Everything continuously keeps changing in life. Earlier, things were different than what it is now. A similar thing can be said for our Indian air hostesses. During the initial 60s and 70s, air hostesses were not only considered to be the face of the airlines but, were also looked upon as ambassadors of the country. But today with the commercialization of airlines they are looked upon as only flight attendants.
Being an air hostess was like a dream job for women.
Back then, air hostesses would deck up in gorgeous crisp Kanjeevaram sarees as their respective uniforms.
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It was a period of fewer airlines and much more luxury.
A lot of people were pretty jealous of air hostesses the reason being they led a glamorous lifestyle
Particularly at a time when it was still considered inappropriate to travel as a single Indian woman.
They used to travel to different locales and live life as per their wish.
In an interview with LiveMint, Suneeta Sodhi Kanga, who worked as an air hostess with Air India from the year 1988 to 1996 remembers,
“For me, it was travel and glamour. I didn’t even think about the money, till I actually got my first salary. We used to earn very well.”
She further added,
“Apparently, our salaries then were the same as the MD (managing director) of a company. And let’s not forget that we were being paid in foreign currency.”
At that time, being an air hostess was much more about the charm, the high-end lifestyle and about representing your respective country internationally.
Suneeta revealed that,
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“I used to buy my moisturizer from Paris, my shampoo from Tokyo, my conditioner used to be from Sydney. I used to buy perfume on each flight. Can you imagine? Now, I buy one perfume a year.”
Earlier, flying wasn’t anything that everyone could afford.
There were limited options available and elite availed the services.
And it was much more than mere serving in-flight passengers.
According to Suneeta Sodhi who joined Air India in 1988,
“We also had to know our ‘wine and cheese’ along with a foreign language.”
But unfortunately, today who don’t understand the ability set of their job refer to air-hostesses as ‘glorified ayahs’ which is completely wrong.
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Suneeta says,
“Putting a smile on your face and dealing with tired passengers, keeping up with a rigorous skincare routine to keep acne at bay and dealing with improper sleep cycles was hard to deal with.”
Nowadays, the job still pays good but benefits such as travel are not as lucrative because the frequency of flights has gone up.
Charmaine Ferns, a former air hostess said,
“The glamour deteriorated after the airline’s nationalization and soon it became about the greed for money, the power for hunger and our fight for equality.”
Here’s a brief look at life as an Indian air hostess in the early days:
This article is a tribute to all the air hostesses who were and are still trying hard to serve us with an only top quality experience. With time, things have definitely changed a bit in the aviation industry but from here, we can only look forward.
Also read: 10 Famous Celebrities Who Once Used To Be An Air Hostess Or A Flight Attendant
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