Yesterday I wrote about Air Force One flight attendants. I’d say their job satisfaction, despite the hard work, is high. Here’s another person who has found flight attending a heck of a good time. Patti Smart has worked as an attendant from the time she was 18. Now she’s 68. Fifty years later, Smart is leaving behind her Aloha Airlines job.
Reading about her job in this AP article by Mark Niesse reminded me a little of a book I read years ago called Coffee, Tea or Me, a novel/memoir about flight attendants in the 1960s. I have a vague recollection of the story-line. I do remember that this was a job that sounded like a lot of fun.
According to Smart, the job was a bit more fun than it is now. Like most jobs, the time frame for getting tasks done has shortened. Instead of having the time to visit with passengers in between rolling beverage and food carts down the aisles, attendants barely have time to stop moving. Considering that job hopping is more the norm, it’s refreshing to read a story about someone who found a job that she loved from the beginning and stayed with it for so many years. Plus, it’s a job that treated her well. The pay wasn’t so shabby either.