Dreams Do Come True with Joannie Gaillard

Dreams Do Come True with Joannie Gaillard

From her earliest memories, Joanie Gaillard dreamed of being a stewardess and she was not going to let anything get in the way of her dream.

“I’ve always wanted to fly,” said Joannie. Not as a pilot but as a stewardess. Unfortunately, at that time, American Airlines (and most airplane corporations) only hired females twenty-one and older.  So, when she came upon her teen years, Joannie created a plan. For the next six years, she wrote many letters to the American Airline Home Office in New York City, telling of her desire to fly, still more than 8 years from even being eligible. Did that stop Joannie? No!

The next few years, her letters to American Airlines contained questions such as “What classes should I take that will make be a better stewardess” and “Is there any training I can take to better my chances in getting a job with your company?  When Joannie turned 19, she got bolder and took a trip from her New Jersey home to the American Airlines Headquarters. She was able to talk to one of the bosses and Joannie told him about her dream of flying.

The man stopped her mid-sentence and said, “Wait here!” Joannie will never forget what the man brought back in his hands…a box filled with her letters she had mailed for the past seven years. They had kept each and every one of her correspondences.  Joannie didn’t know if she was in trouble or what but the man asked, “If we hire you, will the letters stop?” She said, “Yes!” but there was still another problem…she was two years younger than a stewardess had to be.  Joannie thought he was going to tell her to come back in two years but he offered her a job on the spot, working in the office, interviewing potential candidates for stewardess positions, ironically enough. He promised her that as soon as she turned twenty-one, she could fly the friendly skies with American Airlines.

He was true to his word and on her 21st birthday, Joannie became a stewardess…the job she had always dreamed of! She was going to be in the sky and in her own words, “Loved every minute of it!”

*This blog was first published here: Sunshine Retirement Living