Heartbroken flight attendants from American Airlines have penned a wistful note to the Observer saying how much they will miss lil' ol'

Crawley after airline bosses pulled out of Gatwick after 26 years.
Devastated Blinda McClelland, who hales from Austin, Texas, reckons she's already pining for Crawley and will always have a place in her heart for the town's quaint buildings, the boozers, not to mention Troy's Kebabs.

Speaking in her letter from America she said: "We, the flight crews, are devastated that American Airlines has decided to pull out of Gatwick.

"But, back to the love letter, we, the flight crews at American, are already missing Morgan's Pub, The Railway Pub, ASDA, Marks and Spencer, the Bingo parlor, Sainsbury (especially the women behind the deli counter), Goffs Manor, Ruby Murray's, the Tapas bar on High Street, Taj Mahal, LUSH, the homemade hummus at the Arora, Sussex Books, County Mall, 'walks' out of Crawley (usually over five miles), the fish 'n chips places, and my personal favourite: Troy's Kebabs."
And Musa Eryilmaz, who owns the kebab shop, said he knew exactly who Blinda was.

He said: "When they worked in Gatwick they used to always come for the food and now they have moved to Heathrow they are upset because they wouldn't have the kebabs!

"They told me I should move the shop out to America, to Texas, because they loved the Kebabs so much!

"They also told me they have kebabs in America but not like these ones, but yes they used to always come in and tell me how much they liked them.

"Their favourite was the chicken; they loved the chicken so much, and I am pleased that they liked the food so much."

Bereft Blinda, who has spent two days every week for eight years pacing the streets of Crawley said she knows the town like the back of her hand.

She added: "You could blindfold me, put me ANYWHERE in Crawley and I could find my way back to High Street, Queens Street, ASDA, and the Arora Hotel.

"Although I have heard nostalgic wisps of conversation regarding our pullout – our loss and the depth of our regret at not having Crawley in our lives was evident yesterday in a partial conversation I overheard at the crew cafeteria in Narita, Japan regarding Crawley: 'Yeah, I loved the pub there, it was really cool.' 'What I really like was the mall.' This continued on for 20 minutes.

"We do miss, and we will......"

American Airlines switched all its London Gatwick flights to Heathrow this year following the introduction of the EU-US Open Skies agreement.

Do you agree with Blinda? Comment below or email amie.morrell@sussexnewspapers.co.uk