Ronald Byrd Akana (born September 8, 1928) is an American former flight attendant, who spent 63 years working as cabin crew for

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

and who logged an estimated 200 million airmiles. He was the world's longest serving flight attendant and was admitted to

The Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

Career

Akana applied due to a local newspaper ad in 1949 aged 21 with

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

for a steward position. His reason to apply as a flight steward was that " ��it meant getting to the mainland, which was a huge deal in those days." At this time Akana was still a student at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. After joining UA he started flying to the mainland on

Boeing Stratocruiser The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was a large long-range airliner developed from the C-97 Stratofreighter military transport, itself a derivative of the B-29 Superfortress. The Stratocruiser's first flight was on July 8, 1947. Its design was advanced ...

. His time working for UA was only interrupted by a two-year conscription, where he served in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. In August 2012, after 63 years of service, Akana retired after a flight from

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

to Kauai. By this time he had accumulated 200 million airmiles.

Personal life

Akana was born on September 8, 1928, in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

. His wife was also a flight attendant, but had to quit after marriage. Their daughter Jean also pursued a career as flight attendant.

References

1928 births Living people Flight attendants People from Hawaii {{aviation-bio-stub American aviation record holders