Introduced in 1928 in Germany to wean pilots off additional duties, flight attendants were solely male for some time. The game-changer happened in 1930 in the US, when pretty and friendly women were hired to attract more clients. Since then, smiling girls in smart uniforms have become a hallmark of this profession and a pop-culture phenomenon. The best of the best in the business can be viewed in our gallery.
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The female cabin crew from Malaysian budget carrier Air Asia pose at the India Aviation 2016 airshow.
© AFP 2023 / Noah Seelam
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Staffers of British Airways smile at an event to mark the arrival of the company's Airbus A380.
© AFP 2023 / Justin Tallis
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Lufthansa's stewardesses dressed in typical Bavarian clothes at Franz Josef Strauss Airport in Munich, Germany. In 2016, the company's crews flew on selected flights in this traditional clothes during the traditional Oktoberfest festival.
© AFP 2023 / Christof Stache
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Flight attendants of the state-owned Russian carrier Aeroflot greet guests of the International Aviation and Space Show in the Moscow region.
© Sputnik / Eugene Odinokov
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A hostess poses inside a Vistajet Bombardier Global 6000 business jet during the EBACE European business aviation show in Geneva, Switzerland.
© AFP 2023 / Fabrice Coffrini
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A flight attendant of the Serbian national carrier Air Serbia ahead of its first commercial flight to New York, the first after 24 years following the conflicts that ravaged the former Yugoslavia.
© AFP 2023 / Andrej Iakovic
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An unconventional dancing safety demonstration by cabin crew for Filipino budget airline Cebu Pacific.
© AFP 2023 / Noel Celis
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Qatar Airways' cabin crew welcome guests at a company gala.
© AP Photo / Mark Stehle
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Stewardesses for Silk Air from Singapore pose in the company's new Boeing at Changi International Airport.
© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
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Flight attendants working with the Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific had insisted that their company redesign their uniforms because they were too revealing and could provoke sexual harassment.
© AFP 2023 / Philippe Lopez
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Aegean airlines air hostesses take selfies after a deal to buy a new fleet worth up to $5 billion was presented.
© AP Photo / Petros Giannakouris
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An air hostess sits in the 'QSuite' business class of a Qatar Airways jet airliner during the International Paris Air Show.
© AFP 2023 / Christophe Archambault
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Italian flight attendants check photos taken while Pope Francis boarded an airplane in Rome's Fiumicino International Airport ahead of one of his international trips.
© AP Photo / Andrew Medichini
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Emirate Airline cabin crew members on a baseball field after their company became the official partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
© AP Photo / Damian Dovarganes
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A hostess of the Latvian carrier airBaltic waiting for passengers.
© Sputnik / Ilya Pitalev
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Stewardesses of the North Korean national carrier Air Koryo ready for the airline's first flight from Dandong to Sunan Airport in Pyongyang, which became its fifth scheduled international destination.
© AP Photo
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Crew members leaving a French Europe Airpost Boeing B737-300 QC before a "quick change" operation at Paris Roissy Airport.
© AFP 2023 / Olivier Laban-Mattei
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A Fly Erbil crew, which is the only Kurdish Iraqi company operating in Iraq.
© AFP 2023 / Safin Hamed
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Indian female cabin crew from Air India after a non-stop all-women flight from Delhi to San Francisco, which traveled via the Pacific Ocean and returned via the Atlantic Ocean, completing a roundtrip of the world with 16 crew members and 250 passengers onboard.
© AFP 2023 / Money Sharma
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A Japan Airlines' stewardess demonstrates her uniform during a celebratory fashion show.
© Sputnik / Evgeny Biyatov
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Ten former Mexicana stewardesses teamed up efforts and savings to produce a pin-up calendar as a way to earn some money and also attract attention after their company stopped flying and declared bankruptcy.
© AP Photo / Marco Ugarte
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Hong Kong Airlines flight attendants holding a replica of a company plane.
© Sputnik / Ramil Sitdikov
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