Being an air hostess in the 70s was glamorous, right? Wrong! The author worked for a no-frills company on short-haul flights out of Gatwick and presents this hair-raising collection of experiences, based on real events but with a little artistic licence. She describes how she and her colleagues dealt with bomb scares, inebriated passengers, mile-high shenanigans, overflowing ashtrays, coffins, male officers who won’t take no for an answer, very long working hours, and more. As she was proficient at languages, she was always in demand and eventually burned out, when an amazing holiday, a romance and the ambition to work long-haul flights made things look rosier. This is a good read, although I felt that there could have been 70s-specific details. There was even a mention of the film Airplane!, which wasn’t released until 1980. The strangest thing about this book is that in one paragraph, she notes that she’d had scary experiences relating to UFOs and that it’s her favourite topic. Yet this was never mentioned again. Perhaps the author was saving the material for another book.
Independently published in 2022.