Flight Attendants: History and Culture

Over a century since the first flight, commercial aviation has been a regular part of modern life for decades. The first airline flights carried mail and a few passengers in any additional available space. While there was no one on board to look after the passengers in the early years, by the 1920s, Imperial Airways in the United Kingdom had introduced cabin boys or stewards, who tended to be small built, to load luggage and attend to passengers, who were often anxious about this new form of travel. In the United States, Stout Airways was the first carrier to introduce stewards and, by the late 1920s, Pan American World Airways, among others, employed stewards and began a food service on board.

The first stewardesses were introduced ...