Woman recognized as the 'world’s longest-serving flight attendant' has died
If you think you've spent a long time at a job, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Bette Nash, the woman recognized as being the longest-serving flight attendant in the world, has died at the age of 88.
She had been working on flights for almost 70 years, an unbelievable length of time, and was an American Airlines employee for much of that time - the airline announced her passing on social media a few days ago.
According to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which also shared a tribute to Nash online, Nash began her flight attendant career with Eastern Airlines back in 1957.
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American Airlines bought out many of Eastern's routes in 1990, which led Nash to start working for the bigger airline.
In January 2022, Guinness certified that Nash was the world’s longest-serving flight attendant. She had, at that point, surpassed the previous record one year earlier. Nash still holds that title, Guinness confirmed to the AP on Tuesday.
American Airlines posted a tribute video of Nash on Facebook, accompanied by a short statement: "We mourn the passing of flight attendant Bette Nash who spent nearly seven decades warmly caring for our customers in the air. She started her career in 1957 and proudly held the Guinness World Record for the longest-serving flight attendant. Bette was a legend at American and throughout the industry, inspiring generations of flight attendants. Fly high, Bette. We’ll miss you."
According to Guinness World Records, Nash was born on December 31, 1935, and began her flight attendant career at 21.
American Airlines confirmed that she was still employed by the airline when she died, so she never officially retired, although ABC News reported she'd been receiving hospice care for a short time before her death, following a recent breast cancer diagnosis.
Nash told CNN in 2016: "I wanted to be a flight attendant from the time I got on the first airplane - I was 16 years old ... the pilot and flight attendant walked across the hall and I thought, 'Oh my God,' I said that was for me".
She went on to explain that she applied for the in-air job after graduating from college, "and the rest is history."
Whether her record will ever be surpassed will now be an unknown, but that doesn't make her achievement any less impressive.