Bette Nash, once known as the world’s longest-serving flight attendant, has passed away. She is 88 years old.
American AirlinesNash’s owner, announced She passed away on social media on Saturday. The carrier noted that Nash has spent nearly 70 years providing passionate care to customers in the air.
“Bette is a legend in America and throughout the industry, inspiring generations of flight attendants,” American Written ABOVE Facebook. “Fly high, Bette. We will miss you.”
According to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the organization also shared Nash’s tribute onlineNash began her career as a flight attendant with Eastern Airlines in 1957. The union noted that she lived in the Washington, DC area.
Nash’s position at Eastern eventually brought her to American, which acquired many of Eastern’s routes in 1990.
The Associated Press has reached out to American and APFA for more information about Nash’s death Tuesday. ABC News reported that Nash died on May 17 while under hospice care after recently being diagnosed with breast cancer. She never officially retired from American Airlines, the airline added.
According to Guinness World Records, Nash was born on December 31, 1935 and began her career as a flight attendant at the age of 21. In 2022, Guinness to name Nash is the world’s longest-serving flight attendant – officially surpassing the previous record by one year, with 63 years and 61 days of service as of January 4, 2021.
“I wanted to be a flight attendant from the moment I stepped on my first plane — I was 16 years old, sitting with my mom on a green leather couch in Washington (Reagan National Airport),” Nash told CNN in a 2016 interviewremember the feeling of wonder when seeing a crew passing by.
Nash told CNN that she applied for an airline job after graduating from college, “and the rest is history.”
