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Home » American Airlines » Bette Nash, World’s Longest Serving Flight Attendant, Dead At 88
American AirlinesFlight Attendant

Bette Nash, World’s Longest Serving Flight Attendant, Dead At 88

Matthew Klint Posted onMay 28, 2024 17 Comments

a woman in a uniform

Bette Nash, world’s longest-serving flight attendant has died at age 88 after a battle with breast cancer. Her flying career spanned 67 years, setting a world record and inspiring thousands who followed in her footsteps.

Bette Nash Set Record As World’s Longest Serving Flight Attendant

In 1957, at the age of 21, Nash became a stewardess (as they were called at the time) for Eastern Airlines…and never stopped flying. She almost lost her job in 1989 when Eastern Airlines spun off its Northeast shuttle service but credits one man…Donald Trump…for saving her career. Trump acquired the shuttle service and kept Nash and her colleagues on the payroll.

Trump’s foray into the commercial airline business also failed, but the routes were acquired by US Airways and Nash became a US Airways flight attendant. In 2013, US Airways merged with American Airlines and Nash spent the remainder of her career at American Airlines.

She recalls a number of initiatives that are absolutely taboo today but marked the life of flight attendants in the 50s and 60s:

  • Airlines would do random door knocks at her apartment to ensure that she was single and not in a relationship with another man
  • She would routinely be weighed before her flight and faced suspension and wage garnishment if she had gained weight
  • “We used to pass out cigarettes and matches…after the meal service, I would go around with Kent’s and Marlboros”

Although she was senior enough to “hold any line” she wanted (i.e., she could choose what routes she wanted to fly) she continued to fly shuttles between Washington National (DCA) and New York (LGA) or Boston (BOS) so that she could be home each night to take care of her son, who has down syndrome.

Nash died on May 17, 2024 in hospice care after a battle with breast cancer.

We mourn the passing of Bette Nash, who spent nearly seven decades warmly caring for our customers in the air. She started in 1957 and held the Guinness World Record for longest-serving flight attendant. Bette inspired generations of flight attendants. Fly high, Bette. pic.twitter.com/XFTXyvsqFI

— americanair (@AmericanAir) May 25, 2024

CONCLUSION

Bette Nash has passed away at age 88 after a fruitful career. Some may lament that she worked so late in life, but I think it is simply fabulous that she continued to do what she loved. And in so doing inspired many to follow in her footsteps. It is a pleasure, not a burden, to work when you love the work that you do. Nash demonstrated that gracefully for us for 67 years.

a woman smiling with her hand on her shoulder
images: American Airlines

 

 

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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17 Comments

  1. Chi Hsuan Reply
    May 28, 2024 at 1:46 pm

    So rare to see that sort of enthusiasm in the US Airline industry nowadays.

  2. Robb Reply
    May 28, 2024 at 3:15 pm

    R.I.P. Betty. You’re the GOAT of Flight Attendants … always gracious, warm, and kind to your Passengers. A real rare trait and hard to find today.

  3. Dave Edwards Reply
    May 28, 2024 at 3:20 pm

    RIP. You don’t see this kind of dedication often in 2024.

    Do we know when her last flight as a worker was? From the story it appears she was still an active employee.

  4. Alert Reply
    May 28, 2024 at 5:05 pm

    KLM hostesses are required t9 speak 4 languages … Ought to be a requirement in USA as well .

    • Ryan Reply
      May 28, 2024 at 5:39 pm

      That’s incorrect. KLM cabin crew are required to be fluent in Dutch and English.

      • Alert Reply
        May 28, 2024 at 7:50 pm

        What happened to French and German ?

    • Tony in Indy Reply
      May 28, 2024 at 5:50 pm

      And you felt the overwhelming need to spout this unrelated comment to this woman’s passing why?

  5. Youngster Reply
    May 28, 2024 at 6:35 pm

    It makes me sick to see anybody who works till they drop dead any never enjoy a retirement. I mean why work when you can make about the same money staying at home. I too worked for the airlines and Loved my job. Spent 26 years with TWA and the final 18 with American Airlines. Retired the second I turned 62 and love every bit of my retirement spending time with friends and family.

    • Rich Reply
      May 28, 2024 at 6:55 pm

      It’s about what you enjoy. At this point in my life I have enough savings to retire very comfortably, but I still have a blast at my job. I work with brilliant colleagues to invent and design cool things and a billion people use our work product. I’ll retire when I can think of a way to spend my time that I’ll enjoy more than my job.

      • Dave Edwards Reply
        May 28, 2024 at 7:37 pm

        In other words work was your life and you never found anything in life other than it. And trust me, you aren’t that important to the company. They see a sucker with no life that’s a “company man”. The world will go on just fine without you but if you have kids I’m sure they are happy you aren’t spending their cash and keep making more.

        But hey, that toilet paper you sell kept a billion asses clean. F’ing clown!

  6. Maryland Reply
    May 28, 2024 at 8:29 pm

    To the family and friends of Bette Nash, she was an icon, working through so many industry and world changes. God speed lovely lady.

  7. Stuart Reply
    May 28, 2024 at 10:16 pm

    What I love is that she rarely sought out publicity. It sought her. She in turn just kept working. A true hero to what society is missing now…the doers. Get out of my way, I have a job to do that I love.

  8. Youngster Reply
    May 29, 2024 at 12:17 pm

    Just a follow-up. How many of you who left a comment would continue to work into their 80’s like Betty? That’s just what I thought!

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      May 29, 2024 at 12:18 pm

      I hope I am working into my 80s, as long as it is by choice and not necessity.

      • GUWonder Reply
        May 30, 2024 at 8:22 am

        Different strokes for different folks. A relative of mine with a long career in politics retired at a relatively young age and ended up being sort of depressed and more or less bored for decades after retirement. His child — in a completely different field — refused to retire because of a love for the work and realizing that work was valuable as entertainment and as the kind of social and mental engagement that keeps a person’s mind and body sharper for far longer. Of course working when old isn’t required for such benefits from work, but for some people work is the perfect vehicle to be healthier for far longer than average. That said, my heart goes out to the elderly who have no choice but to work when old because of economic desperation. One of the biggest problems of inflation is that it causes a lot of suffering for the poorest of those on fixed incomes.

    • GUWonder Reply
      May 30, 2024 at 8:41 am

      It depends on necessity or interests. An 80 year old has probably lost a lot of their friends over the years, or a lot of their friends and maybe even their relatives are no longer as available for the things that made life so great. So work may be just what makes sense to avoid the kind of isolation too many of the elderly face in an atomized society that also has the nuclear family becoming ever smaller, busier and “too busy”.

      When I am in my 80s, let’s just hope I am not still among those cranky retiree/quasi-retired Flyertalk website moderators with too much time on their hand and who seem to love “the work” too much while still hating on some site users for all sorts of bad reasons.

  9. GUWonder Reply
    May 30, 2024 at 8:12 am

    After clicking on the article, I didn’t start reading it but went to look at the flight attendant photos. She looked like a quite familiar face. Having since read the article, it makes sense to me that she seemed familiar to me.

    May she rest in peace and be at home again with her late son who had Down’s.

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