Pan Am Stewardesses Talk About Life In The Sky (VIDEO)

With the series premiere of ABC's "Pan Am" debuting on Sunday, here at HuffPost Travel we decided to sit down with six former flight attendants to get their take on the so-called friendly skies. After all, if you're basing your knowledge of the golden age of travel on ABC's new fall drama, Pan Am, you'd be pretty accurate.

While the show centers on the overdramatized hijinks, espionage and sexual escapades of Pan Am stewardesses, the real former iconic flight attendants can relate, and did indeed have their fair share of glamor.

These ladies of the sky were trained in every possible issue, from folding the cocktail napkins of the elite to delivering babies, and were rewarded for their resourcefulness and sense of adventure with haute cuisine courtesy of Maxim's de Paris, custom fitted pencil skirt suits designed by Beverly Hills couturier Don Loper and weekends in Tehran, Bangkok and Paris.

For more behind-the-scenes look at flight attendants over the years, check out our slideshow of pictures of flying's golden age here.

Comments

[Konnie]

12:20 PM on 09/28/2011

none of you commentors have mentioned that at that time in 1963 - time of this series - flying was not for the lower classes. IT WAS THE ULTIMATE LUXURY. it was expensive and only those with money could afford it. it was an event even to them. ladies dressed up! as flights got cheaper, more could afford to fly. as the decade progressed so did blue jeans. those ladies no longer showed up in gloves and hats. as ammenities were slashed so was customer appreciation. as flights became more mundane, flying became just a way to get from a to b. its not a luxury. it's not even fun. it's become a flying bus. if it was legal, i'm sure the airlines would have people on hanging straps like the subway.

[Niry]

09:28 PM on 09/26/2011

I was part of that great past...The best years of my life!!!!!!I was also a Stewardess!!!!!!!

[SMASH AUTHORITY]

05:57 PM on 09/26/2011

I HATE political correctness. Like the "N" word for example. You cant get away with saying the actual word on here. to me its not offensive, or really racist either. I hear (white) people saying it all the time where i live. And black people too.

[leskataus]

12:16 AM on 09/27/2011

So the men who work as flight attendants should be referred to as stewardesses?

[behavingbadly]

02:49 PM on 09/26/2011

Up until now, I thought reality shows were at the bottom of the TV barrel. Silly me.

[blackmonk]

02:42 PM on 09/26/2011

Flying was great up until about 1990. All The FA for the most part were wonderful. And, remember the PSA FAs. They were the most beautiful. Actually, the new airline, Express Jet was the best of the best just recently but the economics brought it down. Sad. And, Pan Am, Braniff, and TWA with the Piano bar lounge and first class meals were, to the say the least, in another world.

[Mary Hue]

02:00 PM on 09/26/2011

Bring back "Brothers and Sisters"...

[pooka47401]

10:48 AM on 09/26/2011

Just read the book, "Coffee, Tea, Or Me". Who says that the '60's have gone out of style??

[mkdallas]

09:47 AM on 09/26/2011

As a former F/A with both Braniff and American (20 years with the latter), I know the job has become more difficult with far fewer benefits since deregulation & particularly since 9/11. FYI, after 9/11, the government did NOT subsidize enhanced safety measures that were required by the FAA, including hardened cockpit doors and hours of extra training for flight crews. Additionally, the catastrophic financial effects of grounding all US airlines for 4 days after 9/11 (no passengers, no cargo, displaced crews/equipment) combined with the low passenger loads for months after really did a number on the airlines that they are still trying to recover from. Management demanded huge cuts from crewmembers (I had an immediate 16% paycut and loss of a week's vacation and cockpit crews took a much bigger hit) just to keep the doors open and planes in the air. Please believe me when I say that the airline crews that serve you are underpaid, overworked and sleep-deprived. I am constanly amazed by and thankful for the professional demeanor and committment to safety I see in today's flight crews. A year ago, I was on a flight where an elderly woman had trouble breathing. As I watched the F/As rush up the aisle with an oxygen tank and defibrillator, I was reminded that at 35,000 feet, these well-trained men and women are ready to handle anything and frequently do.

[burton163]

09:42 AM on 09/26/2011

Slightly off-topic, and admittedly un-PC, but if you are a fan of attractive flight attendants, fly any of the Asian airlines. Like Korea Air. They must have a company standard that only stunningly beautiful women are considered for employment. It was like flying on an airplane full of perfectly groomed super-models.

[TooLooze]

09:39 AM on 09/26/2011

I didn't see the slideshow, maybe it was replaced with the clip. "Friendly Skies" was United Airlines motto; not PanAm's. To me, the golden age of commercial flight will always be associated with the beautiful Lockheed Constellation.

[Air Vice Marshal Park]

01:53 PM on 09/26/2011

The era of the big-bore piston airliners that came after WWII was certainly luxurious by today's standards but it was decidedly unsafe in comparison to today. The Connie wasn't called the "world's fastest 3 engine airliner" for no reason. Piston engines reached a level of power unknown before but they were nightmares of complexity. The Boeing Stratocruiser was, essentially, a B-29 with a decided tendency towards engine fires; virtually half of the fleet was lost to accidents before being withdrawn from service.

[TooLooze]

01:40 AM on 09/27/2011

I'm sure you're correct. I should have said that the connie is still the most graceful airliner I can think of.

[PomDeTerre]

05:49 AM on 09/26/2011

I am not much of a TV watcher, but the promos for the show got me curious and nostalgic for the time when flying was an adventure, and people were treated with courtesy instead of like a herd of cattle off to slaughter. Bottom line- it did not disappoint. It may take a couple episodes to learn the characters, but I will watch again. I'm sure there are critics who will call it fluff, but the show was total entertainment & escapism, with no drunken Jerseyites, "real" housewives" or overexposed Kardashians to be seen. Can't wait til next week.

[Folitician]

08:00 AM on 09/26/2011

This is probably just a new venue for the Mad Men audience who are hungry for more 60s

[PomDeTerre]

06:00 PM on 09/26/2011

couldn't tell you; never watched it.

[Missy Ruth]

08:17 PM on 09/26/2011

Totally, Mad Men has been so spectacularly done that you can see a couple of copycat shows this season - I think one is about the Playboy Clubs and then this one.

[cmcclarty]

03:20 AM on 09/26/2011

Pan Am and TWA the best out there then. Real cooked meals and free drinks.And the sexy ladys the NOW gang is going to foam at the mouth over this show!

[yathome]

02:22 AM on 09/26/2011

It is amazing to see how air travel and customer service has changed since that era. I understand that cutbacks will eliminate many of the "luxuries" such as blankets and pillows but it doesn't cost a thing to be helpful and polite. On a recent flight a woman with a baby had her hands full and her stroller needed to be closed up. None of the flight attendants who were present helped her and one even made a stupid comment about how it wasn't her job. It was the first time in 20 years that I had flown that airline because of how rude and inconsistent they are. I will never fly them again...

[Tsopffuh123]

01:06 AM on 09/26/2011

After watching Pan Am I realized just how far we've come. Goodbye 60's ...hello Snookie and Kim Kardashian!!

[cmcclarty]

03:21 AM on 09/26/2011

I know what a shame!

[truthSerum888]

11:27 PM on 09/25/2011

Just watched the 1st episode- definitely good enough to stay tuned...

[Sneedsnood]

11:24 AM on 09/26/2011

It started out great, but I lost interest when the plot kicked in. Two sisters squabbling? Yawn.