The Original Eight: Genesis of the Modern Day Flight Attendant

The following article serves as a tribute to eight women who were the forerunners of the modern day flight attendant now numbering nearly 250,000 women and men worldwide.

In 1930, it was the dream of many a young man to marry a Boeing Skygirl. These original eight women were single nurses enticed from their homes with the idea of marriage to a rich-lonesome business passenger. Ultimately, however, they played a pivotal role in revolutionizing air travel by ensuring passenger comfort and through promoting the safety of air travel.

During that time America was in the beginning of an economic depression that would eventually deepen and spread to effect the entire world. Nevertheless, new advances in aircraft development continued to be promoted which helped strengthen the accessibility of air travel to the general public.

BOEINGS FIRSTS

The Boeing Company was, at that time, in the enviable position of being both the manufacturer of the first airliner and the first airline passenger transportation company providing cabin services. In 1928 Boeing introduced an airliner designed specifically for passenger comfort and convenience. The Model 80 touted a separate and enclosed flightdeck for the pilots and a spacious cabin for the passengers. The original model held twelve passengers and was followed one year later by the larger, 18-passenger, Model 80-A.

THE ORIGINAL EIGHT

Originally, young boys were hired to serve food, beverages, and comfort the passengers when they became airsick. Soon, however, it was suggested by Ellen Church, a registered nurse, that women — specifically nurses — could work as stewards. She felt that nurses would be best suited to care for passenger comfort (and illnesses), promote a female presence to demonstrate the safety of air travel, and to free up pilots for more important flight duties.

Boeing managers accepted her proposal and on May 15, 1930, eight women were hired for a three month trial. Thus began the position of stewardess the forerunner of the modern day flight attendant.

WIDE AND VARIED DUTIES

The duties of the original stewardesses went far beyond providing cabin services. She served as a tour director by pointing out places of interest including, cities, towns, rivers, mountains, passes, etc. She took tickets, loaded luggage, fueled the plane, and helped the pilots push the aircraft into the hangar!

Because of low ceilings and narrow aisles, Boeing mandated that stewardesses be small in stature with a height limit not to exceed 54 and a weight of no more than 115 lbs.

UNITED REPLACES BOEING

In 1931 Boeing Air Transportation, Inc., merged with three other transportation companies to form the newly named United Airlines. About that time most of the original eight returned to more conventional lives.

MARGARET ARNOTT INTERVIEWED

In 1996, Clipped Wings historian Vicy Morris Young wrote a tribute to the original eight which made mention of an earlier interview with Margaret Arnott, the last surviving member of the heralded group. Just before her death in 1995, Margaret shared how as she was awaiting hip surgery her doctor brought in a framed photo from his wife — who was then flying for American Airlines — that she wanted to have Margaret autograph. The doctor’s wife found it in an antique store and it was the only one taken that had all eight women together in uniform. Laughing aloud, Margaret said, I never thought I would end up in an antique store! I notice you asked for the signature before you did my surgery!

Margaret loved to meet with latter day flight attendants who always asked about early flying experiences. Known for her sense of humor, she was telling a young woman onboard a trip about an emergency landing in a muddy corn field. Her listener asked seriously, And did they jet you back to Chicago? A solemn reply, backed by a mischievous grin was, Not that day.

THE ENSUING YEARS

Soon after the introduction of the original eight other airlines began to hire stewardesses too. Government regulation of steward(esses) began in 1952 when the Civil Aeronautics Administration, now known as the Federal Aviation Administration, passed a resolution requiring all air carrier aircraft with a capacity of ten or more passengers to provide at least one steward(ess) for safety reasons. In 1974 the FAA rewrote the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) to read, flight attendant crewmember. This step was significant in professionalizing the role of the flight attendant.

No formal government standards exist in the United States to regulate the Corporate or Business Flight Attendant. Most large corporations and air carriers employ flight attendants as they recognize the importance of providing exceptional service from both comfort and safety aspects.

Todays crop of flight attendants consists of men and women of a multitude of nationalities working for a variety of commercial, business, and private companies. Unlike the original eight they no longer have to push planes into hangars, load luggage, or fuel the aircraft. However, thanks to jet travel, they can be expected to travel longer, higher, and further than their counterparts, interact cross-culturally, and be equipped to handle any conceivable emergency situation that may arise. Nearly 75 years after Ellen Churchs idea became a reality, the benefits of utilizing flight attendants has been enormous. We salute the original eight and all that have followed in their footsteps.

Original Eight Tidbits

The Original Eight stewardesses were: Ellen Church, Margaret Arnott, Jessie Carter, Ellis Crawford, Harriet Fry, Alva Johnson, Inez Keller and Cornelia Peterman.

Ellen Churchs first flight was on May 15, 1930. She flew from San Francisco to Cheyenne, Wyoming. (Source: www.kwtv.com)

Church was from Cresco, Iowa. In 1959 that city built a new airfield and named it Ellen Church Field (CJJ) in her honor. Source: Iowa State University extension website: ww.exnet.iastate.edu)

Can you guess how much the first flight attendants were paid in 1930? They received a salary for the princely sum of 125. per month!

Sources:

First Stewardess From Cresco, Iowa State University Extension, WWW.EXNET.IASTATE.EDU.

Model 80, Boeing Company, WWW.BOEING.COM.

A Special Tribute The Original Eight Stewardesses, Vicy Morris Young, Clipped Wings, WWW.CLIPPEDWINGS.COM.

Once you’ve accepted the offer with your new employer and set the start date, obviously the next step is to let your current employer know you’ll be leaving. Write a brief letter of resignation (the operative word there is “brief”).

If you feel a need out of loyalty or guilt to write anything more than a few short sentences, curb it. The only information your letter needs to contain are the following two (possibly three) items:

– that you are leaving your current company
– what your last date of employment will be, and
– if you feel comfortable adding a sentence or two about how you enjoyed working for your current company, and you appreciate the opportunity to have been a part of the organization, tack that on

It should NOT include:

– why you are leaving
– where you are going
– what you will be doing in your new position
– how much you will be making when you get there
– how bad you feel about leaving (or conversely, how glad you are to be going!)

Make an appointment with your boss and hand deliver the letter. Tell him verbally the same words that your letter says, because the face-to-face is courteous and professional, while the letter is a formality for record of your employment. And be prepared for one of three things to happen.

Either your boss will professionally acknowledge your resignation, say how sorry he is to have you go, and shake your hand, or he will become very silent – just before he asks you what it would take to keep you. Or quite possibly, he’ll do the former, and you’ll be asked to another meeting later so that he can find out what it will take to keep you.

If your company is truly professional, you’ll resign, shake hands, and that will be that. But it doesn’t always go down that way, which takes us into the second way to resign, which actually is in danger of not being a resignation at all. It only starts out that way.

The first thing you need to know is that a counter offer is NOT – IS NOT – a sincere and genuine statement of their desire to keep you around for as long as you might decide to stay should you change your mind and accept their counter offer.

What you’ve just done by resigning is put the company at a disadvantage. You are creating an opening within the company, and you’ve left your company at a loss. By resigning, you’ve basically said, “I’m not interested in this company any more.” You’ve caused your loyalty to be questioned. You are in control, and they are not.

If your boss invites you in for a concerned chat, you’re better off sounding like a broken record – repeating your “thank you” and “my last day is…” than you are involving yourself in what appears to be a caring conversation about your ensuing future.

It doesn’t matter what you want or what you ask for, because they’ll give it to you – in one form or another – or possibly offer you something tasty before you even speak up. After they’ve lulled and flattered you into submission, and as you walk out the door smiling, they’re calling the newspaper or a recruiter and ordering up a confidential replacement.

In 25 years of recruiting – my firm, and working with other firms – I have never, ever, ever seen an accepted counter offer work in favor of the individual.

Don’t, for a minute, think I am being overly dramatic. A counter offer is a complete and 100% appeal to your ego and an attempt to push your guilt button. It’s unprofessional of your company to attempt it, and it’s unprofessional (and ill conceived) of you to take it.

It might be a month, or six months, but eventually, your next departure from the company will be on their terms.

The New Generation Of Young Women Leaders Study Defines Skills Needed To Fulfill High Aspirations

How do today’s young women see themselves and their futures? A recent student-designed survey from an innovative high school came up with some intriguing revelations.

Compared with high school boys, high school girls are significantly more likely to see themselves as leaders, are just as likely to say they would run for U.S. president, and have higher college aspirations than their boy counterparts.

Susan Schulz, editor-in-chief of CosmoGIRL!, says, “Girls embrace our mantra, ‘Born to Lead,’ because this is the first generation of girls who grew up playing alongside boys on the soccer field, stealing the ball and scoring goals. Now that these girls are teens, their goals include working their way to the corner office, including the Oval Office.”

The national, online survey of over 1,500 teens, designed by Miss Hall’s School, an all-girl high school, also found that more than 70 percent of girls versus 50 percent of boys desire a job where they can help others and make the world a better place. Head of School Jeannie Norris says, “Teen women are rejecting the old-style, top-down models of leadership and are embracing a new style, one that utilizes teamwork to solve problems.”

A significant finding of the study, however, pointed to a “leadership gap.” In responding to real-life leadership dilemmas, girls do not always follow through on what they know to be best when friendships are involved. For example, a girl might not vote for the better candidate in an election if her best friend is running in opposition. Inhibiting girls’ decision making is the priority they give to personal relationships.

One of the major implications of the study is that girls need to be taught the skills that allow them to work through difficulty while staying in relationships with peers. Historically, girls’ high aspirations for leadership in high school do not translate into significant increases in numbers of women in the top echelon in any sector. Norris says, “In order for young women to sustain their ability to lead beyond high school and into their adult lives, they must become comfortable with assuming authority and resolving interpersonal conflicts in a way that holds true to their values.”

Another significant finding is that girls who are comfortable with their personal authority-i.e., girls who self-identify as leaders-are more likely to act on their values. Norris says, “Girls who have the inner confidence to claim that they are leaders seem to be freer to do what they know is right.” Self-identified leaders also tend to do better in school, bring an activist approach to problem solving, and hold higher aspirations for their futures.

In spite of the somewhat sluggish economy, in specific fields job opportunities are truly abundant and simply waiting to be tapped by qualified applicants. As a result of new technology and techniques, new skill sets are required but because the required skills have changed faster than the overall workforce, the numbers of qualified applicants has actually been decreasing for the past several years as workers rush to brush up and improve their talents in order to be considered “qualified” and in the mean-time, companies wait to fill these in-demand jobs.

From legal assistants or paralegals, pharmacy technicians and nurses, various training programs are now being made available for the public… including medical transcriptionist aspirants.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, becoming a medical transcriptionist represents one of the top ten job opportunities in the country. Medical transcriptionists are those people who create the legal documents which health care professionals like physicians, registered pharmacists, therapists, registered nurses, dieticians and chiropractors all rely on and use as reference materials.

The potential topics under which a medical transcriptionist could find themselves working in are incredibly varied and they range from Medical Terminologies, Medical Law and Ethics (HIPAA), In-Patient or Out-Patient Medical Transcription to Human Anatomy.

This wide range of potential topics is one of the big reasons why becoming a medical transcriptionist is not for just anyone. People who aspire to become medical transcriptionists need to undergo proper education from medical transcriptionist schools, which teach and train them in the various fields that they need to master in order to become a certified medical transcriptionist.

Medical Transcriptionist schools will also be able to help you better prepare for the Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) examination. Various medical transcriptionist schools offer training courses for potential medical transcriptionists. Aakers Business College, TechSkills, National College and PC Age are just some of the medial transcriptionist schools that can be found in the country.

Some medical transcriptionist schools even offer the option of training online via the comfort of ones own home. By simply having access to the internet, students from online medical transcription schools can actually access the available training modules and other medical transcription related materials that they will need in order to pass the medical transcription training.

More and more Medical transcriptionist schools are moving to this modern method of teaching because it expands their potential market due to the fact that many of their medical transcriptionist students are quite busy and value the option to take the medical transcription training at their own pace and being able to enjoy the convenience of setting their own schedules.

With the current high demand for medical transcriptionists, it’s not surprising to see entrepreneurs jumping into the fray and taking advantage of this opportunity by setting up all sorts of medical transcriptionist schools… all geared towards training their students for an exciting medical transcriptionist career.

Apart from the necessary training that one acquires from medical transcriptionist schools, it’s also important to note that any top medical transcriptionist will also possess excellent listening skills. Solid listening skills are truly and indispensable requirement in this field because medical transcription requires that the medical documents you are transcribing be perfect in every way possible.

Health care professionals are relying more and more on those transcribed medical documents when it comes to going about their everyday business. Whether it be filling prescriptions or doing some type of research, it’s simply vital that the transcribed information they receive is accurate.

Just a small slip or momentary loss of concentration could result in unexpected negative consequences for a patient because so many health care professionals rely so heavily on the medically transcribed documents they receive as the basis for making their diagnoses and prescribing medications.

Although the potential to earn a substantial income lures many into the medical transcriptionist field, it doesn’t automatically mean that they are cut out for the position. To succeed you must be extremely dedicated, patient and be able to handle the weight of responsibility that comes with the title – Certified Medical Transcriptionist

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