John Herrick

Flight Attendant

Class of 1993

By Sheldon Shishido

How would you like to fly from New York City to Europe for a living? One alumnus of Waiäkea High’s class of 1993 does just that. John Herrick works for Delta Airlines as a flight attendant. He chose the job because he wanted to use his French major, and his scout master, Mark Masuyama, was also a flight attendant for another major airline.

For John, becoming a flight attendant meant going to school. He graduated from Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, where he earned his degree in French in 1997. Then he attended the International Air Academy in Vancouver, Washington for five months. The Air Academy helped him learn all the categories in the airline business. His job gives him satisfaction by making and seeing other people happy through extra service or by going out of his way to solve a problem. Although he has not had any of his famous classmates on board such as Jimmy Chan, his celebrity passengers have included John McEnroe, Hillary Clinton, and country music singer Travis Tritt.

Among his remembrances about Waiäkea High, he lists going to the State tennis tournament and participating in the WHS Follies during his freshman year. In his senior year, he won third place in the French category in the Hawaii Language Festival, and acted in plays for the Drama Club. One time, his class locked English teacher, Joan Matsumoto, out of the classroom. Waiäkea High School taught him leadership skills as co-captain of the tennis team, and through required class presentations taught him not to be afraid of speaking in front of a large group of people.