Intoxicated flight attendants making out while on duty

by Neil Woodburn on

I’ve taken some pretty bad Russian flights before, but I’ve never run into drunk flight attendants before–at least as far as I knew. I’d heard stories of this, along with people bringing their farm animals onboard Aeroflot, but never really witnessed it myself. Perhaps, I thought, it was just legend.

Well now, thanks to the genius of easily hidden camcorders, a recent passenger on a Russian carrier caught the drunken antics of flight attendants going about their duty and making out with each other.

Man! I just hope they weren’t partying with the pilot as well.

Click here to watch the short video.

A more comfortable way to join the mile high club: double beds

by Gadling Staff on

The two double beds on Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380 that finally was delivered earlier this week are not for hanky panky–but for sleeping. That’s the plan anyway. The Executive Director of Singapore Airlines said he doesn’t want the beds to give people any “racy” ideas. Since the Singaporean government has run campaigns in the past to promote dating [see article], he probably thinks this is a reasonable notion. Does he get out much?

The sliding doors to the two private suites where the beds are located do have a small screen at the bottom so the flight attendants can check on the passengers. I can just hear it now. Imagine, if you will, a flight attendant crouched with his or her ear close to the gap. “Hey!! What are you two doing in there? Stop that. This is a respectable airplane. Get a room. Oh, wait, you do have a room.”

If there isn’t supposed to be any “nudge, nudge, wink, wink,” funny business going on in the beds, then why aren’t the beds single beds like the kind that were used in 1950s sitcoms? Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz never got a double bed on “I Love Lucy” back then because you know what they would have done with it. That was the censors’ idea anyway. Also, when the plane was unveiled there were rose petals strewn all over the bed. Yeah, right. Isn’t that what all of us do to our beds when we want a good night sleep? [via USA. Today, October 15, 2007]

Open skies agreement starts to bear fruit: Delta/KLM/Air France routes to open

by Grant Martin on

Much of the hullabaloo about the Open Skies Agreement between the United States and the EU died down after consumers realized that prices won’t be drastically affected. Despite speculation that 10£ transatlantic tickets were on the horizon, marketing and the low-cost-carrier airline network have a long way to go before we see anything like that.

Another benefit to the OSA though is the available collaboration among carriers for landing slots. Alliances such as Skyteam and Oneworld now can substitute their partner flights in place of older, less used routes. For example, if British Airways’ LHR-JFK flight isn’t doing so hot, they can cancel the slot and give it to Cathay Pacific for LHR-HKG.

Why do we care? This means alliances can shuffle volume between EU and transatlantic sectors and create more routes across the pond. In the most recent venture, Delta has teamed up with Air France and KLM, permitting Delta to use several of Air France’s hubs across Europe. Directly, this means more non-stop flights from the US to EU. I would venture that more supply means lower prices, but with the volatility in the airline market these days, who knows?

More Fare Sales from the Mainland to Hawaii

by Grant Martin on

In case you haven’t been reading your travelzoo/orbitz junk mail for the past few days, there is a pretty serious fare sale going on from the mainland out to Hawaii. Availability has been spotty over the weekend and a few people got some 250$ tickets from Chicago and Detroit out to Honolulu for October and November (sorry I was gone this weekend and I couldn’t tell you guys earlier).

Well, this morning a new chapter of the fare sale unfolds, with United releasing seats out of Atlanta (see below) through mid-March of next year. Blackout dates are generally Friday-Monday and it looks like fares are bottoming out at about 320$. You’ll have to fiddle around with dates to get the right price; try using a flex search on your favorite search engine to find an appropriate time. I’m picking up 322$ on UA from 16-22 Jan right not on Kayak. Remember, MLK day is Jan 21.

United has a 24 hour cancellation policy so you can book early and ask questions later. And as I say every time a secret sale happens, book early. This fare won’t last long.

Update: word on the street is that Delta is launching a similar sale from WAS in a few hours. Keep your eyes peeled.

Update2: Also good from Salt Lake City and Phoenix.

Watch the World Series Aboard a Frontier Airlines Flight?

by Catherine Bodry on

If you can’t stand missing the World Series, but you absolutely must travel during one of the games, don’t fret just yet. If Frontier Airlines is flying to your destination, you may just be in luck — and you might want to book your ticket now. The Denver-based airline is negotiating with DirectTV for permission to show the series on its flights if the Rockies are playing. The airline, which shows the Super Bowl every year in-flight, is making sure it has rights to air live TV.

JetBlue will also be showing the World Series (no matter who’s playing — go Sox!).

[via USA Today]