 In August 1947 appeared in the Belgrade-based daily Politika a competition announced by the Chief Aviation Transportation Administration, seeking a certain number of younger women and men to work on the air lines to foreign countries. Among other conditions, knowledge of foreign languages was required and the age limit was set at thirty-five...
At the time, five candidates were hired, including the then thirty-three-year-old Dragica Pavlović, who spoke French, Italian, English, German and Spanish. Dragica, born on April 1, 1914, in Jagodina, was after elementary school sent to France by her father for further education. In Nice, she graduated from an international school for girls. She had submitted the application and nearly lost all hope she would be contacted. However, she received an invitation to contact the Chief Administration – this meant she would be taken on. She immediately resigned her job with the government’s Protocol Unit and on October 22, 1947, began working for Jat.
 She was the first one from among all the hired candidates. She was told to report to at the airport to Milivoje Arsenijević, who was at the time head of the pilots’ section. He did not receive her with overwhelming enthusiasm. His comment was: "I don’t need you; I can fly without you." Soon, another girl came from Zagreb, and then another young man and a girl. These three, unfortunately, did not stay long in Jat so that Dragica remained all alone. Later on, four other girls arrived and Jat employed only five stewardesses for years.
Their training included gaining knowledge in the following areas: meteorology, commercial affairs, tourism geography and history of the destinations to which Jat aircraft were flying at the time. Also, the trainees took a course in catering and in cabin exploitation. In addition to tending to the passengers during flight, their tasks also included filling out the forms about the number of carried passengers and the quantity of cargo and mail on a particular flight. Their practical training was performed on test flights onboard Douglas (DC-3) and Junkers airplanes. The full length of the training was seven months and also involved touring all Jat services so they could learn firsthand.
 They went on their first flights in the spring of 1948. Dragica – on the line to Zagreb. But, the weather conditions were so abominable that the aircraft was forced to return to Belgrade.
Laying Foundations for Profession
Njanja, as the first and eldest stewardess, laid down the foundations and most directly participated in creating a new profession – that of the stewardess. The profession of stewardess required breeding, composure and modesty. Times were hard and working conditions even harder. For example, no adequate transportation had been ensured for the crews to the airport and back. Actually, there was a truck that would depart from the Old Bridge on the Sava River. If one was late for even one minute, this was taken to be an act of pure sabotage, let alone sick leaves and failing to appear for work for some reason. Or winter vacations, for that matter.
No set procedures or strict set of rules for the job existed. Preparing the servings for the passengers as well as many other things while preparing the airplane for flying came to be acts of personal enthusiasm and from sense of responsibility on the part of the employees. The airport restaurant provided the food and warm drinks, while the hands in charge of cleaning passenger cabins delivered candy, mineral water and alcoholic beverages on board. The stewardesses would then prepare meals for the passengers and crew from these supplies.
 Stewardesses in those early times welcomed passengers at the airplane door – their right hand put up into a military salute.... There were no real seats onboard DC-3 airplane, only benches along the sides. In the beginning, there was no microphone on the airplane. Stewardesses were required to greet each passenger individually, to take their coat, tie their seatbelt, and convey all relevant information about the flight… During the flight, they remained at the entrance to the passenger cabin. Also, on piston-engine airplanes the passengers were offered candy before take-off and prior to landing so as to alleviate the unpleasant pressure sensation in the ears, as the stewardess also advised passengers to try to blow through their finger-pressed nostrils. They served tea and cakes during the flights, and also sandwiches on longer flights.
Until the Convairs were introduced, only one steward or stewardess took care of the passengers on each flight.... After Convairs – capable of carrying twice as many passengers as Douglas DC-3 – appeared and with the onset of more comfortable travel because of the devices for maintaining constant pressure in the cabin, with modern navigation and radio equipment, loudspeaker systems, the procedure of addressing passengers before take-off, during and on completion of flight was launched.
 In 1982, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Jat, Dragica Pavlović gave an interview for the company paper. The reporter recorded the following as she interviewed the now already retired Njanja:
The First 'Millionaire'
– ... At that time, airplanes were slow and one needed to work hard to log one million kilometers. In 1954, I was the only stewardess in the group of pilots and radio operators to receive the Order of Labor III class. This was my reward for my outstanding commitment and performance.
– Also, I am fond of another reward – a golden watch with engraved inscription from President Tito – which I received for being crew member on Tito’s journey to Burma and India in 1954 and 1955.
 Tito was always in the habit of encouraging crew members. He also helped me overcome my nervousness by cordially waving his hand in greeting when I was standing at the top of the stairs waiting to welcome him onboard.
Dragica was fully devoted to her job and her commitments at Jat. Although she often pointed out that it was not hard discharging her duties because everyone in the company in those early years were like one large and united family, she never had a family of her own. She simply had no time to marry, and life was passing quickly.
When she turned fifty, she stopped flying. After her last day at work in 1965, she left Jat to become head of the ground stewardesses at Belgrade airport. She retired on March 7, 1978, and died ten years later - on June 10, 1988.
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Just how loved and respected Dragica was by her colleagues at Jat may be seen from the fact that when the first Workers’ Council was being put together in Yugoslav Airlines in 1963, Dragica was unanimously elected first Council president. Later, she would note: "At the proposal/request of the then Jat employees, I have transferred my duties to Miloš Mikina, as I was much too engaged with my regular duties, that is I was constantly absent from Jat management premises so I could not discharge my duties with due care." |
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As hostess onboard Jat airplanes, Dragica Pavlović flew with many important personages such as British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, World Bank President Eugene Black, Indian Prime Minister’s sister - Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit Nehru, who commented at the time that Dragica prepared the best tea.
Still, with greatest pride Dragica remembers the special flight onboard DC-3 that carried Dr. Ivan Ribar, as Yugoslavia’s representative, to the funeral of King George VI. The Yugoslav delegation was welcomed at the airport by the Duke of Edinburg in person. In the funeral procession, Dr. Ribar was given a place of honor – immediately behind the Royal Family. This was also done out of respect for his sons that were killed during World War II. | | 
