Bette Nash is DEAD to ME!

Sorry - longest serving flight attendant is what the article says. She may or may not have been the oldest.

I remember when she took her first flight in 1956. Before entering the plane, she turned to her family who were cheering her on from the tarmac, and belted, "PAPA! WATCH ME FLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY !"

I’m embarrassed for R2.

She had a great aft but couldn’t live forever.

Well done R4, well done.

Flight attendants should have forced retirement age and it should be an early age. The old flight attendants on the big three airlines are all mean, arrogant cunts who don't give a shit about customers and customer service. They give service with a scowl and wouldn't smile at passengers to save their life. The young attendants still feel some excitement about their job and try to be nice.

She was always acting like she was Miss Upper Deck.

That's what she gets for messing up Linda's galley!

Her extremely natural hair is so convincing!

And she just joined the Mile High Club last month!

r1 How embarrassing for you

R6 is too deep into the diet pills again. Fucking crank!

Bette was known in the industry for her stellar customer service and positive attitude. She was trained in an era where stews were weighed and routinely fired for dating men or being older than 25. She came up in an era when flying was glamorous and service was flawless. Today’s iPhone addicts could’ve learned a thing or two from the old girl.

In the USA, you mean, right, R6?

Much of the rest of the world, about which you probably know nothing, operates under a different paradigm.

Isn’t this the flight attendant who got into it with an East Asian pilot because she said that “orientals” should not be operating an aircraft?

[quote]She was trained in an era where stews were weighed

There should be federal regulation to limit their weight and age. It wouldn't directly address the issue of ancient bitter, sourpuss FAs, but young and limber FAs would be more likely to be friendly to passengers.

Is it pronounced “bet” or “Betty?”

Nobody should reach the age of 88 and then suffer from cancer.

Nah - sorry - she should have been forced into retirement by 70 max. She got premium picks because of her seniority and never wanted to give them up.

Peak Boomer selfishness - seriously.

Pilots are forced to retire at 65 - why does she get to go on for 20+ more years? And just because you CAN do a job doesn't mean you should.

After you've spent a few years of dealing with chronic, entitled aszholes like R6, its easy to become a negative, hard bitten scowl.

She was primarily there for our safety.

R20 - when do we ever rely on octogenarians for support and safety?

R21 I mean, one of them has the nuclear codes right now. And he’ll be close to 90 by the time he’s done.

R14 I’m calling bullshit on that.

She survived thousands and thousands flights aboard Boeing planes just to stupidly die of cancer? What were the odds? One out of a million?

Is that a picture after she passed?

R25 passed what?

[quote]Isn’t this the flight attendant who got into it with an East Asian pilot because she said that “orientals” should not be operating an aircraft?

I believe she referred to them as "Japs" and not "Orientals."

[quote][R25] passed what?

Passed on.

Passed on a transpacific flight with a long layover in Incheon?

All flight attendants should be in their 80s because THEY DON'T DO A GODDAM THING ANYMORE!

[quote] Peak Boomer selfishness - seriously.

She was 88. What baby boom was that? After the Spanish American war?

You whippersnappers are so funny

When "in the event of a water evacuation" means "in case my Depends fail while passing out snack mix."

She's one of those old school stewardesses who would say:

Come fly with me!

Coffee, tea, or me?

[quote] She's one of those old school stewardesses

Not anymore.

It was pronounced “Betty” R16

I had a FA friend who flew with her once. He said she was nice enough but did not really do much more than meet and greet creating more work for the other FA's on board . She seemed like a nice lady so I don't want to bash her too much.

R18. Peak Boomer selfishness? She was born in either 1935 or 1936. You I do know when World War II ended, right?

What does FA possess?

I hope continuing to work was her choice. Flight attendants don't make a lot, and to still be waiting on people that late in life is a sad thing if she had to do it.

R40 - not true. Old school flight attendants can make BANK. See this link.

Of course this bitch was a big old Trump supporter and used to fly to his rallies all the time. But she made $250k.

Bette could always be relied upon to slap children and the elderly until they STFU. They were wise to fear her.

I wonder if her home was filled with boxes of peanuts packets and miniature liquor bottles.

Among her famous passengers were Miss Lindsey, George Santos, and Caitlyn Jenner.

I flew on a flight Bette worked once. I knew ahead of time that the “#1” (seniority-wise) was going to be the lead flight attendant, but I didn’t know her reputation. Like some others mentioned, I was expecting her to be the cliched scowling, well-past-prime, battle axe, only she wasn’t anything but charming, friendly and smiling to everyone she greeted on board.

I have heard it said that her co-workers thought this was fake, because she didn’t always turn on the charm for THEM. But in reality, her passengers were her priority and she made that very clear.

Also, she never did the better paying long-haul flights. For her own reasons she wanted to be home every night, so mainly did the East Coast shuttle routes or an out-and-back trip.

In this era of aviation she was quite remarkable. I wish more crewmembers (not just FAs) took a bit of inspiration from her example. I wish more passengers would too… at least when it comes to being kind and patient.

R45, in the NPR obit it said she chose the short-haul flights, specifically Boston-DC, because it enabled her to care for her son who had Downs Syndrome.

Down!

This is my Oscar*...

R41 I know a few of the F/As who worked at Delta’s LA hub. That F/A only worked on the flights to Sydney and I believe Beijing, as those are Delta’s longest routes out of LAX.

There was a lot more to that saga than what we know.

Thanks R46, I knew that but didn’t include it out of privacy concerns. I didn’t know she already blabbed to NPR!

R45 “I have heard it said that her co-workers thought this was fake, because she didn’t always turn on the charm for THEM. But in reality, her passengers were her priority and she made that very clear.”

This is why GenZ and millennials are ruining everything, especially the workplace and customer service. If you don’t smile and be fake with them, they’ll try to get you fired or if you don’t go down the rabbit hole of negativity with them and wallow and gossip they also get you fired for that. They’re psychotic and vindictive. Obviously I’m talking about the girls. That’s why so many companies now end up with the absolute worst of the worst still on staff, while the best employees have been let go. At the end of the day, it should be about the customer but now it’s more about workplace drama and virtue signaling.

American has announced they will release her ashes in a contrail of a BOS - DCA flight, stating Bette will forever be with the American AIrlines customers she was so dedicated to all these years.

[quote] American has announced they will release her ashes in a contrail of a BOS - DCA flight

So they’re going to eradicate all the evidence.