Ron Akana served the second longest career as a flight attendant. From 1949, up until his retirement in 2012, Ron worked for
United Airlines cabin crew for 63 years, retiring at the age of 84.[1]
Neerja Bhanot, was a flight attendant for Pan Am airlines, based in Bombay, India, who died while saving passengers from terrorists on board the hijacked
Pan Am Flight 73 on September 5, 1986. She received India's highest civilian award for bravery, the
Ashoka Chakra.
Naila Nazir,
Pakistani air hostess who received 1985's Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) Heroism Award for bravely handling a tense and dangerous situation during the
Flight PK-326 hijacking[3][4]
Sharon Luk, 2005 Miss Hong Kong First Runner-up, artist with
TVB
Skye Chan, 2008 Miss Hong Kong First Runner-up and Miss World 2008 contestant, artist with
TVB
Gabriele von Lutzau (born Gabriele Dillmann) was a flight attendant on hijacked
Lufthansa Flight 181 and was credited for her loyalty to the passengers and crew. In the aftermath, she was named "Der Engel von Mogadischu" (The Angel of Mogadishu)
On August 9, 2010,
Steven Slater gained immediate global fame when he claimed he was injured by the luggage of a passenger whom he had confronted on an arriving
JetBlue flight at New York's
JFK Airport for disregarding his order to remain seated. Passengers dispute his account of this confrontation. As the incident continued, he cursed at the passengers over the aircraft's public address system, grabbed a beer, opened the
evacuation slide and left the aircraft. He was later arrested and charged with several crimes.[5][6]
On August 30, 2014, Robert Reardon of
Delta Air Lines retired at the age of 90 after having eclipsed Ron Akana of United Airlines as the world's longest serving flight attendant and also having been the world's oldest active flight attendant. Reardon said the timing of his retirement was "not of his choosing."[7]
Bette Nash was the world's longest-serving flight attendant until her death in 2024.
^Barash, Stephanie (August 10, 2010).
"Enraged JetBlue Flight Attendant Set Free On Bail". WPIX, Baltimore Sun. Archived from
the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2010. Steven Slater, 38, was arraigned Tuesday morning before Queens Criminal Court Judge Mary O'Donoghue on charges of first-and second-degree reckless endangerment, second-and fourth-degree
criminal mischief and third-degree
criminal trespass. Slater, of
Belle Harbor, Queens apparently lost his cool after getting into a heated argument with a passenger. He slide down the emergency chute and ran to his parked car. Police later tracked him down at his Queens home where he was apparently engaging in sex
^Miller, Michelle (August 12, 2010).
"Slater's Story Discredited by JetBlue Fliers". CBS News. Retrieved August 12, 2010. Slater said he was injured by a passenger who slammed an overhead door on his forehead. Several passengers saw the injury, but none saw how it happened. "When I first saw it, I thought he had just cut his head and was on his way to the bathroom to wash it and Band-Aid, and he didn't, and I thought that's weird; something's not totally right here," passenger Katie Doebler said