Galley Gossip: Even flight attendants deserve the right to choose pants

by Heather Poole on

In a magazine I read years ago, a bigwig working for an international Asian carrier was quoted stating, “Passengers wouldn’t dare yell at a flight attendant wearing a dress.” It felt like a snide remark directed toward flight attendants in the United States who prefer to wear pants. Instead, it just demonstrated that he hadn’t spent much time with U.S. passengers, who are non-discriminating. They are happy to yell both at flight attendants wearing dresses and passengers wearing dresses.

That’s a quote from my book “Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 feet.” I’m only sharing it with you because there’s been a lot in the news lately about Asiana Airlines. Its flight attendants are upset because they aren’t allowed to wear pants (or even glasses!). Their union recently filed a complaint to the human rights commission of Korea. The airline claims the uniform was designed based on hanbok, the Korean traditional dress. The flight attendants understand the airline has an image it wants to pursue, but they also believe the most important function of their job is to assist passengers.

I prefer to wear my skirt over the uniform pants and dress. In fact, I’ve only worn the pants a handful of times during my career — and I’ve been a flight attendant for 17 years! At first, it was the big bulky pleats with the high waist that was a problem for me. Now that the pleats are gone, the pants fit lower on the hips and the ankles aren’t tapered, it’s the material I have an issue with; it’s so thin you can practically see through it!Last week a reporter for a well-known newspaper told me she had recently participated in what sounded like a flight attendant training program being offered to journalists and frequent fliers. She learned all kinds of interesting facts, including what not to wear on the plane in case there’s an emergency evacuation.

“Which is exactly what most flight attendants are wearing, right?” I asked.

There was a long pause before she replied, “Now that you mention it…”

The point I’m trying to make is this: it actually makes more sense for flight attendants to be wearing pants. I’m not saying we should wear pants. I’m not even saying I want to wear pants. I’m just saying that having the option might be nice. As long as we look and feel good while doing exactly what we were hired to do – assist passengers – does it really matter if some of us are more comfortable wearing tailored trousers opposed to pencil skirts? If designed right, both can be equally stylish.

Come on, Asiana. Loosen up. Times have changed. Passengers have changed. Why can’t the uniform also change to reflect the modern times? If some flight attendants want to wear pants, let them wear pants!

Am I wrong?

Don’t answer that. Only because I can hear it already: “QUIT YOUR JOB IF YOU WANT TO WEAR PANTS!”

[Photo courtesy of Blackwych]

Airline Madness: Legroom vs. Inefficient boarding procedures

by Mike Barish on

Airline Madness is Gadling’s tournament of airline annoyances. You can catch up on all of the previous tournament action here.

The first round of Airline Madness continues with #2 seed Legroom taking on #15 seed Inefficient boarding procedures. As most of us are usually flying in the economy cabin, we know just how cramped those seats are. If you’re 5 feet 9 inches or taller (the average American adult male is about just below 5 feet 10 inches tall), your knees are probably going to touch the seat in front of you. Meanwhile, before you even get on the plane, you need to wait for your seemingly arbitrary zone to be called and then stand in a line of people eager to board a metal tube full of recycled air.

Only one of these pet peeves will advance to the second round. Check out their full descriptions below and then vote for the one that’s the most infuriating.#2 Legroom
The average seat pitch in economy class is between 29 inches and 30 inches. That doesn’t allow for much legroom, no matter how much thinner they make the seat-backs. You don’t need to be freakishly tall to feel cramped once you fold yourself into your seat. Want more legroom? Well, now the airlines make you pay for exit row seats or “Premium Economy,” which is nothing more than an economy seat with the legroom that was offered to everyone a decade ago. These days, you might have more personal space in a dog crate in the luggage compartment.

#15 Inefficient boarding procedures
The gate agent has announced pre-boarding (which is a misnomer, because once anyone is boarding the plane, it’s just called boarding) and yet everyone with a ticket for the flight seems to have surged toward the counter. You’re seated one row away from your friend yet are separated by three boarding groups. The crowd of people near the gate resembles a Soviet-era bread line, only less organized and far more aggressive. When your group is called, you can’t get anywhere near the plane because of the wall of people in your way. Oh, and the flight is scheduled to takeoff in two minutes. Surely it will be on time.

Which airline pet peeve grinds your gears the most? Do you demand more legroom or have you had it with the chaos of boarding? Vote for the annoyance that most deserves to advance to the second round and share your thoughts in the comments!
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First round voting ends at 11:59PM EDT on Friday, March 16.

More Airline Madness:
#1 Annoying passengers vs. #16 Disgusting bathrooms
#3 Lack of free food/prices for food vs. #14 Cold cabin/no blankets
#4 Baggage Fees vs. #13 Obese people who take up two seats
#5 Lack of overhead space vs. Inattentive parents of crying babies
#6 Change fees/no free standby vs. #11 Lack of personal entertainment/charging for entertainment
#7 Rude airline staff vs. #10 Having to turn off electronic devices during takeoff & landing
#8 People who recline their seats vs. #9 People who get mad at people who recline their seats
Hotel Madness: Gadling’s tournament of airline annoyances

Catch up on all the Airline Madness here.

Airline Madness: Gadling’s tournament of airline annoyances

by Mike Barish on

It’s that time of year again! All around the country, people are filling out their brackets and arguing over match-ups. That’s right; it’s March Madness Airline Madness! Just like last year’s Hotel Madness, we’ve compiled a list of travel pet peeves. Only this time around the competition is for the title of Worst Airline Annoyance. Our selection committee vetted the pool of candidates and chose the 16 worst offenders. Now it’s time for you to vote. Over the next two days, all of the first round match-ups will be posted here on Gadling for you to weigh in. The winners will advance to the second round, then the Final Four and so on until we crown an Airline Madness champion.It’s going to be an exciting few weeks of debates, arguments and rants about cry babies, overhead space and baggage fees. We know you’ll have some opinions to share and we hope that you’ll speak up in the comments.

Below is a list of our first round match-ups that will be up for voting later today for the first four match-ups of the first round. The second half of the first round will be open for voting tomorrow, so keep checking back for all of the action! [Update: The first round has ended and voting is closed.]


#2 Legroom vs. #15 Inefficient boarding procedures



#3 Lack of free food/prices for food vs. #14 Cold cabin/no blankets


#4 Baggage fees vs. #13 Obese people who take up two seats


#5 Lack of overhead space vs. #12 Inattentive parents of crying babies


#6 Change fees/no free standby vs. #11 Lack of personal entertainment/charging for entertainment


#7 Rude airline staff vs. #10 Having to turn off electronic devices during takeoff & landing


#8 People who recline their seats vs. #9 People who get mad at people who recline their seats

Welcome to Airline Madness! It’s up to you to pick the champion (because everything’s amazing and nobody’s happy)!

Catch up on all the Airline Madness here.

Adventure travel in Somalia?

by Sean McLachlan on

Will Somalia become the next big adventure travel destination?

Short answer: Not anytime soon.

Long answer: For the first time in two decades, there’s a ray of hope shining across that chaotic land. The Islamist terrorist group Al-Shabab is on the defensive as it gets pummeled by Kenyan, Ethiopian, African Union, and Somali “government” forces. They’ve fled Mogadishu and several other key areas. The battered capital is beginning to enjoy something resembling normal life, as a BBC report shows. They even have traffic police!

Earlier this week, amid much fanfare from the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, a Turkish Airlines flight landed at Mogadishu airport. This was the first flight from a major international carrier to land at the airport in years. On board was Turkey’s deputy prime minister on a goodwill mission. The airline has scheduled twice-weekly flights from Istanbul to Mogadishu via Khartoum. In a statement, it said that it hoped Somalia would soon be “a very normal country.”

A “very normal country,” or even just a “normal country” has a tourism industry. Is this possible in Somalia? Is it even desirable?There’s certainly no shortage of interesting things to do in Somalia. The Somalis have a distinctive culture made up of clans and many are still pastoral nomads wandering the dry scrubland with herds of camels like they did centuries ago. Somali cuisine is a strange mixture of African and Italian, with one of the favorite foods being spaghetti, eaten by hand. There is also the possibility of it having a rich archaeological heritage of painted caves, like the one I visited at Laas Geel in the breakaway northern state of Somaliland. For more contemporary art, check out the funky murals adorning shops and public buildings.

You could even see a “technical” like that shown in this Wikimedia Commons image. Technicals are a favorite weapon of African states and militia. They’re basically vehicles with a machine gun or recoilless rifle mounted on top. I’ve come across these several times in the Horn of Africa. Trust me, when you see one at a roadblock, you stop. And no, I don’t have any pictures. There’s a difference between an adventure traveler and an idiot.

Which brings me to my point. Yes, with enough determination and bribery you could probably take a tour of Somalia. You’ll need to get in good with one of the clans and get some bodyguards, of course. A few people have done this. To say that it is dangerous is an understatement, but that’s neither here nor there. Every individual’s life is their own and if they want to risk it seeing a bombed-out country that’s their business. The problem comes when you look at the ramifications of such an action.

While making yourself a target for kidnappers and suicide bombers will give you some cool stories when, and if, you get back home to your friends, it’s good to remember that the people you pass in the street are home. Walking in Mogadishu puts everyone at risk. There’s enough trouble in Somali without adding a photo-snapping Westerner into the mix.

Luckily, if you want to explore Somali culture, you can still do so without risking getting shot in Mogadishu or kidnapped by pirates in Puntland. Two years ago, I spent an enjoyable ten days traveling in Somaliland without experiencing any threats, although it was a tough trip on many other levels. You can also visit Ethiopia’s Somali region. If you’re serious, drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch with my contacts.

Somali culture is relatively untouched by outside influences. This makes it very appealing to the adventure traveler. Hopefully, some day soon, Al-Shabab will be defeated, peace will come to Somalia, and visitors will be able to come in. This montage of Wikimedia Commons images shows what Mogadishu used to look like. Sadly, the city doesn’t look so good these days. Here’s hoping it will improve. For now, though, those Turkish Airlines flights will mostly be carrying Somalis coming on business or visiting loved ones.

California woman arrested in nail-painting incident on Southwest flight

by Dave Seminara on

According to CBS Los Angeles, a California woman was arrested in late February for painting her nails on a Southwest flight bound for Houston. The woman, identified as Jeanie Daniels, was on her way to visit her boyfriend and claims that the passengers seated next to her agreed to let her do her nails.

But one of the flight attendants reportedly objected, so Daniels retreated to the bathroom to finish the job. When she got out of the bathroom, she got into a verbal altercation with two flight attendants and claims she was detained by law enforcement officials at the Houston airport for more than 10 hours before a judge charged her with profane and abusive language.

The CBS story essentially reports Daniels’ side of the story along with an anodyne statement from Southwest, so it’s hard to know if the flight attendants could have diffused the situation or if Daniels was the instigator.I’ve actually never seen someone paint their nails on a flight but I wouldn’t be surprised if some flight attendants are becoming increasingly intolerant of obnoxious passengers. These days it’s not that uncommon to see passengers watching videos without headphones (especially kids), loudly chattering on mobile phones on the runway, and generally acting as though they were in their living rooms. On Monday, Gadling will begin a new March Madness series that will allow our readers to vote on which airline annoyances are the most egregious.

Do you think that these Southwest flight attendants were right in showing zero tolerance for the California nail-painter, or does it sound like they overreacted?

[Photo via Borispumps on Flickr]