http://blogs.finnair.com/
Posted on June 5, 2009 by senjalarsen | ShareThis
Ritva Wächter
She was Miss Finland in 1961. As a flight attendant, she worked for 46 years, a Finnish record, on 14 different aircraft types – a world record. She had four children, and fell in love with a handsome captain. She worked in dozens of different uniforms, and served hundreds of thousands of passengers.
For many, Ritva Wächter has been the face of Finnair; her sophisticated, calm, dark-eyed presence is known to hundreds of thousands of air travelers.
In the early 1960s, Finland had no royalty or celebrities in the modern sense, and the participants of the Miss Finland beauty pageant, especially the winner, were under close public observation. It was a close call for Ritva to be accepted by Finnair at all. “Yet I ended up staying the longest,” says Ritva half a century later, and adds that she never wanted to quit, and would even have stayed on now had it been possible. “I’ve always liked people. I don’t suffer from jetlag, and I like the irregular hours, because I’m a good sleeper.” She can’t remember any tough situations with disruptive passengers either. Talking always helps, she says with a disarming smile.
“Miss Wächter, how do you plan to pin all that hair under a hat in a tidy manner?” Head Stewardess Louhi asked the newcomer in 1963. Ritva’s thick main was cut the same day. In the 70s, on the other hand, the fashion was to hide one’s own hair with a wig. Finnair was strict about other appearance issues as well, and all flight attendants were weighed annually, to avoid any surprises.
Ritva’s story is the story of modern Finnair. She started her career on domestic flights when there were altogether just 100 stewardesses. The DC-3 aircraft climbed up Finland’s west coast, stopping off at Umeå and Sundsvall in Sweden on the way, and landed in Rovaniemi for the night. The crew stayed in an inn called the “Bird’s Nest” in which the stewardesses shared a bunk bed. The same route started again in reverse the following morning.
There weren’t always passengers to transport; sometimes the aircraft was filled with mailbags, on which the crew sat, since the seats had been taken out.
There was no loudspeaker on the DC-3, so flight information, such as altitude, speed, and the names of the crew were written down on a piece of paper and passed around in the cabin.
Ritva began to fly further into Europe on the new Convair and Caravelle aircraft, in the first class of which cigarettes were served on silver trays immediately after take-off.
Leap across the Atlantic
In 1969, Finnair prepared for the greatest adventure in its history so far, a leap across the Atlantic. Ritva was one of the lucky few who were chosen to be Finn Hostesses, who were expected to be educated and cultured, and they were thoroughly trained. They toured Lapland, and were introduced to various museums and industrial enterprises.
As a beauty queen, Ritva was often featured in company advertising, and before the launch of the New York route, she participated in a PR tour of Manhattan where the Finn Hostesses walked in long blue-and-white striped dresses along Fifth Avenue and appeared on The Merv Griffin Show on TV.
“Merv asked something about the fjords in Finland. We said that they’re actually in Norway, after which the cameras turned away from us, never to return,” Ritva laughs.
At that time flight attendants were allowed to play cards and sip champagne with passengers to pass the time on flights. There were no trolleys, and the meal trays with heavy crockery had to be carried into the cabin one by one.
A duty pairing to America would last a week. There was a night stop in Amsterdam on the way, and the Finn Hostesses wore a different outfit for every leg of the flight. Even the DC-8 aircraft could be filled with either passengers or cargo, depending on demand. Often the flight attendants had to walk along a narrow aisle flanked by cargo pallets to get to the cockpit.
When Ritva had the second of her four children in 1969, her newborn daughter was blessed by 17 godmothers – all the other participants in her Finn Hostess course. At that time, maternity leave lasted exactly one year – counting from the day the company received notification of pregnancy.
Long haul life
In 1975, Ritva took part in Finnair’s first Purser training course. With the introduction of the DC-10, the company began to focus more and more on long-haul traffic, and so did Ritva. She was usually on duty for about a week at a time, and her flights took her to new destinations such as Bangkok, Singapore and Tokyo.
In 1979, love flew into the picture in the form of Captain Jukka Kaleva, with whom Ritva has shared her life for 30 years now. Jukka continues his career as an MD-11 pilot with Finnair.
Only once in 46 years did something more serious than love take place. With a loud bang, the engine of a DC-10 suffered a malfunction during take off. Papers flew about, as the air current swept through the cabin. Ritva briefed the passengers calmly according to procedure, and the aircraft landed safely with two engines.
At the end of her career, Ritva returned to her favorite form of work, long-haul flights. Her last flight to New York was with Finnair’s brand new A330 aircraft. “What a beautiful, well-lit, fabulous plane,” Ritva comments. She recalls that the beginning of her career was tougher than the end. Many of her colleagues couldn’t take the pace when there were no extra days off after long-haul flights. Even though increasing cost-efficiency has had a great impact on the profession, flight attendants have more free time today than ever before.
Ritva’s final flight as a Finnair employee was to Bangkok on the eve of her 68th birthday and she retired on May 1, 2009 – appropriately enough, since she began her 46-year career in 1963 having just celebrated her 22nd birthday.
Her flying days may be over, but Ritva’s story continues at her Second Hand Boutique Penny Lane on Runeberginkatu in Helsinki.
Ritva’s hot shopping tips:
Helsinki: Ritva can be found every day at Penny Lane Second Hand Boutique on Runeberginkatu 37, Helsinki.
New York: Great second hand clothing is available on the corner of 6th Avenue and 26th Street on two floors, open on weekends. In summer, you can find the “Flea Market Street” on the corner of 9th Avenue and 39th Street.
Nagoya: The bazaar in Osu-Kannon.
The aircraft types that Ritva has flown:
DC-3, Convair, Caravelle, DC-8, DC-9, DC-10, MD-80, A-300, Boeing MD-11, Boeing 757, Airbus 32S, Embraer, A340, A330. (Aircraft types are calculated by types requiring different safety training in accordance with official regulations. 14 types is world record, working for one employer.)
Posted on June 5, 2009 by senjalarsen | ShareThis
Ritva Wächter
She was Miss Finland in 1961. As a flight attendant, she worked for 46 years, a Finnish record, on 14 different aircraft types – a world record. She had four children, and fell in love with a handsome captain. She worked in dozens of different uniforms, and served hundreds of thousands of passengers.
For many, Ritva Wächter has been the face of Finnair; her sophisticated, calm, dark-eyed presence is known to hundreds of thousands of air travelers.
In the early 1960s, Finland had no royalty or celebrities in the modern sense, and the participants of the Miss Finland beauty pageant, especially the winner, were under close public observation. It was a close call for Ritva to be accepted by Finnair at all. “Yet I ended up staying the longest,” says Ritva half a century later, and adds that she never wanted to quit, and would even have stayed on now had it been possible. “I’ve always liked people. I don’t suffer from jetlag, and I like the irregular hours, because I’m a good sleeper.” She can’t remember any tough situations with disruptive passengers either. Talking always helps, she says with a disarming smile.
“Miss Wächter, how do you plan to pin all that hair under a hat in a tidy manner?” Head Stewardess Louhi asked the newcomer in 1963. Ritva’s thick main was cut the same day. In the 70s, on the other hand, the fashion was to hide one’s own hair with a wig. Finnair was strict about other appearance issues as well, and all flight attendants were weighed annually, to avoid any surprises.
Ritva’s story is the story of modern Finnair. She started her career on domestic flights when there were altogether just 100 stewardesses. The DC-3 aircraft climbed up Finland’s west coast, stopping off at Umeå and Sundsvall in Sweden on the way, and landed in Rovaniemi for the night. The crew stayed in an inn called the “Bird’s Nest” in which the stewardesses shared a bunk bed. The same route started again in reverse the following morning.
There weren’t always passengers to transport; sometimes the aircraft was filled with mailbags, on which the crew sat, since the seats had been taken out.
There was no loudspeaker on the DC-3, so flight information, such as altitude, speed, and the names of the crew were written down on a piece of paper and passed around in the cabin.
Ritva began to fly further into Europe on the new Convair and Caravelle aircraft, in the first class of which cigarettes were served on silver trays immediately after take-off.
Leap across the Atlantic
In 1969, Finnair prepared for the greatest adventure in its history so far, a leap across the Atlantic. Ritva was one of the lucky few who were chosen to be Finn Hostesses, who were expected to be educated and cultured, and they were thoroughly trained. They toured Lapland, and were introduced to various museums and industrial enterprises.
As a beauty queen, Ritva was often featured in company advertising, and before the launch of the New York route, she participated in a PR tour of Manhattan where the Finn Hostesses walked in long blue-and-white striped dresses along Fifth Avenue and appeared on The Merv Griffin Show on TV.
“Merv asked something about the fjords in Finland. We said that they’re actually in Norway, after which the cameras turned away from us, never to return,” Ritva laughs.
At that time flight attendants were allowed to play cards and sip champagne with passengers to pass the time on flights. There were no trolleys, and the meal trays with heavy crockery had to be carried into the cabin one by one.
A duty pairing to America would last a week. There was a night stop in Amsterdam on the way, and the Finn Hostesses wore a different outfit for every leg of the flight. Even the DC-8 aircraft could be filled with either passengers or cargo, depending on demand. Often the flight attendants had to walk along a narrow aisle flanked by cargo pallets to get to the cockpit.
When Ritva had the second of her four children in 1969, her newborn daughter was blessed by 17 godmothers – all the other participants in her Finn Hostess course. At that time, maternity leave lasted exactly one year – counting from the day the company received notification of pregnancy.
Long haul life
In 1975, Ritva took part in Finnair’s first Purser training course. With the introduction of the DC-10, the company began to focus more and more on long-haul traffic, and so did Ritva. She was usually on duty for about a week at a time, and her flights took her to new destinations such as Bangkok, Singapore and Tokyo.
In 1979, love flew into the picture in the form of Captain Jukka Kaleva, with whom Ritva has shared her life for 30 years now. Jukka continues his career as an MD-11 pilot with Finnair.
Only once in 46 years did something more serious than love take place. With a loud bang, the engine of a DC-10 suffered a malfunction during take off. Papers flew about, as the air current swept through the cabin. Ritva briefed the passengers calmly according to procedure, and the aircraft landed safely with two engines.
At the end of her career, Ritva returned to her favorite form of work, long-haul flights. Her last flight to New York was with Finnair’s brand new A330 aircraft. “What a beautiful, well-lit, fabulous plane,” Ritva comments. She recalls that the beginning of her career was tougher than the end. Many of her colleagues couldn’t take the pace when there were no extra days off after long-haul flights. Even though increasing cost-efficiency has had a great impact on the profession, flight attendants have more free time today than ever before.
Ritva’s final flight as a Finnair employee was to Bangkok on the eve of her 68th birthday and she retired on May 1, 2009 – appropriately enough, since she began her 46-year career in 1963 having just celebrated her 22nd birthday.
Her flying days may be over, but Ritva’s story continues at her Second Hand Boutique Penny Lane on Runeberginkatu in Helsinki.
Ritva’s hot shopping tips:
Helsinki: Ritva can be found every day at Penny Lane Second Hand Boutique on Runeberginkatu 37, Helsinki.
New York: Great second hand clothing is available on the corner of 6th Avenue and 26th Street on two floors, open on weekends. In summer, you can find the “Flea Market Street” on the corner of 9th Avenue and 39th Street.
Nagoya: The bazaar in Osu-Kannon.
The aircraft types that Ritva has flown:
DC-3, Convair, Caravelle, DC-8, DC-9, DC-10, MD-80, A-300, Boeing MD-11, Boeing 757, Airbus 32S, Embraer, A340, A330. (Aircraft types are calculated by types requiring different safety training in accordance with official regulations. 14 types is world record, working for one employer.)
