AN AIR HOSTESS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23355, 25 May 1939, Page 5

AN AIR HOSTESS

CROSS-EUROPE FLIGHTS SYDNEY GIRL'S POSITION The only British air hostess with K.L.M. (Royal Dutch Air Lines) is Miss Laurie Steele, of Bondi, Sydney, who has flown all over Europe since she joined the company seven months ago. Nearly every day Miss Steele takes off from Amsterdam for London, Paris, Berlin, Prague, Stockholm, Budapest or Copenhagen. Early this month Miss Steele will leave the Dutch family with whom she lias been staying in Amsterdam to go to a hotel less than three minutes' walk away from the Schipol Airport where K.L.M. has its headquarters. She can understand the Dutch language and is at present also taking lessons in German and French. A certain number of hours each week are given up to the physical exercise classes which are compulsory for all K.L.M. hostesses, and in addition, she has undertaken a certain amount of contact work, which makes her week more varied than the average' air hostess'. Miss Steele usually goes to Paris at least once a week, and if she is flying to Vienna. Berlin or Prague-she' knows that it will be four days before she is back in Amsterdam again. A night is spent in London, the following night in either Vienna or Berlin, and on the third night she is back again in London, ready to leave for Amsterdam next day.