Guest Editor Joel Chusid

Guest Editor Joel Chusid

Low Cost Goes Upscale

It’s pretty rare when an LCC (industry terminology for “low cost carrier”) adds frills, but airBaltic is trying something new starting this month. The Riga-based Latvian airline allows passengers to pre-order one of 20 tempting meals from their online website. Those who do place orders will be served on board first.  We’re not talking pre-wrapped sandwiches, folks.  Hot meals such as fish souvlaki over rice with a smoked trout starter, chocolate cake and wine are available on flights of more than 90 minutes, and on shorter flights, cold meals such as shrimp salad with cherry tomatoes and quail eggs with white wine and dessert. For breakfast, there are omelets and pancakes. The selections range from Latvian cuisine to seasonal and children’s offerings and a chef’s special, and there are additional options available for those with special dietary needs. Should you forget to order before you get to the airport, you can still order lasagna up to forty minutes before departure. Take a look at their 14-page menu online here: http://www.airbaltic.com/upload_file/Pre-order-menu.pdf.  You can customize your meal by clicking and dragging your choices on to a virtual tray. Pre-ordering meals isn’t new, but this may be a first for an LCC. I do remember the days of yore when people could order the seafood platter on American Airlines in advance for free, and in coach!  US Airways has been offering a similar advance pre-order service to selected overseas markets for the past year.

Leave it to Branson

The airline industry has been home to many colorful personalities, but Sir Richard Branson is arguably the most daring and certainly good natured.  Two years ago, Branson, the CEO of Virgin, bet Tony Fernandes, the owner of AirAsia X on which of their racing teams would win, and Branson lost. The loser had to agree to don the bright crimson female uniform, complete with makeup and heels, of a flight attendant at the other’s airline and work a flight. Well, Branson lost the wager, and on May 12 he “worked” AirAsia X’s flight 237 from Perth to Kuala Lumpur. Tickets were sold for $400 one way with $100 going to the Starlight Foundation. Branson was required to meet the airline’s grooming standards, which means shaving his legs, but, at this writing, I hadn’t yet heard if the beard was a casualty!

Taking Golf to New Heights

As “The Official Airline of Golf Lovers”, leave it to Southwest to do something crazy. On March 31 they held a putting contest down the aisle!

Canine Misconnect

One Thanksgiving eve some years ago, on my way from DFW to San Diego, I witnessed a passenger who had mistakenly boarded the flight in error. They discovered this on the runway takeoff queue, and there was no way that plane was going back to the gate. The worst part is the passenger had originated in San Diego and had planned to board the flight at the adjacent gate to Atlanta; instead he got to go back home. This was a real Thanksgiving turkey! And there are stories, albeit fairly infrequent, of airline personnel boarding unaccompanied children on the wrong plane. Well, this past March United accepted Hendrix, an English springer spaniel, as an unaccompanied pet, at Newark bound for Phoenix. Ten minutes before the flight was due to land in Phoenix, a United employee called Edith Albach and informed her that Hendrix was on his way to Ireland in error!  Upon arrival at Dublin, Hendrix was walked and fed and then put back on the plane to Newark where he was reunited with his owner, on a stopover, before continuing on to Phoenix.  The poor pup was on three flights for over 24 hours!

Now You See It, Now You Don’t

Turkish Airlines, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, made it into the news when their flight attendants were told they could no longer wear red or dark pink lipstick or nail polish so as to not impair the “visual integrity” of its staff. This sparked an outcry on social media, and the union got involved. Just a few days later, the CEO reversed the order, blaming the misguided rule on overzealous junior managers.

Fresh Daily Airline News from World Airline News: CLICK HERE

Now you can stay and now dine on a Boeing 747 in Stockholm (story with photos and video): CLICK HERE