Bette Nash, World's Longest-Serving Flight Attendant, Passes Away

The news was announced by the longtime employer of Bette Nash, American Airlines, on Facebook on Saturday. The Airline acknowledged her 70 years of dedicated service to passengers and paid tribute to her, calling her a “legend.” “Fly high, Bette. We’ll miss you,” they wrote.

ABC News reported that, after being diagnosed with breast cancer, she was under hospice care and died on May 17. At the time of her death, Bette Nash was still an employee of American Airlines.

As per the Professional Flight Attendants Association, Nash’s aviation journey started at the age of 21, when she joined the now-defunct Eastern Airlines in 1957. The AFPA acknowledged her long-lasting impact, by stating, “Bette’s legacy will forever be remembered in the aviation community.”

She has been a firsthand witness, to the evolution of the aviation industry. Nowadays, automation and digital systems have revolutionized the operational process of handwritten tickets. There was a time when flights between major cities cost as little as $12 (Rs 999). Luxury facilities, on board, included free smokes and lobster, served by "stewardesses," as they were called back then. Traveling by air was a quite different experience back then.

In an interview with CNN in 2016, she contemplated her lifelong passion that how she wanted to be a flight attendant. At the age of 16, “from the time I got on the first airplane.” She further added, "When the flight attendant and pilot crossed the hall, I thought, 'Oh my God,' I said that was for me." After graduating from college, Bette Nash applied for the position, and as she put it, "the rest is history."