An easyJet flight attendant is celebrating her 73rd birthday and becoming one of the oldest crew members in the country.
Golden-oldie Pam Clark, known as 'Nana' by her colleagues, is the budget airline's oldest employee having enjoyed a career spanning 20 years there.
She has flown on more than 4,500 flights for easyJet, serving 800,000 passengers and wracking up countless air miles along the way.
It was on an easyJet flight to Madrid 20 years ago that former hairdresser Pam picked up a recruitment leaflet and was inspired to make her childhood dream come true – at the age of 53.
The grandmother, soon to become a great-grandmother, is now flying the flag for over 45's to take advantage of easyJet’s drive to recruit career changers.
Among those taken under her wing have been premiership footballers, TV stars, and a precious trombone needing its own seat.
When Pam showed up for her first day of training, despite her initial fears that she would stand out among younger colleagues, she found herself welcomed into a team from all walks of life.
Pam is now helping easyJet to encourage other over 45s to follow their dreams just as she did, in her newly appointed role as a recruitment ambassador.
She celebrated with an easyJet plane shaped cake with her likeness on top and a framed photograph of her completing her recruitment training.
“My advice to anyone over the age of 45 thinking about applying for a role as cabin crew at easyJet would be to go for it," Pam said.
"When I applied for the role 20 years ago I knew that my age and experience meant I had something really valuable to offer.
“Nowadays, I’m meeting more and more colleagues like me who have made a brave career change later in life. Don’t be afraid.
“My favourite part of the job has been meeting passengers from all over the world and giving them the most enjoyable travel experience possible. I’m proud to work at a company that puts people first.”
easyJet has appointed Pam as their over 45s recruitment ambassador, to inspire more great cabin crew candidates to come forward.
EasyJet has seen a 10% increase in applications from over 45s since it launched a recruitment campaign designed to be more diverse last year, and a 160% rise from those over the age of 60 since 2022.
Jane Storm, Group People Director at easyJet said: "At easyJet we put people at the heart of everything we do. We’re incredibly proud to have Pam on our team and she is a testament to our warm and welcoming cabin crew, who have a passion for great customer service.
"We would encourage people of all ages who share our passion to come on board and with Pam’s 73rd birthday just around the corner, we’re hopeful she will inspire even more talented people to join us in the future. “
More information about a career as cabin crew can be found on the easyJet website.
