Who were the first flight attendants?

Short answer

Boeing Air Transport brought on the first female flight attendants in 1930. Nurse Ellen Church was hired as chief stewardess and recruited seven more nurses for a three-month trial period. The group's first flight took off on 15 May 1930.

Published: November 5, 2026 · Updated: November 5, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Boeing 367-80 Jet Transport

Ellen Church's idea

Boeing Air Transport introduced the first female flight attendants in 1930. Church, a nurse from Iowa, wanted to be an airline pilot, something unattainable for a woman at the time. In 1930 she proposed to Steve Stimpson of Boeing Air Transport the idea of putting nurses aboard airliners. She convinced him that having nurses on board would help ease the traveling public's fear of flying. That same year BAT hired her as chief stewardess, and she recruited seven others for a three-month trial period. Church also drew up the job description and the training program for the first flight attendants.

What was required of them

The flight attendants, whom BAT called "sky girls," had to be registered nurses, single, under 25 years old, weigh less than 115 lb (52 kg), and stand under 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m).

The flight of 15 May 1930

The first flight with those flight attendants took off on 15 May 1930. That day Church boarded a Boeing 80A for a 20-hour journey between Oakland/San Francisco and Chicago, with 13 stops and 14 passengers aboard.