The longest-serving flight attendant who spent almost 70 years in the air – and has the Guinness World Record to prove it – is dead, her airline said Saturday. She was 88.
Bette Nash, who became a stewardess during the Eisenhower Administration, died on May 17 in hospice care following a breast-cancer diagnosis, ABC News reported.
“Bette was a legend at American and throughout the industry, inspiring generations of flight attendants,” American Airlines said in a social media post. “Fly high, Bette. We’ll miss you.”
She was still employed by the carrier at the time of death, a company spokesperson said.
Nash started her ironwoman career as a flight attendant when she was 21-years-old in 1957 as a member of now-defunct Eastern Airlines, according to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.
The octogenarian eventually was employed by American after it bought out many of Eastern’s routes in the 1990s.
“Bette’s remarkable career spanned over six decades, during which she touched countless lives with her warmth, dedication, and unparalleled service,” the APFA said in a statement.
“Her passion for flying and her commitment to her passengers were truly inspiring. Bette’s legacy will forever be remembered in the aviation community and by all who had the privilege of knowing her.”
Guinness crowned her the world’s longest-serving flight attendant in 2022, a title she still holds.
She told CNN in 2016 she knew from her first plane ride at 16 what she wanted to do.
“I was sitting with my mother on a green leather couch at Washington [Reagan National Airport], and this crew came up from TWA,” she said.
“The pilot and the flight attendant walked across the hall and I thought ‘oh my God,’ and I said that was for me.”
While she served plenty of famous fliers, including Jackie Kennedy, she recalled once helping a man with disabilities before the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted.
The man was originally left at the gate, but she refused to leave him behind, she told The Points Guy in 2019.
Nash rolled him to his seat and even fed him because he couldn’t use his hands.
“I love my people. I know my customers. I know what they want,” she told CNN. “The airline thinks names are important, but I think people’s needs are very important. Everybody wants a little love.”
With Post wires
