Laid-off flight attendants turn promoters for National

Monday, Nov. 5, 2001 | 9:49 a.m.

Two National Airlines flight attendants, grounded when the company cut flights and laid off employees in September, decided the best thing they could do while waiting for a call back was to go back to work for the company as marketers -- for free.

The move appears to have paid off -- the flight attendants told a group that effective Thursday they were back on the payroll in marketing roles.

Nancy Nelson and Jo Sittig, who served on the same flight crew for four months, both got their furlough notices about a week after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Their last flight together was from New York to Las Vegas.

"When we got off the plane, we went into (National Chairman) Mike Conway's office with this idea to go out into the community and promote National," Nelson said.

The two flight attendants got a quick primer on local marketing, a computer program that displays statistics and some instruction on how to handle tough questions. They even got their own business cards, listing their titles as "Marketing Consultant, Special Projects." Then, they began scheduling meetings with service clubs and associations to spread National's new post-attacks marketing message.

Nelson said they ended up addressing 25 groups in October. Thursday they took their program to the Las Vegas chapter of the American Marketing Association at the Las Vegas Country Club.

"We just decided to get out and network," Nelson said. "Most people don't know too much about National, even though it's Las Vegas' hometown airline."

Their pitch includes an explanation of how National's "Get America Flying" program is helping to sell seats to and from Las Vegas on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays -- days when the city needs the most help filling hotel rooms. Fares have been slashed through the end of January and the company's $25 round-trip fares to Los Angeles and San Francisco from Las Vegas in October attracted some news attention around the nation.

The flight attendants-turned-marketers can handle the easy questions: What new cities are scheduled to be added to National's route map next? (Seattle and Atlanta). What kind of planes does National fly? (Boeing 757 jets).

But the tough questions are gently left unanswered with comedy relief: What about the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy? ("C'mon ... we're not on the finance side, we're only flight attendants!")

Nelson said her audiences have been attentive and inquisitive. And, it doesn't hurt that her appearances usually include giving away a free round-trip ticket to anywhere National flies.

Nelson, a 37-year Las Vegas resident who formerly operated Kars Etcetera, a used car dealership in Henderson, once worked for Western Airlines and Delta Air Lines, but hasn't had any formal marketing training.

But she knows the company's management wants to see quantifiable results. That's why she passes out Conway's e-mail address at her presentations and encourages people to let him know what they think about her presentation and the airline.

"The people have really responded to it," Nelson said of the presentations she and Sittig have made. "We're just trying to do what we can."