The Great Stewardess Rebellion: How Women Launched a Workplace Revolution at 30,000 Feet

Fantastically written history of how poorly flight attendants were treated in the 60s and 70s, and how they fought back.

Back then, a stewardess was a key selling point for airlines. Most travelers were male, and stewardesses need to play up to male egos. They had to be single, young, childless, petite, pretty, and appear to be…compliant.

Airline advertising of their stewardesses was absolutely shameless. National Airlines had a long-running campaign with a picture of a pretty stewardess and the tagline, “I’m Cheryl. Fly me.” Another one read, “I’m Laura. Fly me nonstop to Miami.”

Braniff Airlines advertised the “Braniff Air Strip,” where they stewardesses would remove clothing before every meal service, their hemlines getting progressively shorter.

On top of this, stewardesses had a career limit: they got fired when they turned 32. Or got married. Or got pregnant. Or gained weight. Any airline executive could give them an impromptu weight check, on a scale in the middle of the office. Or they could do a girdle or bra check, right in the open.

Stewardesses were harassed constantly, by passengers, by airline executives, and by pilots. They had no rights, because the rules of the game meant that their careers were transitory – being a stewardess was something a pretty young girl did between high school and getting married.

The book mainly tells the story of Patt Gibbs, a flight attendant who immediately saw how ridiculous and rigged the system was and set out to change it. She got flight attendants into the Transportation Workers Union, and she fought for visibility in front of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Eventually, when she felt their need weren’t being met, she formed the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, an independent union that still exists today.

The book is well-researched and well-written. It’s an absolutely inspirational history of a remarkable period in air travel where relentless work and a refusal to be marginalized brought about real change.

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