NOVEMBER 2014 SUNRAYS | 39
ONLINE:
SCTXCA.ORG
an eye on the wing as the plane flew to
Detroit for maintenance. “Thank heavens
it was a short hop,” she laughs today.
Humorous and Emotional
Times
There were many social changes during
the Sky Girls’ time, and whether individu-
ally or as a group, they managed to expe-
rience every one. Mimi Boney was forced
to resign from Delta Air Lines because
of a “no marriage” rule. Just a few years
later, airlines changed their policies, stat-
ing the stewardesses were allowed to be
married, but could be terminated due
to pregnancy - imagine her supervisor’s
shock when Carol announced she was
already seven months along!
Poignantly, Margie remembers the Mili-
tary Air Transport (MAT) flights, when
soldiers would trade wings with atten-
dants on their way to Vietnam. She re-
calls being warned never to look return-
ing veterans directly in the eyes, or to
get too close when trying to wake them.
Judy Drummond noted a flight with an
all-female crew—pilots and flight at-
tendants alike. Pa-
mela Meyners re-
calls that, after
9/11, the glam-
our of f lying
d isappeared .
Teamwork and
vigilance became
paramount. Safe-
ty was always
her job, but now
it involved ter-
rorism. “I contin-
ued flying many
years after 9/11,”
she says, “but be-
lieve me, that day
will be etched forever
in the hearts of every-
one. ‘There, but for the
grace of God, go I.’”
Good Times Prevailed
In spite of the risks and the rules, for
many, the benefits of being a stewardess
far outweighed the drawbacks. “All the
travel,” exclaims Mimi, “and, of course,
the people!” Dolores Olson, whose hus-
band flew the Concorde, was recruited
after her retirement for a three-month
trip to France in order to show off Brani-
ff’s collection of designer uniforms. “Bra-
niff,” she explains, “was the first airline
to declare ‘the end of the plain plane,’
painting its planes like Easter eggs.”
Pamela enjoyed flights with her husband,
a pilot, and the thrill of seeing a thun-
derstorm from above the clouds. Dixie
loved seeing new people and places all
the time, being the one-in-one hundred
chosen for an airline out of thousands of
applicants, and knowing she could save
a life in an emergency.
Though there were no
financial benefits when
Jane flew, free travel,
lifetime passes after re-
tirement, reduced rates
on other airlines, cruises,
and hotels, and travel
benefits for parents and
spouses were added by
some airlines.
They served dignitaries,
politicians, company presi-
dents, athletes, andmovie
stars: Neil Armstrong,
Mary Lou Retton, Rose
Marie Reid, Melvyn Belli,
F. Lee Bailey, Liz Taylor,
Katherine Hepburn, Ray-
mond Burr, James Gar-
ner, Jimmy Stewart, Tony
Bennett, Pat Boone, Jerry
Lewis, Van Johnson, Eddie Albert, Hoa-
gie Carmichael, Glenn Campbell, Boris
Karloff, Mini-Me, Kitty Carlyle, Phyllis
Diller, Jackie Kennedy, John Connally,
and Joe Biden (before his hair plugs). Ron-
ald Reagan and Eleanor Roosevelt were
“delightful and gracious,” while Johnny
Weissmuller was “drunk as a skunk” and
Leona Helmsley and Ethel Merman were
“the meanest.”
Pamela says that she knew when she
was nine years old that she wanted to
fly. Carol lined her dolls up on chairs like
airplane seats, and her favorite birth-
day included watching planes land at
the airport, and asking stewardesses
for their autographs. “Airlines were run
by aviation people, and about service and
love of flying. Today it’s about the bottom
line,” says Dona. The ladies agree with
Dona’s sentiment. “It was a profession,”
explains Margie. “As stewardesses, we
were respected, revered, looked up to. It
was, all in all, a really wonderful experi-
ence in my life.”
