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AVIATION CENTENARY SRI LANKA Photo credit: Mr Hiran Fernando Narration: Capt Ashi Fernando First Flight Stewardess at Air Ceylon She was Cynthia to some and Jayatri to others. Not many are aware that this beauty was the first formally hired flight stewardess of Ceylon. If so, why was she eliminated from history as the first Flight Stewardess of the national carrier Air Ceylon? The answer lies in the cliché that she was not ‘in the right place at the right time’; due to a severe bout of flu on the day of the first Air Ceylon flight. Unable to roster Jayatri for the flight, Air Ceylon managed to dress-up one of the office secretary ladies in cabin crew attire and dispatch the flight. Born in India to Francis and Beatrice Tampoe Philips, Jayatri is the younger sister of the famed lawyer and trade Unionist Bala Tampoe. Jayatri attended school in ...