Just saw yet another ad for "Pan Am."

[Brigid]

Sounds like fun. I remember when I was a girl, I wanted to be a stewardess, as they were called back then. It was the ultimate glamor job for a woman. All that travel and adventure . . . The designer uniforms . . . The handsome men . . .

And the requirements for Pan Am in particular were really strict: You had to be at least 5'2" and no more than 130 pounds, had to have at least two years of college, speak at least one foreign language, and conform to very exacting grooming standards.

For most, the career lasted no more than a few years. But even at that, it must have been wonderful to be able to learn and see the things you probably never would have had a chance to do otherwise . . .

It may sound old-fashioned, but I think it must have been wonderful. :)

[struggle4progress]

1. I knew a woman who was a flight attendant. Married, kids, out of town several days

a week. She enjoyed it: she'd regularly have a day somewhere she wanted to see, with a airline room to stay in that night, and she got good rates if she wanted to do some extra travel. She was smart and energetic and a fine activist on some issues when she was around

[Archae]

2. I read one of the "Coffee, Tea or Me?" books...

Fits into that time beautifully.

[dana_b]

3. I was a flight attendant for five years for TWA but

this was in the 80s, when Carl "the corporate raider" Icahn was in charge. There were strict guidelines regarding appearance and weight even then. The men that I came in contact with either had egos too large for their persons or treated us like objects. That was how I felt about it anyway. I knew some women who "fraternized" with some men. Too each her own though.

Btw - we had to be between 5'2" and 6'1" because if someone was shorter, they couldn't reach the overhead bins and if s/he was too tall, their head would bump the ceiling in the galley of the L1011s.

[Brigid]

4. Yes.

I think that deregulation really put the kibosh on the "glamor" aspects of flying. :(

[trof]

34. I was TWA pilot '68-'89.

Based at ORD, BOS, and finally JFK.
I hear 'Pan Am' is pretty hokey.

[Kat45]

5. A friend of mine from high school has been a flight attendant for over 30 years

She got the job after she graduated from college, thinking she'd just do it for a few years and then do something else. She loved it so much that she's still doing it. She loves to travel and has lots of opportunity to do so. Her husband is a pilot and he was laid off, or maybe bought out, several years ago but she's still working.

[jmowreader]

6. Used to be, stewardesses on at least some airlines had to be single

I remember seeing an ad for American Airlines, in which they were asking the customers to stop marrying their stewardesses. Apparently they were running out.

[av8rdave]

7. I am curious to see how it's portrayed

In my younger years, I would hear stories about that era and think I was born too late.

Another poster mentioned the marriage rules for flight attendants. At one time, nearly all airlines prohibited it, which is why the career tended to be pretty short.

These days, socializing between pilots and flight attendants while on trips is pretty rare. They operate under different scheduling rules than we do, so their layovers are usually different lengths, and they often stay in different hotels. I am in Korea this evening. Two of our flight attendants we worked with are at this hotel, and the rest of them are at a different one, since they fly out at a different time than we do.

Guess that makes it highly unlikely my next relationship (assuming there is one) will be with a flight attendant!

[Skittles]

16. PILOTS

here's a comment one of them made about this beautiful video:

"Talk about a variable geometry wing.......are those leading edge feathers pop-up vortex generators at high alpha?”

http://www.dogwork.com/owfo8/

[av8rdave]

17. I love that video...thanks!

[WolverineDG]

19. In the very early years, stewardesses had to be RNs

not sure when that requirement was dropped though.

dg

[blueamy66]

8. Hey, grew up as an AA brat....

loved stewardesses.....it wasn't all bad...

[hedgehog]

9. Back in those days, middle class jobs for women were pretty much limited to

nurse, teacher or secretary. There were also a lot of women working small assembly lines and in textile mills; as waitresses or maids. Travel was very much a luxury. Taking the family to Disneyland was a once in a lifetime event. You can see why being a stewardess (as opposed to flight attendant) was considered glamorous.

[Shagbark Hickory]

10. You saw an ad for PanAm??!?!?!?!?!

?!?!?!?!?!!?

[Brigid]

11. It's a new TV show on ABC.

It's about Pan Am stewardesses back in the early 1960s.

[Major Nikon]

13. Just to add, I think it starts tomorrow night

[Shagbark Hickory]

14. Oh. For a second there I thought they were making a comeback. Like Circuit City.

:silly:

[Major Nikon]

12. I have a good friend that is a retired AA captain.

He has a lot of great stories. Prior to his career were the DC-2 and DC-3 crews. Now THAT would have been something.

[AngryAmish]

27. My dad told me he used to ride his bike to the Shannon to see the Pan Am Yankee Clippers

I guess they were the first transatlantic flights.

Landed on the River Shannon, not Shannon Airport.

[Brigid]

29. That is so cool.

:)

[dimbear]

15. Prolly a good idea to watch one of the first hours, this sounds

like one that might have a very brief life, just saying, and the set at least is clearly very elaborate.

Of course I'm the one that's still irritated because "The Dollhouse" evanesced...........

[WinkyDink]

18. Be bi-lingual, really? In the US?

[Brigid]

20. Pan Am was strictly an international airline.

Hence the requirement. I read about it in an article about this show, and I remember it from back when I was looking into requirements for stewardesses for different airlines. Other airlines didn't have that requirement, as I recall.

[pink-o]

21. I'm a customer service ticket agent--the one that checks you in and boards your flight.

I'm 6'1" (as anyone knows whose read my posts) so I figured flying around in tiny cylinders wouldn't be a good fit for me. However, everyone assumes I'm a "stewardess" so I just go along with it. My flight attendant friends do NOT have a glamorous job, but they are also NOT bimbos or himbos, they work really hard and deserve a better portrayal. However, it's Mad Men Mania, hence the 60s setting and the sexist stereotypes. Whatever. I'm sure it'll be enjoyable nostalgia, but it's as far from today's reality as you can get.

I also opted not to be inflight because of staying in Crew Hotels, where there's nothing around but fast food and the same generic rooms day after day. I love to travel, but I prefer to get on a plane on my own terms, not to make it my office. So once again, hats off to the great men and women who make your flight tolerable under pretty difficult conditions.

[av8rdave]

24. I can't imagine your job is a whole lot easier

There are times I am SO thankful for the cockpit door. Even a sick airplane is easier to deal with than some of the folks we run across. You get to deal with ALL of them!

[pink-o]

30. Yeah, but only for a few minutes! Half hour at the most.

I'm not trapped in a tin can with them.

And we don't get the bimbo/himbo stereotype.

I guess there's good and bad points in both jobs. Personally, I can deal with obnoxious people (of which there aren't really that many) explaining delays, rebooking misconnections et al far better than dry airplanes, bad hotels, crap food and the claustrophobia of flying. I hate being on planes, but live to travel. Dilemma: solved.:toast:

[ThatsMyBarack]

22. I'm gonna watch it!

Those were the FUN days of flying! I wasn't born in the 60s, but I know it's pre-9/11 nostalgia!

[Skittles]

23. I remember flying Pan Am to England when I was a child in the 60's

I still remember those stewardess uniforms

[av8rdave]

25. I always feel like I was born too late

I would have loved to be doing my job back in the flying boat days.

Even the early jet age (what I think is portrayed in this show) would have been fun.

I actually still have a type rating on the 707 and the 720. I've been to recurrent training and the check pilot didn't know what those are. Made me feel old!

[NewJeffCT]

26. When my wife graduated from college, she tried to become one in China

However, at 5'4"/5'5", she was too short. I think the young women at the time needed to be at least 5'6" or 5'7"

The times I've flown on Chinese airlines, the flight attendants were all tall attractive young women.

[dawg]

28. I used to think it would be so cool to be a pilot.

I thought I would look so sharp in a pilot's uniform.

[av8rdave]

32. I've been told that uniforms do it for some - whether it's pilot, military, etc.

I doubt it does much for me...just part of the job.

[Brigid]

36. I have some old pics of me in my Marine Corps dress blues. How about that?

Too bad I don't know how to scan them into my computer. :evilgrin:

[Major Nikon]

33. My typical uniform is...

Shorts,

T-shirt,

Flip-flops.

I thought about getting a white shirt with five or six stripes on the epaulets, but somehow I don't think my wife would be too impressed and I'm quite certain I wouldn't be able to talk her into wearing a stewardess outfit.

She says the most impressive thing about my flying is the landings. I'm not sure if I should take that as a good thing or a bad thing.

[Major Nikon]

31. So what's the concensus regarding the show?

I have it on DVR, but haven't watched it yet. A friend who was very much looking forward to watching it, like me, said it sucked and he turned it off after 10 minutes.

[Brigid]

35. I liked it.

But it did jump around too much, and there is one subplot they might want to rethink; but these problems might straighten out in future episodes. I'll be back for more.

[Major Nikon]

37. I just watched it

I have to agree. Too much going on and not enough character development. The sets were quite good. I did notice a few problems, but overall attention to detail was pretty good. Like the scene where the stewardess is behind the engine as it's running and she gets sprayed with oil.

I'd have to say the series has great potential, but could benefit from better writing.