In the aviation industry today, flight attendants come in both male and female, with females seemingly dominating the field. However, in the early days of commercial aviation, female flight attendants did not exist. So, who set the world record and became the first stewardess in history?
According to aviation news website “Simple Flying,” Pan American World Airways (now defunct) was the first airline to employ male flight attendants, while Boeing Air Transport (predecessor of United Airlines) was the first to hire female flight attendants.
Over the past century, the aviation industry has evolved from having only male flight attendants to a mix of male and female crew members, thanks to pioneers like Ellen Church, who was the world’s first stewardess.
As the aviation industry developed, pilot uniforms remained relatively unchanged worldwide, while flight attendant uniforms came in diverse styles and were frequently updated. Church wore a uniform of deep green with grey and green accents.
Church was born on September 22, 1904, in Cresco, Iowa. After graduating high school, she pursued nursing and worked as a nurse in a hospital in San Francisco, California.
Due to her passion for flying, Church independently studied to pilot private aircraft and obtained her license. She aspired to become a pilot for an airline.
When she applied for a pilot position at Boeing Air Transport, she was informed that the company only hired male pilots and was about to introduce male flight attendants.
Recognizing this as an opportunity, Church proposed to the company’s San Francisco office manager, Steve Simpson, to hire registered nurses like herself as flight attendants to help alleviate passenger fears during flights.
Simpson accepted her proposal and reported the idea to the higher-ups. As a result, they agreed to recruit 8 female stewardesses for a 3-month trial. In the 1930s, co-pilots were required to assist passengers with luggage and serve them on the plane. Having flight attendants significantly lightened their workload.
In addition to being qualified nurses, these stewardesses had to meet criteria such as height not exceeding 5 feet 4 inches (163 cm), weighing less than 115 pounds (52 kg), being single, and under 25 years of age.
Thus, on May 5, 1930, Church officially became a flight attendant on the company’s flights between San Francisco and Chicago, becoming the world’s first stewardess.
In contrast, the world’s first male flight attendant was Heinrich Kubis from Germany. He first served as a flight attendant on a Zeppelin airship flying between Berlin and Friedrichshafen in 1912.
Church and several other stewardesses successfully passed the trial period and were later offered permanent positions. Other airlines quickly followed suit. By 1935, there were 197 stewardesses across the United States.
Although Church’s efforts paved the way for women to work as flight attendants, the job still faced gender discrimination at the time, with only young, attractive, and outgoing women being hired.
In addition to her duties as a stewardess, Church also developed training programs and wrote job descriptions for this new role within the company. However, her stewardess career only lasted 18 months as she had to quit due to injuries sustained in a car accident.
Nevertheless, she did not give up nursing. She later earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Education from the University of Minnesota and resumed her nursing career.
During World War II, Church served as a captain and in-flight nurse in the Army Nurse Corps, earning awards such as the World War II Victory Medal.
Similarly, during World War II, airlines abolished the requirement for stewardesses to be nurses as it was challenging to find nurses willing to take on the job. This change has persisted to this day. Nowadays, stewardess requirements no longer include having a nursing qualification.