Here are more fun photos from a slide show on flight attendant uniforms I put together for CNBC Road Warrior. Part 1 is here.
Hughes Airwest uniform courtesy Ted Huetter, Museum of Flight Seattle
According to Seattle’s Museum of Flight, in the early 1970s American artist and designer Mario Armond Zamparelli was asked by business magnate and aviator Howard Hughes to create new flight attendant uniforms for Hughes Airwest. A memorable Airwest outfit was a Sundance Yellow princess-line knit dress, which had a matching zippered jacket. When going outdoors, flight attendants could add a hooded cape or a princess-line coat.
In the 1960s and ’70s, hotpants were common, as seen in this Continental uniform. Courtesy Cliff Muskiet www.uniformfreak.com
“Hot pants and short dresses with hot pants underneath were a common look in the 1960s and ’70s, and Continental, PSA and Southwest Airlines all had uniforms featuring that style,” said Cliff Muskiet of uniformfreakcom. “In those years, the stewardess was used to attract male passengers and hot pants were part of the plan,” he said.
Courtesy Cathay Pacific
Compared with the hot pants-themed uniforms some airlines required their flight attendants to wear during the ’60s and ’70s, these Cathay Pacific uniforms, launched in July 2011, appear to be quite tame. But the union representing the airline’s flight attendants recently complained the outfits were “too sexy.”
In a statement, Cathay Pacific said it has made some modifications to the uniform to address concerns about the length of the blouse and the tightness of the skirt, and crew members “are welcome to exchange their uniform any time if they feel the fit is not right.”
Although many of the older airlines are long gone, some of the classic airlines are looking to return to the skies, such as PEOPLExpress.
In May 2014, a group trying to bring back Eastern Air Lines, the iconic Miami-based carrier that operated from the 1920s until 1991, held a contest to choose a designer for the uniforms crew members might wear when the airline returns to the skies. The winner was Miami-based designer Lisu Vega, whose collection includes a variety of chic, navy and teal outfits with matching hats and luggage.
Eastern Air Lines uniform Simon Soong / Courtesy Lisu Vega
But in selfies online – on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, – the world’s smallest international airline pilot is pretty darn charming.
Since March, the tiny toy has become the alter-ego of a London-based pilot – a first officer in his mid-20s – who for now won’t share his real name and the name of the airline he works for, but via email was willing to share some details about his real life and the adventures of the Lego figure he’s been photographing at work and play in, so far, more than 20 cities around the world.
The real pilot told me that about two years ago, he was a given a Lego plane set with a Lego pilot as a joke present from his parents when he got his first commercial airline pilot job. “The pilot was to be like a lucky charm in my flight case,” he said.
That original Lego pilot got lost, but once the Lego Pilot photography project was hatched, the real pilot purchased a new figure.
“I guess he does resemble me. A happy coincidence when building the Lego mini-figure in the Lego Store,” he said.
Finding locations for the Lego Pilot to have his picture taken hasn’t been a problem, but there have been strange looks and some challenges in setting up scenes, “especially outside, the wind tends to knock him over,” said the pilot. “Also I do get worried about losing him.”
The pilot said he hasn’t heard from the Lego company’s lawyers yet, but he has posted a disclaimer on his site alerting fans that the project is not an official Lego project. He’s also being very careful about not revealing his identity to honor his company’s rules about social media.
“If the airline doesn’t like [the project] I could face disciplinary action and that would bring an end to the Lego Pilot,” he said. “I have worked very hard to get where I am and I do not want to lose my job. But at the same time, this project is fun and my new hobby gives the world a little bit of an insight into a pilot’s life.”
Spirit of St. Louis courtesy Smithsonian Air & Space Museum
So much chatter these days about amenities we want on long trip from say, New York to Paris, so let’s just take a moment today to tip our hats to Charles Lindbergh, who left New York for for Paris on the morning of May 20, 1927.
Thirty-three hours, 30 minutes, and 3,610 miles later he landed safely at Le Bourget Field, near Paris.
He was flying alone. So no one brought him a meal, a pillow a blanket or even a tiny bag of peanuts.
(My story about the Women of Boeing first appeared on the Runway Girl Network)
Women have played an important role in the history of the Boeing company, beginning in 1916 when seamstress Rosie Farrar was hired by William Boeing to stitch together linen wings for the early B & W seaplanes.
By 1918, women made up almost 25 percent of the company’s employee base, notes Betsy Case in Trailblazers: The Women of The Boeing Company, and since then women have had an important role in every aspect of the company.
Dozens of these trailblazing women, many with the word “first” amongst their accolades, are featured in Case’s new book, which pays tribute to the Pacific Northwest “Rosies” who built Boeing bombers during World War II and to those who have had important roles as aviators, engineers, leaders and trendsetters.
Included are photos and short biographies of women such as Bessie Marie Dempsey, who became the first female aeronautical engineer at Boeing after a career as a ballerina, vaudeville dancer and Hollywood starlet. (She appeared in the Marx Brothers movie “A Night at the Opera,” under her stage name, Yvonne St. Clair.)
Close to a dozen of the women featured in the book, including Boeing’s first female line supervisor and the company’s first female test pilot, gathered in Everett, Washington at the Future of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing Tour in March (Women’s History Month) to celebrate the book release and share some of their stories.
Here are short profiles of just a few of the women who attended:
Diana Rhea joined Boing as a clerk in the parts ordering group at the start of World War II and went on to become the first female manager in Manufacturing Engineering. According to Trailblazers, Rhea played an active role in the company’s progression from manual parts ordering to more modern, mechanized methods. Now, with 71 years of uninterrupted service, she’s Boeing’s longest-working employee.
Patricia “Trish” Beckman spent 28 years on active duty in the U.S. Navy and went on to serve at Boeing in production flight testing for the 737. “I flew the first flights on 737s and flew with the customer,” explained Beckman. “Then, as a navigator I also helped the customer cross the Pacific – to China, usually. And as a navigator, I’ve also done three around the world trips in the 777, 737 and the 787.”
According to Trailblazers, in 2010 Beckman was honored by the Women in Aviation, International Pioneer Hall of Fame for being the first woman to qualify as a crewmember in the F-15 and the first American woman to qualify as a crewmember in the F/A-18. She now supports F-18 flight tests for Boeing.
Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann was the first woman to join the elite Boeing Engineering Flight Test group as a test pilot and she’s now the Boeing chief training pilot for instructors worldwide.
“My team does all the ground school training, full-flight simulator training and training in the airplane for airline customers,” she explained.
Based in Renton, Wash. Darcy-Hennemann said she always knew she wanted to fly but that when she started out there were no women flying in the military or with the airlines.
“So I got an engineering degree so that no one could tell me I didn’t have a good enough degree to get a flying job,” she said.
She then took flying lessons and came up through civil aviation positions. “I kept working my way through all my licenses and was chosen as a production test pilot and worked in flight test for 23 years – basically taking planes out for factory test drives,” she said.
She then worked as an experimental test pilot, eventually becoming chief pilot for the 777 for experimental flight testing and, now, chief training pilot for instructors around the world.
Sandra Jeffcoat was the first African American woman to become a member of the Boeing Technical Excellence Program and was the winner of the 2005 National Women of Color in Technology award.
In Trailblazers, she explains how her career in information technology began as a dare and that her expertise in a complex database system led her to Boeing in 1989, where she helped “clean up a defense contract in trouble.”
Now, like many other women in leadership roles at Boeing, “I find it important that we give back by mentoring others and bring them along,” she said.
Megan Robertson makes Boeing’s Trailblazers roster as the first female pilot to conduct a Chinook helicopter test flight. Based in Philadelphia, she’s been flying for about 15 years, the past seven with Boeing.
Robertson said she loves her job, in part, because of the role the Chinook helicopters have in the world.
“Anytime there’s any kind of relief mission in the world, if you flip on the news you’ll probably see a Chinook helicopter hovering somewhere in the background,” said Robertson. “And that’s what makes what I do so exciting: I get to see a helicopter that I fly doing these great missions around the world.”
In Trailblazers, Robertson shares some of the advice she gives during career presentations, which includes the importance of building a resume, always learning and practicing leadership. “Care about what you do,” she says, “seek out opportunities and don’t let anyone ever say no to you.”
Thanks to Trailblazers author Betsy Case and the Boeing Company for sharing photos, audio and additional information for this story.
