Spirit Airlines’ MILF sale kicks off

by Grant Martin on

It’s great to see that the domestic low cost carriers have finally started stooping down to the international standard. While Spirit Airlines has oft been fond of strange fare sale names and promos, I think this one takes the cake: the Many Islands Low Fares or MILF sale.

My, that’s a strategically coincidental acronym, you say. I personally don’t see any corollaries beyond the innocent M-I-L-F, but in case you’re interested in any disambiguations of the term, I’d check out urbandictionary.

Sprit sales are kind of difficult to tolerate sometimes. On one hand, they have a wealth of dirt cheap (9$ – 10$) one way fares, but they make it near impossible to find a round trip ticket under those conditions. Usually you end up making up any savings from one direction with extra expense in the other direction. But if you’re rife with free time to sift through the fares and travel on odd days of the week, give it a try.

What other sexy things are airlines doing to generate interest? For starters, RyanAir’s got a semi-nude calendar of their flight attendants, and Virgin America brought scores of hot runway models on one of their flights. What’s next?

Will the real D.B. Cooper please stand up

by Jerry Guo on

I just came across a “confession letter” purporting to be from the infamous D.B. Cooper. In case you haven’t heard of this urban legend (except it’s true, so guess it’s not an urban legend), D.B. Cooper is the nom de guerre for the 1971 hijacker who parachuted into history with $200,000 in cash. He’s never been heard from again.

Every once in a while, like this week, you have a kook claiming to be the long-lost Cooper. Although the mystery hasn’t been definitively solved, there was an excellent in-depth article in an October issue of New York that gave a very educated guess (probably right).

It’s a hoot to think what would happen if D.B. Cooper pulled the stunt in 2007. One thing’s for sure, CNN would have enough filler for the next month.

What’s that white smoke coming out of the engine?

by Grant Martin on

If you’ve ever looked out the window of seat 43A at the tail end of the engine just after pushback, you may have noticed white smoke coming out of the jet and raised an eyebrow. The first time this happened to me, I had my finger hovering over the flight attendant call button until I realized nobody else was concerned; perhaps because they were all smarter than I; perhaps because they weren’t paying attention.

Schlepping around on The Straight Dope a few months back, I found out why this happens. When starting a jet engine, the mixture of gasoline to air is particularly high (think about the choke in your father’s 1978 Plymouth); this is necessary to get the engine to consistently start firing. As a result, some of the jet fuel in the mixture doesn’t get burned and subsequently gets expunged out into the exhaust.

You also might notice sometimes that only half of the lights on the plane function just after the engine(s) start. On some jets, after power is switched from the Auxillary Power Unit (APU) to the jets it takes a few seconds for the engine to power up and the alternators to start generating power. So sometimes when a single engine is running only that side will receive power.

More reason to have that bourbon before you get on the plane and to fall straight asleep; over analyzing the intricacies of aircraft operation and freaking out at every small hiccup will surely lead to an ulcer.






Virgin America hosts in-flight Victoria’s Secret models

by Grant Martin on

I know I’ve been writing a lot of posts about Virgin America (VX) lately, but what can I say? They keep launching random sales and PR stunts. You’ve gotta give it to them; the legacy carriers in the US use about jack for advertising.

This time VX sponsored a Victoria’s Secret in-flight PJ party / fashion show on a flight between New York and Los Angeles. On November 28th, regularly scheduled passengers were met at the gate with a kickoff gala and supermodels Selita Ebanks and Miranda Kerr. Over the course of the runway fashion show style flight, some members were given “supermodel” makeovers while the other unfortunate passengers were only treated to hot supermodels strutting down the aisle.

Although Air New Zealand has tried this before, this is the first time that such hijinks have been pulled off domestically. And I have to say, it’s been generating a lot of positive buzz from the airline community. Hopefully, Virgin America will let Gadling know before they do this again, we can pass the news on and you can strategically book your ticket.

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Also: Ryanair Flight Attendants like you’ve never seen them before
Hey guys, ever have fantasies involving naughty stewardesses? Here’s something to add to your Christmas wish list: The flight attendants of infamous low-cost European airline Ryanair have shed their usual blue uniforms in favour of something skimpier

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Spicing up the safety Demo

by Neil Woodburn on

There is nothing on this planet so flagrantly ignored as the safety demonstration on board an airplane. When else can you actually pick up a magazine, put on headphones, and completely tune out a person speaking to you?

And don’t think your rude behavior isn’t noticed by a haggard, overworked flight attendant either. Can you imagine just how tough it must be on their self confidence to be so thoroughly ignored by so many people on a daily basis? I’m just waiting for the day that a flight attendant slips the following comment into the middle of the safety demonstration, “The first person to raise their hand can nail me in the bathroom at 30,000 feet.” And I bet no one even hears it.

Nonetheless, flight attendants still occasionally try to spice it up a little by peppering some humor throughout their presentation. “There may be 50 ways to leave your lover but there are only eight ways to leave this airplane, so please listen as we explain the safety features.” Har har har. I’ve heard this one before and found it amusing the first time, but not so much the next couple of times.

The safety demo: Theater of the absurd? is a humorous account of some of these zingers by flight attendant James Wysong who also pokes fun at the straight lines as well. “In the unlikely event of a water landing …” he quotes, “A ‘water landing?’ Don’t you mean a “crash?”

You might want to think twice about reading this, however. Because I’d personally rather hear these jokes for the first time trapped in an airplane than spoiling them right now on the ground.