Stewardesses popular with travelers:
Stewardesses at United Air Lines demonstrated to the world in the 1930s that women could perform work on airplanes. As a result of their success, customer demand for stewardesses became a powerful business consideration. United acknowledged that "the sky girls became the airline's best contact with the flying public."
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In the middle of the economic depressions of the 1930s--and there were several depressions--many young female registered nurses were jobless, including Mary O'Connor. When she heard that United was hiring nurses to work as stewardesses, O'Connor rushed to the calling.
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DC-3 debut:
United in 1936 placed the DC-3 twin-engine airplane into service. This innovative 21-seat aircraft is sometimes called the first modern airliner. It could span the United States with four or five fuel stops. Stewardesses served hot meals onboard. The equipment was also more efficient, and the flying time coast-to-coast dropped to less than 18 hours.
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Berths for sleeper flights:
Some of the 21-seat DC-3s were converted to a 14-passenger deluxe "skylounge" featuring large, upholstered wing chairs and meals--served in elaborate courses on tables with Haviland china, sterling silver and the finest damask linens. Others were converted into sleeper planes. Stewardess O'Connor, working the first sleeper flight at United explained, "These contained seven compartments: one, well forward, was a sort of lounge and the remaining six which could be transformed into berths, an upper and a lower in each group." Competition among the airlines became more keen in the late 1930s, and many travelers were now using air travel for business.
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With the introduction of the DC-3, the stewardess job became a standard. In 1936 United opened a stewardess training center in Chicago. Instructors taught them how to take tickets, learn passengers' names, and serve hot meals and beverages. To accommodate the ever increasing load factor on its new fleet of airplanes, United in December 1936 opened the world's first flight kitchen in a hangar in Oakland, Calif.
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The future for United's routes and customer growth looked rosy by the end of the 1930s. Then global realities set in that would change the industry and the world. By 1940, the airline's workers, including stewardesses, readied themselves for World War II.
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