Ebook based on interviews with over sixty flight attendants, both female and male labor leaders, and and drawing upon his observations while flying across the country and overseas, Drew Whitelegg reveals a much more complicated profession, one that in many ways is the quintessential job of the modern age where life moves at record speeds and all that is solid seems up in the air.
Working the Skies Working the Skies The Fast-Paced, Disorienting World of the Flight Attendant Drew Whitelegg a NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London new york university press New York and London www.nyupress.org © 2007 by New York University All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Working the skies : the fast-paced, disorienting world of the flight attendant / Drew Whitelegg p cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN-13: 978-0-8147-9407-4 (cloth : alk paper) ISBN-10: 0-8147-9407-6 (cloth : alk paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-8147-9408-1 (pbk : alk paper) ISBN-10: 0-8147-9408-4 (pbk : alk paper) Flight attendants—United States Flight attendants— United States—Anecdotes I Title HD8039.A432U69 2007 387.7'364—dc22 2006101773 New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability Manufactured in the United States of America c 10 p 10 For Lisa, and Maya People on the airplane will look at us and they’ll go, “Do you always just live out of that suitcase?” I go, “No, I have a house in Atlanta I cut the grass I get the trash out I have friends I teach Sunday school.” And they’ll go, “Flight attendants things like that?” They think all we own is a uniform and a suitcase —Claudette, Delta flight attendant It makes a difference when you what you like I’ve had jobs that I’ve hated and did not want to get in the car in the morning and go to work, and that’s what I told the children as they were going through school: whatever the pay is, what you love I remember going by the airport because I lived there I remember this big old Delta jet going over my head one time and I said, “Damn it, I’m going to that one day, damn it!” And I did, and so no matter my age, although I thought, I’m too old, I did it and I’m proud of it —Jill, Air Tran flight attendant Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: “We’re Here to Save Your Ass, Not Kiss It.” 1 Briefing: From Stewardess to Flight Attendant 31 Departure 64 Safety Checks 99 In-Flight Entertainment? 126 Cruising Altitude 149 The Layover 173 The Return 198 Debriefing 219 Notes Selected Bibliography Index About the Author 247 281 285 291 All illustrations appear as a group following p 148 vii Acknowledgments I once heard Harry Belafonte say that if you can’t give someone a hand up, don’t give them a push down While researching this book, I have been struck by the generosity of numerous people prepared to share time, offer support, and give help in equal measure First and foremost, I would like to thank all those flight attendants who sat down with me in their homes, in coffeehouses, and in airport lobbies to tell me their stories Without them this book would simply not exist, and though confidentiality concerns prevent me from mentioning any individuals by name, they know who they are At NYU Press, Ilene Kalish, my editor, from our first conversation, saw value in this project and at the same time consistently forced me to think deeper about it Working with Ilene has been a pleasure I would also like to thank Salwa Jabado for answering my numerous technical queries The book emerged from research supported by the Alfred P Sloan Foundation and conducted at the Emory Center for Myth and Ritual in American Life (MARIAL) in Atlanta MARIAL provided a stimulating and supportive community I cannot thank my colleagues there enough, especially Bradd Shore, Marshall Duke, Robyn Fivush, Donna Mote, Jennifer Bohanek, and Kelly Marin I would like particularly to thank Carla Freeman, Beth Kurylo, and Donna Day I have been very lucky to exchange phone calls and e-mails with other academics and students working on the topic of flight attendants There are not that many of us, and I have been touched by the spirit with which we have circulated information and ideas In particular I would like thank Terri Ballard, Leslie Macdonald, Ellen Heuven, Alyce Desrosiers, Katie Barry, Christine Yano, Takeda Atsushi, and Lauren Westbrook Heather Healy, Candace Kolander, Dawn Deeks, and Corey Caldwell answered my various questions at the Association of Flight Attendants, as did Lonny Glover at the Association of Professional Flight ix Left: Like most airlines in the 1950s, United often depicted its flight attendants as mothers supplying food This advertisement also tapped into United’s pioneering role in the profession Source: Time, 1955 Below: With its southern roots, Delta inevitably fused “home” and “hospitality” to create a strong flight attendant image Source: Time, 1956 Left: With competition over fares largely restricted, airlines competed on service Delta built a strong reputation on its flight attendants’ hospitality Source: Time, 1959 Below: Sex comes to the skies: Texas-based Braniff led the transformation of flight attendant imagery in the “swinging” 1960s Source: Dallas Times Herald Magazine, 1965 Above: School card and heart-shaped personality card game pieces from What Shall I Be? The Exciting Game of Career Girls, a 1966 board game for young girls where the object is to be the first player to become a career girl Possible careers include ballet dancer, nurse, model, teacher, actress, and air hostess (when in fact at the time airline regulations made a “career” virtually impossible) Copyright Selchow and Righter Company, 1966 Right: Despite the apparent attempt to present the “reality” of a flight attendant’s life, United’s main message is belied by the speech bubble emanating from the airplane cabin: “She’s going to make someone a great wife.” Source: Look, 1966 Above: Airlines encouraged rapid labor turnover As this United advertisement suggests, women who remained unmarried after three years on the job were highly unusual Source: Look, 1966 Right: Airlines liked to present themselves as finishing schools, where young women could learn how to be perfect housewives Source: Time, 1967 Left: As the 1960s progressed, airlines became increasingly innovative in their marketing of flight attendants’ sexuality, as this TWA campaign suggests Source: Time, 1968 Below: Emotional labor in action: flight attendants were expected to make high-paying businessmen feel special through individual attention, as the text to this American advertisement implies Source: Time, 1969 Above: The civil rights movement led to an increasing number of African American flight attendants at airlines such as Delta Source: Ebony, 1971 Right: By the early 1970s, the women’s movement targeted sexist airline imagery, as this demonstration against National’s “Fly Me” campaign suggests Source: Life, 1971 Left: National stuck to its “Fly Me” campaign through the mid-1970s, though in watered-down form Source: Southern Living, 1975 Above: As late as 1976, exclusively international Pan Am continued to place its flight attendants at center stage Source: Punch, 1976 Top: By the mid-1970s, Singapore International Airlines’ “Singapore Girl” had become one of the most famous advertising icons in the world ‘Natural Asian charm’ became a staple of marketing for airlines such as Singapore Source: Punch, 1976 Bottom: By 1984, Pan Am had relegated its flight attendants to the background, highlighting cabin amenities Source: Punch, 1984 Left: TWA removed its flight attendants in this 1984 advertisement to focus exclusively on seat comforts Source: Punch, 1984 Below: With U.S airlines reshaping their brand image in the 1980s, Asian airlines continued to market the attractiveness of their flight attendants, as this Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong) advertisement demonstrates Source: Punch, 1984 A textbook evacuation: 273 passengers and 22 crew escape a burning L1011 in less than two minutes TWA Flight 843, July 30, 1992, JFK Airport Source: Newsday Photo/Stan Honda American flight attendants strike in the run-up to Thanksgiving, 1993 Having been attacked by management during the 1980s, workers chose their moment—and their message—with devastating effect Source: Time, 1993 Left: With sexist advertising still prevalent, especially in Asia, flight attendant unions in the late 1990s sought to change public perception with an antisexism campaign Source: International Transport Workers Federation, 1997 Below: Flight attendant unions stress that safety is the number one reason their members are on board Source: International Transport Workers Federation, 2000 Left: The “nostalgic flight attendant”: in the post-9/11 climate, popular culture resurrected the escapist 1960s “Barbie Doll” image, embodied by Gwyneth Paltrow in View from the Top Miramax, 2003 Below: Catherine Zeta-Jones falls over in The Terminal, another movie resurrecting sixties-style flight attendant imagery Dreamworks SKG, 2004 In real life, the 1960s made a comeback with Hooters Air The woman depicted is not a flight attendant but a “Hooters Girl,” there to entertain passengers However, her presence on the safety card could confuse passengers Source: Hooters Air, 2004 Above left: Notions of “Asian service” are well illustrated in this advertisement for All Nippon Airlines Source: The Economist, 2004 Above right: Asian airlines continue to flirt with sexual innuendo, as this Malaysian Airlines Systems advertisement suggests Source: Business Week, 2006 Right: U.S and European international carriers focus less on service and more on sleep, demonstrated by One World member Iberia Source: The Economist, 2006 ... index ISBN-13: 97 8-0 -8 14 7-9 40 7-4 (cloth : alk paper) ISBN-10: 0-8 14 7-9 40 7-6 (cloth : alk paper) ISBN-13: 97 8-0 -8 14 7-9 40 8-1 (pbk : alk paper) ISBN-10: 0-8 14 7-9 40 8-4 (pbk : alk paper) Flight attendants—United... University All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Working the skies : the fast-paced, disorienting world of the flight attendant / Drew Whitelegg p cm Includes bibliographical.. .Working the Skies Working the Skies The Fast-Paced, Disorienting World of the Flight Attendant Drew Whitelegg a NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York