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Delta’s Longest-Serving Flight Attendant Retires After 66 Years

5/31/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Joan Prince Crandall, a Delta Air Lines flight attendant, is retiring after 66 years, industry’s longest-serving tenure.
She started in 1959 and recalled rules that forced women to quit when they married or turned 32.
Crandall credited the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s sex protections with letting flight attendants keep jobs after marriage or childbirth.
She mentored new attendant Alise Broussard and plans to write a book about her career.

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Story summary

Joan Prince Crandall, a Delta Air Lines flight attendant, is retiring after 66 years, industry’s longest-serving tenure.
She started in 1959 and recalled rules that forced women to quit when they married or turned 32.
Crandall credited the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s sex protections with letting flight attendants keep jobs after marriage or childbirth.
She mentored new attendant Alise Broussard and plans to write a book about her career.