husband Michael while working on a British Airways flight.
Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly, one of the stars of the series Lost, worked as a stewardess for Royal Airlines.
Kris Jenner, the mother of the famous Kardashian sisters, worked for American Airlines for a year and it was after a photo shoot in her uniform that she considered becoming a professional model.
A very important Role
The job of flight attendant is one of the many occasions for which learning languages is particularly useful, since they must communicate with passengers of all nationalities.
At Incoteaching Idiomas, we use specific books in the field and train flight attendants so that they can perform successfully in their position. Although they also speak other languages, they say that English is the one they use the most around the world.
It takes a lot of study, dedication and patience, as flight attendants are the visible face of the airlines. They must use all their experience to teach passengers the safety rules and interact with them in a confined space.
On their day, we thank all of them, who collaborate in every flight to generate a good experience.
Whether for pleasure or business… the sky’s the limit.
