This color educational/promotional film is about the people who work in various departments for Western Airlines. Copyright is 1977.

Opening: A jumbo jet United Airlines Boeing 747 plane lands at LAX Los Angeles World Airport. Title: AIRLINE PEOPLE (:07-:33). A Western Airlines jet taxis to the gate, a Western Airline employee stands nearby. A ticket counter clerk helps a man. An African American employee near computers. A stewardess tears a ticket and points for a passenger. Mechanic works on a plane. Numerous employees doing various tasks. A female airline pilot and a male captain are shown (:34-1:19). Title: Reservations. Workers at their computers in an office doing reservations. An African American woman takes a phone call. An older male takes a call. Fingers hit a keyboard. An African American woman takes a phone call (1:20-2:42). Title: Maintenance. A worker walks on a plane wing. A man works on a plane engine. Two men put an engine back together. A man reviews microfilm plans. Two men look under a plane and do work on it. An African American man feels around inside the tail engine (2:43-4:06). Title: Avionics. An African American man looks over a computer. Men repair airplane electronic systems. A man moves the black box. A radar moves, a man repairs the radar system. Radar equipment (4:07-5:21). Title: Flight Kitchen. A chef and other kitchen workers. Food trays are set up and placed into a module. After a plane lands, the trays are removed from a module and cleaned. A chef looks closely at the food. He carries a tray of steaks (5:21-6:20). Title: Passenger Services. Passengers head into an airport. Departure screen. People look at the screen. A woman places luggage onto a conveyor belt. People stand in line, an African American sky cap talks with passengers. Western Airline ticket desk. Ticket agent at her computer terminal. Passengers go through a security checkpoint. Luggage goes through an X-ray machine. People pass through a metal detector. People walk toads their gate. People in line airing to board. A ticket agent works at her computer helping a passenger. People sit in the waiting area. Employees at work (6:21-8:54). Title: Ramp Operations. A plane on the tarmac. Luggage cars. The plane lines up at the ramp, the ground crew starts working. People check the engines and some grab the luggage. Freight is taken off the plane (8:55-9:37). Title: Flight Attendants. Interior of an empty jumbo jet. A flight attendant enters a plane, other flight attendants are there. Passengers board, tickets are ripped, people pointed in the right direction. The inflatable exit ramp is pulled and inflates, the flight attendants practice sliding down it. Men and women employees slide down the wing as well. The employees practice wearing the emergency inflatable neck rafts in a pool and swimming with them. An inflatable raft is deployed inside a pool. People jump into the raft and then pull themselves into it. Flight attendants welcome people aboard, get the beverages ready, move around modules. An attendant on the phone (9:38-12:31). Title: Pilots. Female pilot / second officer Valerie Cottle enters a DC-9, does a pre-flight inspection. Pilots check weather conditions before boarding. The female pilot checks the air masks, engines and plane’s undercarriage. She enters the plane. The two male pilots walk over and board the plane. Women pull themselves up into the plane as they practice a maneuver. An African American woman takes a phone call. Workers in various positions. Western Airline’s planes on the tarmac. A man waves a plane over. A plane takes off (12:32-14:58). End credits (14:59-15:22).

Valerie Cottle earned her helicopter rating April 17, 1973. She was the managing editor for “Plane and Pilot” magazine, a Civil Air Patrol Search & Rescue Pilot, and a commercial airline pilot. She was one of the first two female pilots hired by Western Airlines and the first to achieve rank as first officer (1979).

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