Parts of it were very interesting and contained items not generally known - the Pan Am involvement in Vietnam soldiers R&R flights for instance - but much of it seemed unfocused and somewhat tedious. It begins with a discussion of job requirements and training for Pan Am stewardesses in the 1950's. We are introduced to several characters who we will come back to in nearly every chapter as their careers progress. But then the book veers into discussions of how women are not treated fairly by employers and talk of EEOC lawsuits. The author keeps coming back to a State Department employee for some reason. Then the book veers into discussions of the Vietnam war, and much time is spent on a single orphan airlift out of Vietnam. As a matter of fact, that flight is the only one where we get a description of the work the stewardesses did. A cohesive story it is not. ( )

I knew I’d be drawn into this month’s book club selection. Focusing on Pan Am flight attendants aka stewardesses in the Pan Am heyday was a perfect timeframe to capture my attention. Coming of age in the 60’s and early 70’s, this period is full of high school and college memories for me. Using the domestic and global events that took place, the author laid out the role Pan Am stewardesses played either directly or indirectly. Educated and craving adventure, young women were testing their hard-earned freedom as they travelled the world. The second wave of feminism was in full throttle. The reader gets a glimpse into the lifestyle and the challenges of being a female global ambassador. I really appreciated that she brought the narrative full circle by including stories of how worldwide travel changed the perspective of the women who in turn passed on an openness and fearlessness to their families that will extend through future generations. The writing lacked energy, but it was not dry. I found it well worth the read whether you are of a certain age or not. ( )

This was something I picked up on an airport layover. "Come Fly The World" seemed to be just what I should be reading as I jetted over the United States. However, I just couldn't get interested. The ladies profiled in this book undoubtedly led full and adventurous lives, breaking barriers and changing the way the role of flight attendant as they did. They find themselves in exotic locales, war zones, and exciting cities worldwide. Sadly, it wasn't very exciting to read about. Of interest, though, were the very demanding job requirements that each woman was subjected to, i.e. height/weight/age requirements.

This could be of interest to those with an interest in the story of Pan Am and the story of flight attendants. ( )

An interesting read, Come Fly the World follows the lives of a small group of women who worked as flight attendants (stewardesses, in the language at the time) for Pan Am in the '60s and '70s, at the height of that airline's glamour and profitability. Pop culture—and often their employers—framed these women as over-sexualized and subservient, a kind of geisha of the sky. As Julia Cooke points out, though, these women had to be intelligent and resilient, fluent in at least two languages, and able to cope both with demanding government officials and with airlifting traumatised child refugees out of Vietnam during the Fall of Saigon.

Cooke clearly conducted extensive interviews with a small group of former stewardesses, and tells a vivid and sometimes dramatic story from their perspective. Her journalism background stands her in good stead here. However, the sheer scope of the story Cooke's telling—about women's history, about U.S. imperialism, about the rise and decline of luxury air travel, about race (one of the women profiled was one of the few Black women who worked for Pan Am)—and the weight of some of its aspect needed more than the broad strokes narrative that Cooke often resorted to. As best as I can tell, she doesn't have any training in historical analysis, and that shows here in the lack of depth and in the important topics that are only glanced on (for example, she seems not to have interviewed any Asian American stewardesses, a glaring omission when so much time is spent on Pan Am's history in South East Asia in particular). Still a worthwhile read, but I doubt it will be the final word on the topic. ( )

These days headlines about disruptive, drunken passengers and fist fights at 30,000 feet are all too common. The glamour that once went along with international jet travel is long gone. Julia Cooke's book Come Fly the World recalls those glamour days through the lives of several stewardesses (even the word belongs to that postwar era) who flew for Pan Am Airlines.

In the early days of air travel cabin attendants, or stewards, had mostly been male. But after World War II competition among airlines focused on the service and quality they could provide for their mostly business travelers, the overwhelming majority of whom were male. Thus a move to female attendents, dubbed stewardesses.

Pan Am in particular felt a need to sell style and sophistication to go along with its already established reputation as the only American carrier to fly exclusively international routes. This meant that Pan Am recruited ambitious, educated women. In the 1960s ten percent of their stewardesses had advanced degrees at a time when only 6% of American women had any college degree at all. Good looks were also required, and Pan Am, along with other airlines, had age and weight requirements for its female staff.

Cooke's book follows the careers of several Pan Am stewardesses through the 1960s and 70s. Their stories are interwoven with the story of Pan Am itself as well as with broader events. Pan Am stewardesses were afforded an independent cosmopolitan lifestyle and a degree of female empowerment uncommon for their time. The need to maintain their weight and wear their hair a certain way was considered by many of them a good tradeoff. But, as time went on, restrictions against marriage and pregnancy became issues for many, eventually leading to grievances before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and in court.

At the same time, Pan Am was involved in supporting America's Vietnam war effort by ferrying soldiers to and from the war zone for week long R&R sessions. Later, as the war was ending and South Vietnam was falling, Pan Am and some of the women Cooke profiles were involved in Operation Babylift, a controversial effort to rescue orphaned babies from the country before it fell.

I really appreciated the way that Cooke wove these women's stories into the broader context of their time. It helps to give them their due and to understand how unique an experience being a stewardess for Pan Am in the 60s and 70s really was. I rate Come Fly the World Four Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐, and recommend it for anyone interested in the history of aviation, American women, or the 1960s and 70s.

NOTES: I listened to the audiobook version, narrated by Andi Arndt in her clear and calm voice. The hard cover and audiobook versions are available now, and a paperback version is expected in April of 2022. ( )