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I remember the old British Caledonian advert where the guys sing “I wish they were all Caledonian Girls” while dishy air hostesses were displayed in their fetching uniforms.

A few years ago, I flew on Vietnam Airlines and decided that I needed to land a gig as an HR manager for the airline - some of the most beautiful air hostesses I have ever seen.

I bet that you saw a lot of changes during your years.

I started in the reservation center on a phone. One of the great things about TWA(for the employees) was the ability to move laterally within the company. I could do any job that didn’t require specialized certification(unless I got the cert). You could start anywhere and try different jobs(in 6 month blocks) until you found your perfect fit. I had a great deal of history with the Airline.
As an Air Force brat, I was loaded on a plane and sent to stay with the rest of my family almost every summer and my mother still has the cocktail napkin note that a FA sent home with me when I was 7 years old flying as an unaccompanied minor. It seems I called her over and warned her that the wings were “bending” but she said I whispered it so I wouldn’t upset the other passengers. I even still have my “Junior Captain’s” wings. I was flying U/M from the US to Cairo and back when I was 13. It really seemed like fate that I got a chance to work there and I had had every intention of staying until retirement.
We had all been through so much together with the Icahn era and such that there developed a level of camaraderie that can only form under adversity. To be honest though, some of the very best people to work with were the Ozark Airlines folks that came over when we bought them out. They didn’t have some of the bad habits that some from the heyday of TWA had.
I once had a very senior TWA FA (we called them the “senior mamas") mutter something under her breath about “we never used to hire people like that” when a perky young FA bounced on board. I knew one FA that had been sent home, in the '70s because she checked in “overweight”; she was 5’10” tall and was not allowed to be over 128lbs....so many tales...
Good times, good times, my friend.
Did you ever see our disposable uniforms(for female FA's only) ? They were made to look somewhat like the “national costume” of the destination country and were made of paper. That was an ill conceived plan, right there. lol
On the beautiful attendants topic, I always looked forward to layovers in NYC because they put us up in a hotel close to Times Square that served air crews from most of the international carriers. I'd sit in the lobby and drool!! After I knew my way around I was able to use that and voluteer as a guide if one of them looked lost....that worked out very, very well....when I wasn't cut out by a pilot. I always maintained that it was an unfair advantage that they got hats. That's the only explanation.
If you think I like talking about my airline, you should see me with a few drinks in me! It's embarrassing, really!