65 years ago, Bette Nash landed a job as an Eastern Airlines flight attendant, and she has been pushing beverage carts and giving safety instructions ever since
Bette, from Manassas, Virginia, took her first flight as a teen and quickly fell in love with the 'spiffy appearances and gracious manners of the crew members'
When she started her career in 1957, things were certainly different - flights were $12, tickets were hand-written, and schedules were displayed on chalkboardsMany things changed over the years, but there's one thing that stayed the same - the people. Bette said, 'They have the same needs - a little love and attention' Bette, who now works for American Airlines, is most known for her 'warm hospitality,' and is said to 'greet every face with a smile'The flight attendant has no plans to retire any time soon, with her explaining, 'As long as I have my health and I’m able, why not work. It’s still fun' Get ready to meet the world's longest serving flight attendants, 86, who has worked as an airline employee for 65 years and has seen the industry go from using chalkboards to computers.Six and a half decades ago, Bette Nash, from Manassas, Virginia, landed a job as an Eastern Airlines flight attendant, and she has been pushing beverage carts and giving safety instructions ever since.Bette - who is now in the Guinness World Records book for her record-breaking long career - took her first flight as a teen and quickly fell in love with the 'spiffy appearances and gracious manners of the crew members,' she told AirlineStaffRates.com.'I wanted to be a flight attendant from the first moment I got on an airplane,' she also said to CNN.
'I was 16 years old and the flight attendant walked across the hall and I said, "That's for me."'
She started her career in 1957, when she was 21 years old, and things were certainly different back then - flights were $12 when she first started, and you didn't have to make a reservation in advance.
She used to hand out Marlborough cigarettes to passengers, and served them lobster and carved meats on platters - but what's changed the most is the technology.
'Gone are the days of hand-written tickets, stickers for seat assignments, and chalk boards,' she said.
Another thing that has gone through a transformation throughout her 65-year long career is the way that flight attendants dress.
'The attire when I first started was very conservative, then we started getting really out there,' she recalled to CNN. 'After that, things started calming down a little bit.'
And while many things have changed since she started, there's one thing that has stayed the same - the people.
I fly hundreds of thousands of miles a year, but these are always my best flights when Bette is on the plane,' another gushed to ABC recently.
At this point, Bette is able to pick between any route, and she prefers working on the New York-Boston-Washington D.C. flights so she can make it home in time to say goodnight to her son, who is disabled.