Bette Nash, the world’s longest-serving flight attendant, has died

Unfortunately, there is a sad development regarding one of American Airlines’ most well-known employees…

88-year-old flight attendant dies

I’ve written before about Bette Nash, who was America’s longest-serving flight attendant. The 88-year-old began her career as a flight attendant in 1957, meaning she had been flying for 67 years. She was even recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s longest-serving flight attendant.

Unfortunately, there is now a sad update. Several months ago, I had heard that Bette had stopped flying and had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Sadly, she has now lost that battle and American has confirmed her death.

My thoughts are with Bette’s family. She really seemed like a great person, positive and well-liked by the passengers. Many stories have been told about her over the years and she has always been inspiring in terms of her attitude towards her work. Like she always said, everyone just wants a little attention, and she tried to give it to them.

While most senior flight attendants prefer to work on long-haul flights, Bette has spent most of her career flying up and down the East Coast, so she can stay home with her family most of the time. nights.

Other notable long-time airline employees

Although Bette was the longest-serving American flight attendant, she was not the company’s longest-serving employee. At least as of 2022, American’s longest-serving employee was a 96-year-old mechanic, Azriel “Al” Blackman, who had been with the airline for 80 years. The airline even named a plane after him.

Besides, even though Bette was the most experienced flight attendant in the world in terms of number of years of flying, she was not the oldest. In 2016, 90-year-old Delta flight attendant Bob Reardon was forced to retire, after 63 years with the airline. Unfortunately, it appears he didn’t leave on good terms with the airline.

Conclusion

American Airlines’ longest-serving flight attendant has died. She used to fly until recently, but unfortunately lost her battle with cancer. It is remarkable to think that she worked as a flight attendant for 67 years. My thoughts are with Bette’s family. What a loss.