I Remember When /
Christchurch’s Jacqui Wright, a former Air New Zealand air hostess, enjoyed a glamorous and fast-paced career in the early ’70s, not to mention a few hijinks!
Former Air New Zealand air hostess Jacqui Wright
Picture flying in the early 1970s. Before budget airlines and mass tourism, before e-tickets and airport crowds: flying was glamorous. You dressed to impress and getting on an aircraft was a real adventure – an opportunity to meet new people and discover exciting exotic places. For former Air
New Zealand air hostess Jacqui Wright, her early career was a dream job.
Jacqui (née Lockie) grew up on Auckland’s North Shore. She had not always wanted to be an air hostess (the term for female flight attendants at the time; men were ‘stewards’.)
She went nursing when she was 17, until she was 23. ‘I was walking down Queen Street and saw an advertisement for Air New Zealand: hostesses wanted. I had a nursing friend who had just started, and she said to me why don’t you come flying, too? I was working as a theatre nurse and even though I was quite enjoying it, I thought perhaps I will. So, the next day I applied and was accepted within three weeks.’
The role was glamorous but demanding. ‘You felt people were looking at you all the time. You couldn’t be overweight, we had check-ups all the time to make sure that our nails were nicely polished and our hair was nice and whether we had the right stockings on and the right shoes.
‘If you had put on any weight, you were told you had to lose it. The reason given was emergency drills – you had to be able to get out through the over-wing exits and deploy slides. They said if you were overweight you might not fit through the window, which I think was rather hilarious because it doesn’t matter today.’
Jacqui flew across the Tasman to Australia; to Singapore, Hong Kong, Fiji, New Caledonia, Honolulu, Los Angeles and Tahiti. Trans-Tasman flights were on Lockheed Electra turboprops and longer distances on DC-8s, followed by DC10s. One trip that everybody wanted was called the 17-day States trip with layovers in Tahiti, Honolulu and Los Angeles. Nobody wanted to do the midnight trip to Samoa, to Pago Pago, flying all night and straight back again. Double-bangers took you across the Tasman and back – a 12- or 13-hour day.
‘I always remember my very first flight, to Sydney,’ she shares. ‘They lost my suitcase and I was very upset because I was so looking forward to going out with the crew. All I had was my uniform. The other hostess lent me some make-up and underwear. From then on I always took a change of underwear and things I needed on the aircraft.’
After only about five weeks, Jacqui was on a trans-Tasman flight out of Wellington. ‘I was on the intercom telling them they were all going to Melbourne, and we were going to Sydney! There were lots of looks of despair. All the stewards were asking how long I had been flying for and if I was new. There was a particular steward, he was quite short, and he had a real twinkle in his eye, and he said, “Oh well, we’ll look after you.”
‘As we were trying to get meals ready to go out, he handed me the phone with a cord hanging down, and there’s this spike at the end of the cord, which plugs in. He told me the man in 2A had a phone call, and asked me to take it up to him. I thought this is strange, I don’t remember being taught
this in [flight] school, so up I went and here I was saying to this guy in 2A, “You’ve got a phone call,” and he was looking at me very strangely. I said, “I think I have to plug it in here,” and he said, “No, that’s where the table goes, I think you’re being had on.” Down the back they were all waving at me, laughing their heads off.’
The Lockheed Electra turboprops had deep overhead troughs to put coats and lightweight bags in. ‘They were quite deep and being tall I was lucky because I could reach into them, whereas some hostesses had to stand on the side of the seat to get into them,’ says Jacqui.
‘As we were coming into Sydney, that naughty steward, the little one, said to me, “I’ll just go up the front there and as we’re taxiing in, start to hand people their coats.” So, I was busy…putting things away in the galley and then the other hostess said it’s time to hand out the coats. I reached in to get this coat which looked very bulky and someone grabbed my arm from inside and I screamed. There was that steward – he’d got inside the shelf, and put a coat over and as I came in, he grabbed my arm! I never forgave him, all the passengers were laughing, they thought it was a huge joke! They were the sort of pranks they used to do to initiate you, but they’d never do that now.’
Another notable incident involved prime minister of the time, Robert Muldoon. ‘I probably shouldn’t be telling you this. Piggy Muldoon asked me out. I looked after him in first class on the Electra and he was quite drunk, and he said, “Oh you look really nice, I think I might take you out one day.” I said, “Oh no you won’t, you’re far too old for me.” He was a bit of a lecherous old devil, I think.’
Aircraft were pretty comfortable in the early ’70s. ‘They had a lot more legroom and the seats were bigger; they’ve just got smaller and smaller over the years. In the Electra, they were quite big comfortable seats, all leather. But it was exceptionally noisy because it was a prop aircraft. You’d have that drone noise constantly, I can still remember it, I used to hate it.’
The job was well paid and a lot of fun though, says Jacqui. ‘It was the best job I ever had in my life. I met lots of lovely people, I’ve got several friends I still see. I was 23 and was very naïve. I grew up pretty fast – especially with some of the Cockney stewards who had been on the boats. Today, you could almost have them up for harassment. They could
Aircraft were pretty comfortable in the early ’70s. ‘They had a lot more legroom and the seats were bigger; they’ve just got smaller and smaller over the years.’
be quite rude and say things that would make you blush, so I learnt very quickly that you had to look after yourself.’
Many people smoked, even in the galley and on the flight deck. Everyone used to party together and many hostesses married stewards and pilots. However, Jacqui’s first husband, Barry Dyer, was in the army. ‘I met my ex-husband on a flight. He had seen me at a ball and that was how the conversation started up.’
In 1976, Jacqui left Air New Zealand when Barry was posted to Singapore as a major, and later they were based in Canberra. On returning to New Zealand, Jacqui studied midwifery, getting a master’s degree and then teaching at Massey University in Wellington and also at Christchurch Polytech (now Ara).
Jacqui married her present husband Gary Wright, a former Air New Zealand pilot, after his first wife, a former air hostess ( Jacqui’s best friend) died from cancer. ‘We were always very good friends and our children grew up together. I’ve got two children and my husband has three children and we’ve got 10 grandchildren between us.’
With some of the family in Australia, seeing each other became difficult after COVID-19. ‘I think it will be a long time before international flights start,’ shares Jacqui. ‘I think they possibly may not even start until we get a vaccine because it’s the worst environment for something to spread.
‘Having been a nurse and knowing a lot about infectious diseases – and the coronavirus is very infectious – if you’re having people flying in from other parts of the world, and it’s still circulating, then you’re not going to get anywhere. I think we might go to Australia, but it will have to be our bubble. I honestly cannot see international flights as they were. Do you really want to take that risk? I don’t. It’s all very upsetting really, who would ever think you’d go through a pandemic?’