Longest-serving flight attendant dies after 67-year-career

In seven decades of transformation in the airline industry, commercial air travel has swapped glamour for efficiency, expanded technology, shrank legroom and banished smoking. Security is tighter and meals aren’t as fancy, but in-flight movies are better. One constant through it all was Washington-based flight attendant Bette Nash.

Nash, who died May 17, brought friendliness and a touch of elegance from flying’s golden era to her record-setting 67-year career as an American Airlines flight attendant. Nash never formally retired from the airline before her death due to complications from cancer, according to American Airlines and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants. She was 88.