Ten of the sexiest commercials in airline history

Last year, we compiled a list of vintage airline commercials, and since the Internet is full of some of the greatest commercials commissioned by airlines, we picked “sexiest airline commercials” as the topic of this top ten lineup.

The list has some vintage clips (Southwest Airlines hotpants) and some pretty recent stuff. So, sit back and enjoy these ten sexiest airline commercials.

Virgin Atlantic 25th anniversary video


This commercial is brilliant – it takes all the best (and the worst) of 1984 to celebrate 25 years of Virgin Atlantic


Air New Zealand “Nothing To Hide”

Bodypainted cabin crew members, and a cameo appearance by the CEO of the airline.


Southwest Airlines

Remember before Southwest Airlines? We didn’t have hostesses in hotpants. And now we still don’t, but at least they don’t charge for checking a bag. Though if I’m honest, I’d probably prefer the hotpants.


Airport metal detector prank

Alright, so it isn’t for an airline, and it isn’t even for a product remotely related to flying, but it has long been one of the most popular commercials involving an airport.


Silverjet

Seriously? Using a lesbian mile high romp to advertise your airline? Sadly, the airline only lasted two years before they realized that their all business class service couldn’t survive in the new economy.


Fake airline, funny commercial

This commercial for “Lynx Airlines” was made in 2008.Obviously it isn’t for a real airline, but it does mimic the services Ryanair said they’d offer in Business Class should they ever start flying transatlantic.


National Airlines “Go Go vacations”

They really don’t make them like this any more – because if they did, someone would probably sue.


If you wanted to sleep with him, you would have married him

Not every sexy airline commercial involves a stewardess in hotpants.


“I just love a man in a JetBlue uniform”

These girls love pilots – but only JetBlue pilots. Talk about being picky.


Nothing says awkward like exposing yourself to your inlaws.

(Warning, may not be suitable for work). This is one of those commercials that was clearly devised before the ad agency had a taker, because nothing in the clip is even remotely aviation related. That doesn’t prevent it from being hilarious.


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Bad news for the world’s airlines – nobody is going to make any money this year

How bad is the current economic climate for airlines? Well, assuming your number one priority as an airline, is to make money, then it is pretty safe to say that things royally suck.

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Steve Ridgway says that a combination of low fares, high fuel prices and reduced passenger numbers will prevent any of the world’s major airlines from earning a single penny in 2009.

This is not the news that they’ll make a little less, or that only some airlines will suffer, apparently nobody is going to have a good year.

This bad news has already forced some airlines to ditch their first class service on some routes, and others to ground planes awaiting better times.

What this means to us travelers is probably not going to make the airlines any happier either – raising prices won’t help them, so they’ll most likely be forced to keep the low fares coming.

Some airlines (like Virgin Atlantic) are hurting, but were smart enough to see this coming, and were able to take some precautions. The airline slowed down orders for new planes, and took some profitable gambles on fuel prices. Their actions have paid off – sales at the Virgin group actually increased by 8.4%, none of which will mean much if there is no profit left. Still, it beats the $640 Million in losses British Airways suffered.

Continental Airlines experiments with algae jet fuel mix

On Wednesday, Continental Airlines flew a Boeing 737 from Houston in a circle over the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing too special about that. Except that this flight was a test of a new 50/50 jet fuel/biofuel mixture, powering one of the engines.

The bio portion of the fuel was a mix of algae and jatropha oil, an alternative fuel that can be grown in poor soil, yet is able to produce more yields than soybean. The fuel was approved for aviation use last year, and meets or exceeds all requirements for a jet fuel.

The jet was not the first biofuel powered airplane. Early last year, Virgin Atlantic flew a 747 from London to Amsterdam powered partially by coconut oil.

Most experts agree that the aviation industry will have to invest heavily in finding alternative fuels, but given how much is at stake during these trials it is understandable that they take things kind of slow.

This trial was a huge success, and the test pilot called it “textbook”. Whether or not we’ll start flying in coconut and algae powered jets any time soon, will all depend on how quickly these new crops can be grown on a massive scale. The amount of biofuel required to become a really viable alternative is quite staggering.

(Via: BBC News)

007 Flies Virgin

Product placement has long been a part of the James Bond franchise. The trend will continue with the soon to be released Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig’s second outing as 007. It is not only Smirnoff and BMW getting in on the shameless promotion this time. Bond will be flying on Virgin Atlantic between the US and UK – in the Upper Class Cabin, of course.

According to the Virgin Atlantic web site, filming took place on board one of their aircraft in January in England. The airline seems to be intent on milking its cameo for all it’s worth. They are even serving a Bond-inspired cocktail in their US and UK clubhouses. No, you won’t hear any orders for shaken-not-stirred martinis. The new drink is called a Vesper. It consists of Bombay Sapphire, Grey Goose and Lillet Blanc. (At least Bond finally realized that Smirnoff is rotgut).

I’m not sure if getting their brand on Bond will bring customers to the airline. I mean, is there really anyone out there who would fly Virgin simply because a fiction character, however dashing and cool, does? Quantum of Solace hits screens on November 14th.

Related

Galley Gossip: Airline for sale!

This is it, people, your chance to buy an airline, because Volare Airlines, an Italian low-cost carrier, is now up for sale – again!

What’s that? Not enough money you say? Why don’t we all pool our money together and buy…oh I don’t know…maybe just one of the airplanes. We can each buy a seat. And since we’d only own one airplane, we can call our small little airline MY PLANE. That means when someone asks, “what airline did you travel on,” you can then say, “My Plane,” and mean it, because it is your plane, as well as my plane.

We’ll take votes and fly the most popular route once a day. But the real beauty of owning My Plane is this…I would…I mean WE would get to design it from the bottom up. Just the way we want. And because we’d only want the best for My Plane, which is also your plane, I’d like to make a few suggestions..

After reading all 754 comments from my post Flight Attendant Pet Peeve #1, Answer Please! it’s apparent we should only hire flight attendants from one of the Asian carriers. Why? Passengers, at least the ones who commented on my post, seem to love them. Hey, what’s not to love about an airline that hires flight attendants who are all the same uniform size – small. That makes complete sense – one size uniform for the one and only airplane. Forget equal opportunity, we make the rules at this airline! And while we’re at it making those rules, how about we only allow one size of passenger onboard – small of course, which will help save fuel. As you know, saving on fuel is the name of the game these days. Which is why that small passenger can only bring onboard one small bag and place it under the small seat. The small flight attendant will then serve a small meal to the small passenger with the small bag under the small seat and…wait a minute…we’re not talking about us, are we? I think we are. We’re the ones traveling on My Plane, remember? So scratch that. But we can still steal a few of those Singapore Airline girls, but make them funny, like the good people at Southwest Airlines.

Of course we’d have to include Virgin’s beauty therapy services on My Plane. Trust me when I tell you that I’ll be the first one in line for a manicure and massage. Yes, I know, I am working the flight, but don’t forget, when the flight attendant is happy, the passenger is happy. Or is it the other way around? I can’t remember. I’m too numb from my massage to remember. But all you need to remember is that you’re getting all this for Jet Blue prices. Could it get any better?

As for the flight attendant uniforms, personally I’d like to go with the Air France uniform. Have you seen it? Hello – can you say LOVE IT! As in Love it – Love it! As in there aren’t enough “love’s” in a sentence to possibly describe how I feel. That’s how much I love it. Seriously, if the airline I currently work for now had to merge with another airline, can we please please please merge with Air France! Please. Not that I want to merge. No flight attendant wants to merge. Not when seniority is involved. Because seniority, at an airline, is everything. More than everything. But if I HAD to merge, well that uniform might be kind of nice to merge into. Since it’s My Plane, and my uniform, it’s all about me, on My Plane. Oh and you, too. I guess.

What kind of food would we serve? That’s easy. Cathay Pacific, I hear, has the best food in the industry. At least that’s what The Husband once wrote via email from a Cathay flight. Let me tell you that email was long, and dedicated strictly to food. Apparently the food on Cathay is THAT good, as in two pages of email good. And who doesn’t want good food on a flight? I know I do. Which is why I always bring my own from home. When I can remember to bring my own from home. Which isn’t often. Since I don’t cook, that much, from home. Not since the husband made me promise never to cook again. Anyway, you know it’s all about the food on a flight, right? I mean isn’t that what you look for in an airline when you’re booking a trip? Of course it is. Otherwise you wouldn’t be complaining so much about the bad food. Or lack of food.

We should really go with Virgin Atlantic’s cabin interior. Neon florescent red and blue lights glowing throughout the cabin are definitely a must. Especially on a red eye flight. They scream HAPPY! Why, because you’re happy, happy to be on My Plane! Which also includes Virgin’s in-flight seat to seat chat. I wonder if that chat extends between passengers and flight attendants? If so, that means you can leave home without your stealth secret sound amplifier, the one you bought from Skymall, the same one I mentioned in my last post, the top five skymall gifts for the frequent flier (that’s you!) and just text me your drink order. Wouldn’t that be nice? And perhaps we could chat a little. Really get to know each other. Oh wait, you see someone cute oboard? Me, too! Just send that person a little text and don’t forget to add your seat number – in case that person happens to be wearing a very sophisticated blue uniform and wants to slide you a drink on the house for umm…ya know…for being so nice and all.

So whadaya say…should we go for it?