In the 1960s, TWA accepted fewer than 1% of applicants to be flight attendants — making it tougher to get into than Harvard.
“True Tales of TWA Flight Attendants: Memoirs and Memories from the Golden Age of Flying: is perfect for readers of Ann Hood’s Fly Girl and Julie Cook’s Come Fly The World.
The golden age of air travel promised a life of glamour and adventure for beautiful, single, young women interested in exploring the world — and no airline offered more glamour or excitement than Trans World Airlines.
TWA provided an enviable jet-set lifestyle for flight attendants — and the opportunity to travel to exotic destinations like London, Paris, Rome, Hong Kong, and Bombay. Flight attendants appeared on TV and in movies, and rubbed elbows with the rich and famous, all while decked out in designer uniforms from clothing designers including Oleg Cassini and Ralph Lauren.
In the 1960s, TWA accepted fewer than 1% of applicants to be flight attendants — making it tougher to get into than Harvard.
Plus, a flying career offered the best education money could never buy.
TWA flight attendants could cook chateaubriand medium rare, deliver a baby at 35,000 feet, and survive a plane crash — all the while immaculately dressed from their never-a-strand-out-of-place hairstyles, all the way down to their mandatory high heeled shoes.
But the glamorous lifestyle of a TWA flight attendant sometimes came at a cost.
True Tales of TWA Flight Attendants is a diary-style memoir with stories from dozens of flight attendants and filled with a fascinating behind-the-scenes, never-before-seen look at the glamour, excitement, and struggles faced by young women as they traveled the world with TWA during this exciting time in airline history.
Said Nell McShane Wulfhart, author of The Great Stewardess Rebellion: “A rollicking, high-energy collection of stories from the frontlines of travel, True Tales of TWA Flight Attendants gives readers an unfiltered peek into the glorious ups and downs of working as a flight attendant over the last half-century. A fun, star-studded, and often poignant read!”
