Relive The Golden Age Of Travel With A Pan Am Stewardess

07.05.2024 - 20:01 / forbes.com / Elvis Presley / Grace Kelly / Pan Am

Airline rage? Passengers being duct-taped to their seat? Arrests after landing? That is the state of much of air travel today – and it makes a lot of people yearn for the Golden Age of Travel – when Pan Am ruled the skies. And people actually dressed up for the occasion.

Michelle Richmond was a Pan Am stewardess from 1970-1973, and she just wrote a book about her exotic escapades back then, called “Fleeting Moments” (Palmetto Publishers, 2024). We asked her all about her days at Pan Am, and what made flying Pan Am so special.

And just to give you a small indication of how great Pan Am was – have you seen the new movie Priscilla, about the love affair between Priscilla Beaulieu and Elvis Presley? When Elvis finally convinced Priscilla’s parents to let her come live at Graceland, he sent her a one-way ticket, which the movie clearly depicts, up close – a ticket on Pan Am from Germany to Memphis, First Class. Obviously, way back when, Pan Am was considered the best – even by The King. And the airline typically flew all kinds of celebrities – everyone from Grace Kelly to The Beatles, to Elizabeth Taylor. And if you saw the film Catch Me If You Can – you’ll totally see how Pan Am pilots were seen as gods of the sky – kind of like rock stars themselves.

So back to Michelle: She told me, “One of the reasons I wrote this book was so that the “older crowd” could reminisce about the “way things were,” and the younger generation could have a peek into that truly “golden age of travel,” which sadly, is gone forever. It was truly a magical time and it was a privilege to have lived it. An experience like that will never come again.”

What was the training like, how long did it last, and what were some of the things you learned?

My training took place in Miami for one month in Miami, then we went on our “training flights,” which took us to NYC, then to London on the 747 – within just three weeks of its launch.

We were given intensive training, which covered everything from grooming and make-up to pouring coffee and serving food at 30,000 feet. Of utmost importance, of course, were the safety protocols to cover onboard emergencies including medical emergencies and airplane evacuations.

What was it about Pan Am that made the experience so special, unique and different?

Pan Am was known for providing the most luxurious service, especially in first class, in international travel. Also, the pilots were well regarded as very competent as most had been trained by military and were extensively schooled in unusual flying conditions. They were experienced in landing on runways with poor lighting and very primitive conditions. That is why we were called, “The world’s most experienced airline.” (Writer’s note: I