RedDog wrote:If you've never read the book "Coffee, Tea, or Me", it's worth checking out. I actually have an original copy of the book from the late 60s. Gives you a glimpse of the way flying USED to be: lots of fun, and with hotty stewardesses, who'd even sleep with you. Nowadays, it's all loser kids in baggy pants, people dressing like they're going to a BBQ, TSA Nazis, and a total pain in the ass. The best flying experiences I've had are on the Asian airlines: I think they still have a remnant of the "good ol' days".
Back then plane tickets costs 4x-5x compared to today (adjusted for inflation) and the customer demographics were very different. Flight attendants in 1960s catered to the top dogs who could afford to fly. Deregulation in 1978 and Southwest Airlines crashed the prices.
Never the less, flight attendant jobs are still extremely competitive today in any country. When China Southern Airlines held a recruitment drive, over 10,000 girls applied. I suspect the same holds true in the US. I meet a flight attendant who was recently hired few months ago, and she said that you had to pass initial resume screening/selection before being called in for face to face interview, in which there were 5 rooms of 400 girls per room, all chasing a small number of jobs.
The girls on NA airlines may seem less appealing because the airlines are not allowed to impose age discrimination like Asian airlines. In that respect it's probably harder to get the job in NA because the girls aren't forced to retire or rotate to ground staff after a certain age.
