Working the Skies

The Fast-Paced, Disorienting World of the Flight Attendant

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Women&
Cover of the book Working the Skies by Drew Whitelegg, NYU Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Drew Whitelegg ISBN: 9780814794739
Publisher: NYU Press Publication: June 1, 2007
Imprint: NYU Press Language: English
Author: Drew Whitelegg
ISBN: 9780814794739
Publisher: NYU Press
Publication: June 1, 2007
Imprint: NYU Press
Language: English

Get ready for takeoff. The life of the flight attendant, a.k.a., stewardess, was supposedly once one of glamour, exotic travel and sexual freedom, as recently depicted in such films as Catch Me If You Can and View From the Top. The nostalgia for the beautiful, carefree and ever helpful stewardess perhaps reveals a yearning for simpler times, but nonetheless does not square with the difficult, demanding and sometimes dangerous job of today's flight attendants. Based on interviews with over sixty flight attendants, both female and male labor leaders, and and drawing upon his observations while flying across the country and overseas, Drew Whitelegg reveals a much more complicated profession, one that in many ways is the quintessential job of the modern age where life moves at record speeds and all that is solid seems up in the air.
Containing lively portraits of flight attendants, both current and retired, this book is the first to show the intimate, illuminating, funny, and sometimes dangerous behind-the-scenes stories of daily life for the flight attendant. Going behind the curtain, Whitelegg ventures into first-class, coach, the cabin, and life on call for these men and women who spend week in and week out in foreign cities, sleeping in hotel rooms miles from home. Working the Skies also elucidates the contemporary work and labor issues that confront the modern worker: the demands of full-time work and parenthood; the downsizing of corporate America and the resulting labor lockouts; decreasing wages and hours worked; job insecurity; and the emotional toll of a high stress job. Given the events of 9/11, flight attendants now have an especially poignant set of stressful concerns to manage, both for their own safety as well as for those they serve, the passengers. Flight attendants, originally registered nurses charged with attending to passengers' medical needs, now find themselves wearing the hats of therapist, security guard and undercover agent. This last set of tasks pushing some, as Whitelegg shows, out of the business altogether.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Get ready for takeoff. The life of the flight attendant, a.k.a., stewardess, was supposedly once one of glamour, exotic travel and sexual freedom, as recently depicted in such films as Catch Me If You Can and View From the Top. The nostalgia for the beautiful, carefree and ever helpful stewardess perhaps reveals a yearning for simpler times, but nonetheless does not square with the difficult, demanding and sometimes dangerous job of today's flight attendants. Based on interviews with over sixty flight attendants, both female and male labor leaders, and and drawing upon his observations while flying across the country and overseas, Drew Whitelegg reveals a much more complicated profession, one that in many ways is the quintessential job of the modern age where life moves at record speeds and all that is solid seems up in the air.
Containing lively portraits of flight attendants, both current and retired, this book is the first to show the intimate, illuminating, funny, and sometimes dangerous behind-the-scenes stories of daily life for the flight attendant. Going behind the curtain, Whitelegg ventures into first-class, coach, the cabin, and life on call for these men and women who spend week in and week out in foreign cities, sleeping in hotel rooms miles from home. Working the Skies also elucidates the contemporary work and labor issues that confront the modern worker: the demands of full-time work and parenthood; the downsizing of corporate America and the resulting labor lockouts; decreasing wages and hours worked; job insecurity; and the emotional toll of a high stress job. Given the events of 9/11, flight attendants now have an especially poignant set of stressful concerns to manage, both for their own safety as well as for those they serve, the passengers. Flight attendants, originally registered nurses charged with attending to passengers' medical needs, now find themselves wearing the hats of therapist, security guard and undercover agent. This last set of tasks pushing some, as Whitelegg shows, out of the business altogether.

More books from NYU Press

Cover of the book Violence Against Latina Immigrants by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book More New York Stories by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book Global Families by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book God and Blackness by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book Beyond the Nation by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book Americans Without Law by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book Spectacular Girls by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book Feminist Legal Theory (Second Edition) by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book Ladies Almanack by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book Girl Zines by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book The Gang's All Queer by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book The New Mutants by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book No Seat at the Table by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book Calling the Shots by Drew Whitelegg
Cover of the book Rape and the Culture of the Courtroom by Drew Whitelegg
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy