AIR MINDED WOMEN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 May 1938, Page 5

AIR MINDED WOMEN

THE SKY THEIR HIGHWAYS. Are Australian women air-minded? Four years ago, the answer would have been “No.” Today, women are making the skyways their highways. One third of the passengers carried on Australian airlines today are women, states a Sydney writer. This is something of an achievement, considering that comparatively few women have a man’s opportunity for taking business trips by air. The total distance flown yearly by airlines in Australia is now 9,543,820 miles, according to statistics compiled by the Civil Aviation Board. Women arc the great time-savers. They like to think the weary way from Perth to Adelaide can be flown in nine hours; Adelaide to Melbourne in 2J hours; Melbourne to Sydney in 2j hours; Sydney to Brisbane in 2J hours, and Melbourne to Hobart in 21 hours. The prospect of breakfasting in Brisbane, taking morning tea in Sydney, and lunching in Melbourne, with afternoon tea in Hobart to follow, is a day’s programme after the heart of any woman.

Soon she will be able to look forward to continuing the journey right through to Adelaide and Perth without a break.

Women only truly discovered the fascination of flight when that word became synonymous with comfort. They like to be comfortable when they make a journey. Modern airliners, air-conditioned, luxuriously furnished with comfy armchairs that can be transformed into lounges at the touch of a lever, and prettily-curtained windows that give a fine view of landscape and skyscape, provide travelling de luxe.

The advent of air hostesses has given women an added interest in flitting from place to place. They like to see a reassuring smile on the face of a pretty hostess when the weather gets a little rough. Asked why she liked flying, a woman who is a regular passenger between Melbourne and Hobart said: “It’s so restful. After all, the air is the only place you can travel at 200 miles an hour in peace.”