Bette Nash Is the World’s Longest-Serving Flight Attendant. She’s Been Doing it for 65 Years and Has No Plans of Retiring
Sometimes the search for a vocation takes years, and other times it finds us so quickly that it allows us to devote as much time as possible to the work we love. The protagonist of our article was lucky enough to experience the latter. Bette Nash has been a flight attendant for 65 years and still believes that back in 1957, she found her true calling.
She fell in love with the profession after the very first flight.
Bette Nash was born in Manassas, Virginia. She first stepped aboard an aircraft in the early 1950s when she was just a teenager. Bette flew from Reagan National Airport and was utterly enthralled by the aesthetics of working in the airline industry. She was so captivated by the elegant looks and graceful manners of the crew members that there was no doubt -— the flight attendant profession was literally made for her.
She asks to always be put on the same route so she can see her son more often.
Soon after her first fateful flight, Bette began a career in aviation. In 1957, she took a job as a flight attendant with Eastern Airlines, which later became part of American Airlines. After working diligently, Bette was appointed one of the senior flight attendant roles; this allowed her to choose her preferred route. To this day, she remains committed to the New York-Boston-Washington route. This allows her to come home every night and take care of her son, who has health problems.
She welcomes the continued development of civil aviation.
When Bette first started working as a flight attendant, the civil aviation industry looked quite different. Nash remembers that airline tickets required no reservations, were hand-written, and cost just $12. Even flight insurance was bought from vending machines before boarding. The requirements for flight attendants were different too. They wore white gloves, were subject to surprise house calls that would make sure they had no partner — stewards were expected to remain single — and had regular weight checks. Fortunately, this is no longer the case.
Looking back, Bette appreciates the changes that have taken place in the industry over the past 65 years. Technology modernization has helped with day-to-day tasks and tickets no longer need to be written out by hand. Requirements for employees have also laxed. If previously their clothing was more conservative, it has now been replaced by comfort and convenience.
She’s still in love with her job.
Throughout the years, Bette still genuinely values her work and enjoys every minute spent in flight. Although much has changed since the first time she boarded a plane, one thing remains the same, and that’s people. Nash believes that although times have changed, people’s needs are still the same — a little love and attention, with which she happily surrounds the airline customers. And they, in turn, show her the same. According to one of the regular passengers, his best flights are when Bette is on board.
She’s been a flight attendant longer than anyone else in the world and has no plans of stopping.
The year 2022 marks exactly 65 years since Bette joined the aviation industry. In June, Guinness recognized this as a world record and listed it in their famous book as the longest career as a flight attendant among both men and women.
Bette Nash is now 86 years old, and despite her respectable age, she has no plans of retiring. She feels that it’s the perfect job, and sees it as an outlet for her boundless love of people and her desire to surround them with care. In those rare moments when Bette does consider retiring, she goes to work and says to herself, “I can’t do that.” So the legendary flight attendant plans to continue holding her record and stay in her profession for as long as possible.
In your opinion, what are the benefits of being a flight attendant that would make someone want to dedicate their entire life to this profession?