This was 1978, when flying was still an occasion, a special grand event that took planning and care. I worked as a TWA flight attendant then. I stood in my Ralph Lauren uniform at the boarding door and smiled at the passengers through lips coated with lipstick that perfectly matched the stripe on my jacket. Mostly, the passengers smiled back.
To this day, I still travel with scores. Every time I'm on a plane - it could be Stravinsky or Mozart or Ravel.
Whenever we were on a plane, we had a family.
I'd like to fly. Then I wouldn't have to wait in airport security lines.
On both of my flights, everything went very well.
I've always been a good flier. I love the whole experience.
I flew to New York to do a commercial back in the day when people could meet you at the gate, and the little agent when I came off the plane said, 'Oh, Miss Carr, we are so happy to have you here.' I went, 'Oh, for goodness sakes.'
I can't remember much about the early flights, except that it was ages before we got into First Class.
I'm on JetBlue and United. So I spend a lot of time on airplanes with other people and in terminals or just traveling around and going to restaurants or whatever. The interaction I get on a daily basis is always positive. I've never had a negative interaction.
Airline glamour never promised anything as mundane as elbow room, much less a flat bed, a massage, or an arugula salad. It promised a better world. Service and dress reflected the more formal era, but no one expected air travel to be comfortable. It was amazing just to have hot food above the clouds.
When I get on a plane, I don't want a laid-back pilot. I want a pilot who is a control freak, who is paying attention to every single detail of his job.
When I go on Japanese Airlines, I really love it because I like Japanese food.
As a kid, I wanted to do so many different things; I saw my aunt as an air hostess, and then I wanted to be an air hostess. I found it very glamorous, but when I flew for the first time in my life, and I saw how air hostesses have to slog and how they have to work with everybody going 'ting-ting' and how they have to keep on running up and down.
I won't go up in a plane, but if a play crashes, I'll jump into the next one that comes along and take it up for a spin.
Stewardesses are still paid so little that in many cases, new hires qualify for food stamps.
The glamour of air travel - its aspirational meaning in the public imagination - disappeared before its luxury did, dissipating as flying gradually became commonplace.
Some people are passionate about aisles, others about window seats.
Why does every flight attendant seem like they are going through a divorce?
Flight attendants all over the world saw 'Sex and the City.' Doesn't matter what country you are in. The flight attendants know Jack Berger.
You know what I have noticed? And this is really sad. Flying first class is less scary than flying coach. They speak to you and they're so nice to you and they want to help you and they know you want a drink before the plane takes off. And they bring it to you without asking. If you're sitting in coach and hoping for a drink, good luck.
We used to have our own plane with the band's name on the side. It was a dream come true. You drive to a local airport. There's none of this checking in stuff; you just get on the plane.
The only thing I like about air travel is it gives me time to read.
I employ 20 people in Vienna. The other 130 coworkers are pilots and flight companions. The Overhead is limited with me. Reduces naturally the costs of my fliers.
Airline hostesses show you how to use a seatbelt in case you haven't been in a car since 1965.
I can't stop watching 'Pan Am.' When I was growing up, my father worked as an engineer in Turkey, and we always flew Pan Am. The stewardesses were so glamorous! When they gave me a set of those golden wings, I felt very grown-up. Not only is the show's plot full of mystery and infidelity, they get the period details just right.
