Australian flight attendants object to airline ad of flight crew sponging down airplane

by Scott Carmichael on

Using sexy flight attendants to advertise an airline is nothing new, but the Flight Attendants Association of Australia says it has had enough of them. According to the FAAA, the ads are demeaning, and increase the risk of sexual harassment. One of the clips that triggered their outrage can be seen above.

The clip, made for Russian low cost airline AviaNova, shows the flight crew stripping down and sponging off the airplane. A spokeswoman for the FAAA said:

“It is a sad reflection of the attitude of the airlines’ executives, dare I say more than likely middle aged males, towards cabin crew, in particular female cabin crew, by portraying them in such a demeaning, distasteful and irrelevant manner.”

Now, I’m partly in agreement with her, but to paint airline executives as a bunch of middle aged males shows an equal amount of disrespect, as many of these ads come from the airline PR firm, and I highly doubt the airline executives specifically asked for something with some skin – PR and marketing people don’t need help from airline executives to know that sex and partial nudity sells.

The FAAA is going to take the issue to the International Transport Federation, but I suspect that they have more important issues to deal with than asking airlines to stop promoting themselves in the most effective way possible.

The Russian carrier is by no means the first to resort to this tactic, using looks and fashion to sell airplane tickets dates back to the 60’s and 70’s when airlines would pick attractive flight attendants for their planes, and feature them in commercials. In recent years, carriers like Ryanair and VivaAerobus have even commissioned calendars showing off their cabin crew.

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Photo of the Day (7.8.10)

by Meg Nesterov on
Delays happen. Sometimes there are mechanical issues. Other times, weather plays a role in the form of ash clouds or blizzards. And other times, your flight crew just needs to sample every flavor of Jelly Babies, the UK equivalent of Gummy Bears.

This Flickr shot from OurManWhere captures a moment in Bangkok in the Golden Age of Air Travel (at least for the crew) when travel is still an exciting and sweet time. So what if you are stuck in the airport when you could be enjoying a “Bigheart” treat? Add some local tabloid reading and a quick airport massage, and you could have a rather pleasant layover.

Catch any flight attendants on a sugar high or find a way to make the most of your flight delay? Submit your images to Gadling’s Flickr group right now and we might use it for a future Photo of the Day.

Mixed Messages, Part II: The role of the flight attendant

by Tom Johansmeyer on
It’s almost embarrassing to admit that the short, comical (and obviously very powerful) JetBlue video that I noticed on a recent flight left me with so much food for thought. Maybe it’s the fact that a stick figure chased a little red dot into the overhead compartment … I’m not sure. What does matter is that it had an effect. In addition to noticing the opportunity for increased service with no expense, it also occurred to me that the flight attendant is being positioned as a service employee … rather than the final arbiter of the rules or safety czar.
This made me think: how secondary is the service role to the primary safety responsibility of these airline employees? We’ve all seen plenty of commercials with smiling flight attendants eager to please their passengers. Yet, we have yet to see an airline invest its marketing dollars in a 30-second spot chronicling the exploits of the heroic flight attendant.

But, wouldn’t that be a great idea?

Think of how it would play out … a la David Hasselhoff with a torpedo buoy, red shorts and a mission to save a life. We’d see her (or him) burst forth from the galley, flotation device in hand and a determined look on her face (wow, this really is starting to sound like a Baywatch knockoff). “Safety First,” I’d label the ad campaign, with the only service highlighted being the gallant saving of a life.

What more could you ask for? I don’t know about you, but C.J. running up the aisle to guide the passengers sitting in the exit row is a pretty compelling reason to choose an airline.

Or, we could all face the fact that the service aspect of the gig isn’t really as secondary as it seems.

Mixed Messages: How airlines miss the service opportunity

by Tom Johansmeyer on

As I write this, I’m several thousand feet above the Atlantic Ocean on a JetBlue flight to St. Martin. I looked up from my screen for a moment, just to get a change of scenery from the seemingly endless line of characters that’s been manifesting before my eyes. On the small screen housed in the seatback before me, I saw a brief ad for JetBlue, positioning its service as a reason to keep flying this airline.

It was a clever little animated video. A passenger chases a flight attendant call button as my cat pursues the little red dot I shine on the floor, without regard to the futility of the task. Of course, this in-flight advertisement ends with the passenger on JetBlue flight, receiving high-touch service from the flight attendant.

Later in the flight, the flight attendants walked the aisle with premium snacks for sale. Ostensibly, this would seem like a contradiction – positioning a brand as service-intensive while nickel and diming passengers for grub on an international flight. The reality, however, is a bit more nuanced. The two don’t need to be mutually exclusive. In fact, airlines could probably get away with charging for more if they delivered a higher level of service … which bears no incremental cost.
A smile and prompt answer to the call button don’t cost the airline anything extra, and an efficient check-in desk or gate operation can offset luggage fees, premium snack charges and just about anything else.

Service shouldn’t be confused with amenities. We’re losing the latter at an incredible pace … while learning that the definition is much broader than most of us probably realized. But, this doesn’t have to come at the expense of the former.

What I encountered on this JetBlue flight is that the service was commensurate with the positive portion of the animated video, suggesting an airline that has figured out how to make the most of its brand without having to submit its margins to the gobbling effects of meals and headsets.

Airlines have a unique chance to deliver more service without having to make any financial sacrifices or charge higher prices. All it takes is a smile.
[photo by mrkathika via Flickr]

Spirit Airlines strike continues – 600 flight attendants furloughed

by Scott Carmichael on

The two day strike at Spirit Airlines turned into a three day strike, and then into a five day strike. And with no end in sight, the airline just sent its 600 flight attendants some bad news – they are all furloughed.

The move means these staff members will be without a pay check until the 500 Spirit Airlines pilots reach an agreement on their new contract.

The pilots are currently talking with the airline at an “undisclosed location”, but it is pretty clear that the airline is ready to play hardball. It also makes the pilots look like the bad guys, even though they are just trying to fight for what they (claim they) deserve.

The airline has been on strike since June 11, and is most likely losing millions – they usually carry 10,000 passengers a day, and without that revenue, it’ll take quite some time to catch up. The current talks involve the airline, the pilots union and the National Mediation Board.

[Image from Getty Images]