Let Delta Haul Your Christmas Tree

Jaunted: If you’re off to grandma’s house next week to celebrate Thanksgiving and you want to bring a Christmas tree back home with you—no problem! Delta will gladly carry your tree under the belly of the plane, and in fact, they’ve been doing this for a few years now and are the only domestic carrier to do so—we think.

Delta is hardly an extension of Santa's sleigh, so obviously there’s some special rules and regulations when it comes to checking a Christmas tree. First, we’re thinking that you might need to remind the agent at check-in that this is totally normal, as this is probably not one of Delta’s most widely used policies. Next, be sure to get ready for plenty of stares from fellow passengers and well as those TSA folks that seem to always be hanging around.

Once it's time to check the tree just remember that freshly cut trees are considered limited-release baggage, so that pretty much means you just need to accept whatever damage might occur. So please don’t flip out when there’s a couple pine needles missing once you get home. It’s a domestic option only, so no American trees overseas please.

Just like its fellow cargo companions, your tree is subject to all sorts of size restrictions and baggage rules. We guess the tree counts as you first checked bag, so be sure to carry-on if you’re dreaming of bringing a tree along as your traveling companion. Finally, you might need to make a quick trip to Home Depot or the local garden center, as your tree needs to be wrapped up in burlap or something similar for its holiday flight.

Man Sues Airline for Expired Drink Coupons

Reuters: Southwest Airlines Co. was sued by an Illinois man over the discount carrier's decision to stop honoring coupons for free alcoholic drinks, which it had given to select travelers and which lacked expiration dates.

The plaintiff Adam Levitt said Southwest had for years awarded customers like him, who bought tickets through its premium-priced "Business Select" program, hundreds of thousands of coupons for the drinks, which would otherwise cost $5 each.

But on Aug. 1, 2010, Southwest changed its policy, and said Business Select passengers may use their coupons only on the day of travel printed on them. Some other passengers were given more time.

"In an industry where the competition is always knocking (or banging) on the door and where watching the bottom-line is more important than ever, we owe it to our employees, customers, and shareholders to find ways to operate smarter," Mike Hafner, vice president of cabin services, wrote on a company blog.

Levitt, who lives in the Chicago area, said the policy change amounted to a breach of contract. He attached to his complaint copies of 45 coupons for free drinks, which he said he had accumulated and which the change left worthless.

"Southwest decided that it would make more money -- improve its 'bottom-line' -- by choosing not to honor the coupons that consumers had already paid and bargained for," said the complaint filed Wednesday in Chicago federal court.

The lawsuit seeks class-action status for Southwest customers in the United States with unredeemed drink coupons. It seeks compensatory damages and other remedies.

Southwest had no immediate comment. A lawyer for Levitt did not immediately return a call seeking a comment.

U.S. carriers are reducing services and cutting expenses as fuel costs rise and an uncertain economy threatens to reduce demand for travel. Southwest, based in Dallas, has long been among the healthiest major U.S. carriers financially.

TLC & Southwest Team Up for Reality TV Show

MSNBC: Americans seem to have an insatiable appetite for reality shows. They also seem to be endlessly fascinated with the good, the bad and the ugly about their flight experiences.

Now, it seems, the two will be mixed for the television public – again.

TLC, the television network that is part of Discovery Communications, announced Wednesday that it is starting production on a new series that will take viewers behind the scenes of the modern air travel experience.

The network has ordered 13 half-hour episodes, which will be produced by ITV Studios America and based on unprecedented access to Southwest Airlines.

“We were interested in working with Southwest,” said Dustin P. Smith, vice president of communications for TLC, “as it is one of the largest airlines in the country and is known for its exuberant corporate culture and for having refreshing and personal customer service that is regarded as unique in the industry.” Those qualities, combined with an in-depth look at the hurdles of traveling, would create a dynamic show, he said.

Ashley Dillon, a spokesperson for Southwest Airlines, said the airline was chosen also because of its tradition of transparency, which relies heavily on the use of social media, blogs and other media.

“We’re always telling people what we’re doing behind the scenes. Why not put that on TV?” she said “That makes us an attractive airline for a TV show.”

Southwest’s daily operations were previously the subject of a television series in 2004-2005 when “Airline” ran for three seasons on A&E.

“Customers loved that show,” Dillon said. “Airline”aired on Monday nights, and on Tuesday mornings there would be a surge of people applying for jobs, as the show reflected the important role that employees played at the airline, Dillon said. And even six and seven years later, employees featured on the show are stopped at airports by travelers seeking autographs.

“We found people loved behind-the-scenes views.” Most travelers, she said, do not know about all the challenges of flight – from getting all the bags boarded to landing safely.

The new series “will be fresh and new and different,” Dillon said. The earlier show focused on customer service at the airport, but the current production will be broader and will include many more employees: maintenance workers, providers of drink and food, pilots as well as attendants.

“Employees will be the storytellers,” she said.

The series will also feature stories of real travelers – beginning with the purchase of tickets at their homes and continuing for the duration of their journeys.

What’s the appeal of a show based on such a mundane occurrence?

“Airlines are a fascinating business,” said Henry H. Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst and co-founder of the Atmosphere Research Group, a market research company. “It's an industry known for attracting 'characters' in certain roles, especially like pilots and flight attendants. Non-airline employees see the industry as somewhat 'glamorous' thanks to the ability to see so much of the U.S. (and abroad) either for free or on deep discounts. Some mistakenly believe that there is a lot of hanky-panky on crew layovers, though that couldn't be further from the truth.”

Harteveldt said other recent shows to profile the industry include "Fly Girls", a series that “capitalized on the popularity of reality shows, presented against the background of a fun, young, hip airline like Virgin,” and “Pan Am,” “a scripted show that is trying to capitalize on the popularity of the 'go-go' time frame of the 1960s when the economy was stronger and so much was new and possible. It's a clear rip-off of 'Mad Men,' and a bad one at that.”

Harteveldt said he was not surprised that Southwest was chosen as the focus of the TLC series.

“Southwest is a well-known national airline with a reputation for friendly, and a bit off-beat, customer service,” he said. In addition, Southwest is careful about the people it hires, and has a distinct corporate culture which adds to the appeal. “Its employees are generally happy to work there, so you're less likely to hear negative comments from employees.”

A title for the series and a firm date for the premiere have not yet been set, but it is expected to debut sometime in the spring of 2012, Dillon said.

Production is scheduled to begin this coming weekend at Baltimore Washington International Airport and Denver International Airport, with additional airports to be added in coming weeks.

Delta In-Flight Ad Spurs Backlash

ABC News: A video commercial (since removed from YouTube) sponsored by a non-profit, anti-vaccine organization now playing on Delta flights has come under fire by a pediatrician organization, prompting the airlines to review its approval process for in-flight programming.

The nearly three-minute public service announcement put on by the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) describes alternative methods to preventing the flu besides getting the flu shot.

The video also includes a statement by the president and co-founder of NVIC, Barbara Loe Fisher, saying the flu shot doesn't effectively protect against nearly 80 percent of flu cases.

In a letter to Delta, the American Academy of Pediatrics president, Robert Block, urged the airline company to consider removing the ads. Displaying NVIC's message on Delta flights is, "putting the lives of children at risk, leaving them unprotected from vaccine-preventable diseases," Block wrote.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 49,000 Americans die from flu-related complications each year. According to ABC News' chief health and medical editor, Dr Richard Besser, the ad leaves out the importance of the flu vaccine.

"Flu vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the flu," said Besser. "This was not made clear in the ads from the National Vaccine Information Center."

In a response to the AAP, Delta conceded that the video does not point to vaccines as the primary source for flu prevention.

"Therefore, we have changed our internal review processes and procedures to help ensure that submitted content is vetted differently going forward," Delta's general manager of occupational health, Barbara Martin, wrote in response.

Delta declined to comment to ABC News on specific changes it plans to make to its review process. Fisher told ABC News she was shocked to hear that Delta is reviewing its approval method.

"This is the first time I've heard about it, it's a little concerning to me," said Lowe, who added that the airline initially approached her organization about creating the PSA for its flights.

"I really feel that when you see this video, it doesn't tell people not to vaccinate," said Lowe. "It talks about becoming educated."

The video led to an online petition calling for removal of the ads. The petition has received more than 2,000 signatures.

According to the petition, "Putting travelers onto an airplane, where they are put in close proximity, if not direct contact, with other travelers for extended periods of time while discouraging them to do everything possible to protect themselves and each other is simply irresponsible at best, and downright dangerous at worst."

The paid commercial will run on Delta flights through November, which complies with the two parties' contract.

This is not the first time NVIC has come under fire for its public service announcements. In March 2011, the AAP wrote a letter asking CBS to remove NVIC's video ad that played on the station's Jumbotron in Times Square.  In December, the vaccine advocacy group Every Child by Two will display its PSA on Delta flights calling for everyone 6 months and older to get the flu shot.

"What concerns me is that there's an attempt to demonize consumer advocates and to isolate and eliminate us from the public conversation about an important public health topic," said Lowe.

Qantas Airlines Celebrates 'Mo'vember

MSNBC: Even the smoothest flights will be plenty hairy for passengers on one Qantas Airways plane through the rest of the month.

The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, is being decorated with a nose-cone mustache to spread the word that it’s not November.

It’s Movember!

“Mo” is Australian slang for mustache and the designated vehicle for what four Melbourne men admit is the laziest way to raise money and awareness in the battle against deadly prostate cancer.

It’s like a 5K for couch potatoes.

“We call it the hairy ribbon,” Adam Garone, Movember CEO and one of four co-founders, told msnbc.com. “Our motto is, ‘Changing the face of men’s health. We want to use growing a mustache to get men talking about prostate cancer, and this is a fun way to do it.”

It all started at a 2003 backyard party when Garone and his mates were talking about how every fashion eventually recycles and becomes popular again.

All but one.

“We talked about mustaches and how popular they were in the 1970s and ‘80s,” he said. “But they never came back. There were 30 of us, and we decided to devote the month to growing mustaches.”

Expecting support, they received revulsion. Garone said his girlfriend hated it and his bosses at Vodofone forbid him from making sales calls, reactions that only added to the fun.

So the next year they decided to do it again — only this time for a good cause.

They marched into the local headquarters of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. The organization said they’d welcome any funds they raised but, no, they were reluctant to affiliate with such silliness.

Little did they know the men had tapped into a perfectly manly way to reach men about an area they’re often reluctant to discuss. And it isn’t their funny bones.

In that first year, 450 friends raised $55,000 and the organization began sensing the so-called “Mo Bros” and “Mo Sistas” were onto something that would soon take off in ways that had nothing to do with Australia’s iconic airline.

In addition to the mo-plane, Qantas spokeswoman Emma Kearns said the airline placed a giant mo on its Sydney terminal building. "We're proud to support Movember and are encouraging our team to 'grow a mo' for Movember," she said, adding that prizes for best mo will be given. Females are encouraged to add to the mo-mentum by sporting fakes.

The disease is personal at Qantas, where CEO Alan Joyce was treated for an aggressive form of prostate cancer earlier this year. Early detection, however, led to a successful operation and a return to work within a few weeks.

“My doctor told me that there was an 80 percent chance that I would have been dead within 10 years if it hadn’t been detected when it was,” the 45-year-old Joyce said in July.

Movember swooped into North America in 2007, and Garone said the mustache and nearly 500,000 global participants, including affiliates at Livestrong and the Prostate Cancer Foundation, have helped raise $174 million.

The stunt with Qantas thrills the group, who want to make facial hair to November what pink and breast cancer awareness are to October. They are optimistic more promotional stunts will ensue.

“I wouldn’t advocate vandalism over works of art, but the Mona Lisa would look great with a Photoshopped mustache,” he said.

Couple Sue Airline Over Cockroaches on Flight

WCNC: A North Carolina couple is suing Air Tran Airways, alleging they were sickened by cockroaches coming out of air vents and storage areas on a recent flight. They say flight attendants ignored their concerns.

WCNC-TV reports that Charlotte attorney Harry Marsh and his fiancée, Kaitlin Rush, saw the cockroaches soon after takeoff on a Sept. 15 flight from Charlotte to Houston with a stop-over in Atlanta. They say flight attendants were too busy to investigate the problem. Marsh said Rush became nauseous and now doesn't want to fly.

They're claiming mental and emotional distress and seeking more than $100,000, plus the price of their tickets.

Air Tran said it can't comment on pending litigation, but it denies several allegations. The airline says cleanliness is important and that planes are regularly and professionally treated for bugs.

VIdeo:

An American Airlines Ad Staring Kevin Spacey

Jaunted: Get ready for another airline ad to hit your television screen, as American Airlines is ready to interrupt your weeknights on the couch with new spots featuring Kevin Spacey. That's the good news. The bad news is that technically they’re only going to be run in the United Kingdom — because we all know actors hate selling stuff in their own backyard when they can do it overseas instead. Sure he’s an Academy Award winner, but can he put butts in AA's First and Business Class seats? 

In total there’s a few new ads kicking around showing off how American Airlines caters to the individual in all of us. If you take the time to check out the one we stuck (below), you’ll see Spacey doing his thing as several different types of people — from dad to designer — all getting ready to head off to the airport. As the ad winds down, Kevin Spacey tells us he loves American Airlines, while saying hello to himself as his other personalities seated in first class.

The other ads show different ways to check-in — again different strokes for different folks — along with the various dining options aboard an American Airlines flight. Like we said earlier, the only downer is that these are only hitting the airwaves across the pond. That means no Spacey commercials for us here in the nifty fifty. We say that’s okay, because we really don’t think these ads are that catchy or creative — although we do like us some Spacey.

Video:

Boeing Signs Record-Breaking Deal

Emirates Airlines 777

CNN: Boeing and Emirates Airlines have signed an $18 billion deal -- the largest deal in the aircraft manufacturer's history -- to supply the airline with 50 aircraft, with options to expand the deal even further.

U.S.-based Boeing has agreed to build 50 of its 777-300ER airliners for the Dubai-based Emirates Airlines, the companies said. The agreement also contains options to supply an additional 20 aircraft, which could add $8 billion to the deal.

At $18 billion, this is already Boeing's largest deal as measured in dollars, the aircraft manufacturer said Sunday. The company also said this is a record year for the 777, with orders for this year totaling 182 so far. That breaks the prior record of 154 orders in 2005.

Emirates' fleet of 94 777s is the largest in the world, according to Boeing. The 777-300ER is designed for long-haul flights, with the "ER" standing for "extended range."

The magnitude of the deal provides a hopeful sign about the economy. Airlines in particular suffered when fuel prices spiked in 2008, and have coped by eliminating their least fuel-efficient flights and by adding fees to services that were once included in the fare, like food, check bags and pet travel.

Boeing also unveiled the 787 Dreamliner last month. After long delays in production, the Dreamliner made its first commercial flight on Oct. 27 from Tokyo to Hong Kong.

The Dreamliner is the first commercial jet to be built from light-weight composite material made from carbon fibers. United Continental Airlines is the first U.S. carrier to take delivery of the plane, which it plans to start flying next year.

United also recently launched its first biofueled flight, with a 737-800 produced by Boeing.

Emirates, which refers to itself as "the world's fastest growing airline," released its results for the first half of its fiscal year on Nov. 3, saying that it had added 10 aircraft and 3,400 staffers during that time.

Emirates now has 161 aircraft, ramping up its fleet from 60 in the last seven years.

How Ryanair Gets All the Media Attention

Jaunted: If you were going to do a chart of all the obnoxious ways that Irish LCC Ryanair tries to get media attention, first of all it would be an awkwardly large chart. Second, it would have to cover - at a minimum - the ads that are tasteless, the ads that are sexist, the ads that are sexist and tasteless. Then you would have to cover their heavy-handed intentionally sensational "news" announcements, which usually revolve around things they're never going to do and almost always involve bodily fluids. So bathroom fees and toilets, mostly.

Sex and pee pee. That's what their PR people usually bring to the table. And now, a new bodily fluid to add the chart: semen! How innovative. How risque.

Ryanair head Michael O'Leary took a break from telling Greece passengers that they could pay for flights with mountain goats - classy! - to announce that the airline was considering renting in-flight iPads. Except he didn't frame the announcement as being about iPads. Instead he talked about how passengers would be free to use their rented iPads to view porn.

Sure every women on the planet is already skeeved out by the idea that the guy next to her could be flipping through Playboy on the next long haul, which is something that actually happens. But Ryanair has a "bodily fluids" media playbook in place, so that's what they're going to talk about.

Now in fairness, it's undeniable that appealing to the lowest common denominator works. Ryanair's profits are up a full 20%, with traffic growing 12%, even though—and we can't emphasize this enough, so we're emphasizing it again with a news story from yesterday—they're not actually all that cheap. And that, boys and girls, is why we can't have nice things.

Australian Airline Offering In-Flight iPads

The Sydney Morning Herald: Jetstar has started offering its passengers iPads to watch movies, play games and read magazines, in what it says is a world first.

The Apple tablets made their debut on a Jetstar flight from Auckland to Melbourne yesterday.

The devices will be available on flights within Australia longer than two hours as well as selected trans-Tasman and international routes, from today.

Jetstar said yesterday its long-haul passengers out of Australia and New Zealand would be able to hire the tablet from next month. They will cost between $10 and $15 to hire.

There were also plans to introduce the iPads on Jetstar Asia's services operating out of Singapore, Jetstar said.

Jetstar first tested the use of iPads on board its flights for a two-week period in June 2010.

Jetstar group chief executive Bruce Buchanan said the airline was now looking at what inflight entertainment options would be offered on its Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which are due to arrive at Jetstar in 2013.

Jetstar is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas.

First U.S. Passenger Flight Powered by Biofuel

Chicago Tribune: A Continental Airlines plane burning jet fuel derived partially from algae landed at O'Hare International Airport Monday afternoon, marking the first U.S. commercial flight powered by biofuels.

The Boeing 737-800, carrying 154 passengers, flew from Houston's Bush International Airport using a blend of 60 percent traditional petroleum-based jet fuel and 40 percent aviation biofuel made from algal oil, officials said.

The "green jet fuel'' was provided by Solazyme and produced using a process developed by Honeywell UOP.

The technology converts inedible natural oils and wastes into a more environmentally friendly jet fuel that offers as much as an 85 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum-based jet fuel, officials said.

"Sustainable biofuels produced on a large scale at an economically viable price can one day play a meaningful role in powering everyone's trip on an airline,'' said Pete McDonald, United Airlines' executive vice president and chief operations officer.

Continental is a subsidiary of United Continental Holdings.

United announced Monday that it signed a letter of intent with San Francisco-based Solazyme to negotiate the purchase of 20 million gallons of algae-derived biofuel annually. Delivery would start as early as 2014, officials said.

How Virgin Atlantic Puts Flair in the Air

Washington Post: “Attention, attention, we are making an emergency landing on water. Stay calm,” barked Matt Whipp, a Virgin Atlantic training manager, with urgent authority. “Put on your seat belts and life jackets. Feet in front, heads down. Feet in front, heads down.”

The planeful of passengers quickly followed orders, slipping on their safety gear and folding their bodies into crash position. But for a fleeting second, I froze. Not out of paralyzing fear, but out of concern for my hair. I didn’t want to muss the towering masterpiece, a veritable blond meringue, that topped off my air hostess uniform.

High-flying glamour is back on the radar, fueled in part by the new ABC show “Pan Am,” which focuses on flight attendants who work the airplane aisles like catwalks. Of course, the program is fiction. For fact, I’d popped over to London and Virgin Atlantic’s training center, where new flight attendants are minted and spritzed with glitz.

“Most of the girls are quite glamorous,” said Laura Mansell, an 11-year flight attendant with the airline. “We like dressing up.” The men, who are 30 percent of the crew, are equally debonair.

For a full day, I rotated through classes for everything from safety to grooming (the birthplace of my beehive) and observed the new hires as they role-played dramas light and dark. I learned about safety procedures and meal service, and discovered the redemptive powers of red lipstick. And even though I wouldn’t earn a pair of silver wings, the airline’s version of a diploma, I would take home a better understanding of the rigors and demands of the job — plus a lusty head of hair.

Virgin Atlantic is a rare peacock in the airline industry, which over the years has morphed into a flock of mostly tired old birds. The British company, founded 27 years ago by swashbuckling entrepreneur Richard Branson, defies the norm, encapsulating a golden age of air travel when elegance and professionalism prevailed.

“The thing that differentiates Virgin Atlantic from other airlines is what we call the ‘Virgin flair,’ ” said Helen Howe, a safety and security training instructor I met on the flight to London. “It’s a can-do attitude, a willingness to smile,” even when things go horribly wrong.

Although the airline was an early innovator (it was first in the world to offer seat-back entertainment), its true standouts are the flight attendants. Dashing in red suits and confident by nature, the women look as if they could pose for a glossy one minute and administer CPR the next. Plait one another’s hair, then defuse a volatile passenger. If “Pan Am” needs extras, the studio’s agents should call VA’s agents.

Because of the airline’s glossy style and reputation, positions are in high demand. The company receives reams of applications (16,000 in the last recruitment drive) but, like an Ivy League college, accepts only a small percentage (500).

I don’t know whether I would have made the cut, but at the very least, I was going to look the part, from hair to toe.

The 5¹/₂-week training is divided into four sections: cabin safety and security, service, AvMed (aviation medicine) and grooming. The course starts with 12 days of hypothetical harrowing situations, the kind that end up as headlines. The beauty king and queen portion falls in Week 4.

I, however, did not follow the proper order, much to my glee. After rolling in from an overnight flight, I seriously needed a new face; my other one had melted somewhere over the Atlantic.

The primping lessons are integral to the Virgin Atlantic look, a polished style with a retro streak — like a ’50s housewife gone corporate.

“We are taught hair, makeup and how to wear the uniform with pride,” Howe said. “No matter what age or culture we are, we all kind of look the same. We’re all the Virgin Atlantic brand.”

If you’ve flown out of Dulles International Airport in the past 15 years, you might have stumbled across the Virgin Atlantic darlings, who stand out like hot peppers in a fallow field. The women wear red fitted blazers and almost-pencil skirts. A multicolor scarf fluffs out from the neck of their white short-sleeve blouses. On the ground, they don saucy red pumps, which upon takeoff are swapped out for more sensible black heels. The men are more restrained in charcoal gray suits with a vest and a white button-down shirt. A single pop of color cascades from their collar: a silky tie as purple as passion. (Secret tidbit: For safety reasons, the tie is a clip-on.)

Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice a whiff of minimalist austerity. Women may accessorize only with a pair of silver studs, one ring on each hand, a watch on one wrist and a bracelet on the other (no bangles or charms). No necklaces allowed. Costume jewelry is banned. For makeup, blush, mascara and red lipstick are required; apple cheeks are preferred over dramatic slashes. Women’s bangs may not dip below the eyebrows, and ponytails can’t soar above the crown. Men’s beards must stop at the jawline, and sideburns must remain north of the earlobe. No primary-color hair dyes on either sex.

To demonstrate the Cinderella transformation, the fairy godmothers of beauty, hair and fashion took charge of my face, my locks and my style. First came Mim Allgood, a sprite with a sunny disposition who dusted my cheeks and eyes with tawny powders, coated my lashes in squid-ink black and smeared my lips with a red so bright, I could have stopped traffic simply by puckering.

“Use feathery strokes,” she advised for lipstick patrol, “and don’t take it to the edge or you’ll look like the Joker.”

The department’s experts track current fashion trends, which they pass along to the staff in a photo-heavy magazine called “Runway” and with mood boards, a collage of au courant styles. Currently in vogue: “Black Swan”-inspired buns and side ’dos, boho-chic front plaits, singer Adele’s bouffant and, of course, anything Kate Middleton.

“I love a hairpiece,” said Helen Kavanagh, the company’s 17-year hair stylist, as she toyed with a synthetic spray of blond hair attached to a clip. The connoisseur of coif sculpted my hair to astronomical heights, twisting the strands like origami and locking them down with so many pins that my hair could have withstood gale-force winds. She tested a variety of styles, including a side chignon, a high pony and a soft bun that involved a large sponge doughnut.

“The list is endless,” she enthused. “We could go on and on.”

She finally selected a swooping, swirling pouf that required its own airspace. I hoped that the airline had an extra oxygen mask for my hair.

On the job, the flight attendants will use about 40 percent of their training; Whipp hopes they never have to employ the other 60 percent.

“Most people don’t see this side of the crew,” he said, referring to the emergency preparations. “We’re very good at disguising this other side. But we are more than just tea and coffee.”

The service classes focus on meals and beverages, as well as on customer relations, which in many cases translates to passenger appeasement. The 18 students, fitted into their uniforms, sat in a large square soaking up a lesson on disarmament. “Get down to their level,” said the instructor. “If they are irate and speaking in a loud, quick voice, don’t match their tone. Calm them down.” This technique might ring familiar to many; it’s often used by kindergarten teachers and parents at Toys R Us.

Many of the recruits are prepared for such intransigence, having previously worked in fields populated by difficult people. Before Virgin Atlantic, Heather Topham was a prison guard. Johanne Williams was involved in running a bar. “I’ll take the angry ones; you take the inebriated ones,” Topham joked.

Steve Pipe spent three years as a police officer before applying to the airline. “Training is intense, but in a good way. You have so much to learn: evacuation, dangerous goods leaking, fire in the toilet,” said the 25-year-old, whose inaugural flight is to Dubai on Nov. 9. “I’m looking forward to security and restraint, because I quite enjoyed that in my other job.”

Unless a trainee pushed a roasted chestnut cart as an earlier vocation, few will be immediately nimble with the food and beverage trolley. The kitchenette on wheels is cumbersome, especially when fully loaded with wine bottles and duty-free items.

The class gathered inside the mock fuselage, one of the more realistic classroom settings. The instructor outlined the steps of meal service: Pull the cart from behind, so that your face is prominent, not your backside. Park two or three rows ahead of the first passenger you plan to serve. Kneel down to the passenger’s level and ask their preference — chicken, beef or fish. Remove the tray and place a roll on top of the entree, to warm it up. Hand the food to the traveler, then move on to the next diner. And smile. Always smile.

During my practice run down the narrow aisle, a wave of stage fright hit me. So many eyes were watching me. The cart, filled with fake food, wasn’t heavy, yet it wobbled. Or maybe I was wobbly. I wanted to falsely announce a halt in meal service due to turbulence. Instead, I touched my hair and carried on.

I was still eating my bowl of couscous, a late lunch, when Stewart Turner suffered a seizure. His body stiffened and slid halfway down his airplane seat. The dummy sitting on his left was useless.

No one jumped up to save him, so a young student named Lucy Darby was assigned to his case.

Following protocol, Darby timed the seizure at 20 seconds. Turner, a Virgin Atlantic instructor when awake, was now unconscious. Darby called for help, asking another crew member for an oxygen tank.

“Can you hear me?” she asked Turner. She shook him, then turned him on his side. She checked his breathing, then fitted the oxygen mask over his face. She then searched his body for a medical bracelet, finding one on his ankle. It read “diabetic epileptic.” Her assistant jotted down the information on a medical form.

“Well done. That was just lovely,” said instructor Clair Norden, as Turner rose from his unconscious state.

“I was worried those chairs were going to fall over,” said Turner, as he reclaimed the silver fox wig that had tumbled off during the exercise.

Turner shouldn’t have been too concerned about the seats crashing down and bumping his noggin. The next lesson was on head injuries.

Props are key to the training. In the medical care classroom, the students performed CPR on plastic dolls; I successfully breathed life into Annie, a genderless torso. Triplet babies rested in a tangle on the floor. On the walls, posters explained different medical conditions.

One of the most thrilling spaces, in a theme-parkish way, contained plane parts and equipment bits, such as rows of seats, tables of torches (flashlights in American English), fuselages (or rigs), a raft and multiple doors. Security-theme scenarios were staged in this den of deconstruction.

For example, the exit door I unlocked with a simple turn of the metal handle was a simulacrum of an airplane portal. FYI: It’s no harder to push open than a department store door on a windy day. I was also able to “arm doors and cross-check,” an act as satisfying as yelling “Thar she blows” on a whale-watching tour.

After our evacuation, Whipp walked over to the legendary slide, the one I hope never to see in real action. (The former flight attendant has never experienced an evacuation; the most common disturbances, he said, are passenger-caused, such as sickness and drunken behavior.) I craned my neck to see the top of the gray inflatable slide, 17 feet up.

To avoid puncturing the material, I had to remove my high heels and don soft blue booties. I hiked up my skirt and tucked it inside a garage mechanic’s coveralls. In my motley attire, I climbed up the stairs and sat on the edge of the chute. Before pushing off, I sternly warned myself not to scream “wheee” on the descent. (An “oh my goodness” did happen to escape.)

I flew down without a bump, then took a short hop to full standing position. I asked Whipp if I could go again. After my second trip, I crawled out of my outer shell, pulled down my skirt and crammed my feet back into my red pumps. After nearly six hours of training, my feet were starting to swell, and my suit looked slightly disheveled. My hair was keeling over.

“You look like you’re halfway through a flight to Hong Kong,” Whipp remarked.

His advice for the second leg of my imaginary journey: “Just put on a little lippie."

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Thanksgiving Forecast: Fewer Air Travelers, Full Flights

San Francisco Chronicle: U.S. airlines may carry 37,000 fewer passengers a day this Thanksgiving as more expensive tickets and a slowing economy discourage leisure trips.

About 23.2 million passengers are expected during the 12- day peak travel period bracketing the Nov. 24 holiday, a decline of about 2 percent from last year, according to the Air Transport Association of America, the trade group that represents the biggest U.S. carriers.

"2011 is shaping up to be worse financially than what the carriers experienced in 2010," John Heimlich, vice president of the Washington-based ATA, said on a conference call. The drop in demand may be a reflection of concerns that the economy is slowing and less disposal income, he said.

Thanksgiving is typically a boost for airlines in a quarter when vacation traffic dwindles. This month's holiday period and Christmas travel in December give the industry a chance to fill planes and add peak-day surcharges because of the increased demand.

Higher fares have also curbed leisure trips, Sam Gilliland, chief executive officer of travel firm Sabre Holdings Corp., said yesterday. Fares rose about $12 per one-way trip in the first nine months from the same period in 2010, the ATA said. US Airways Group Inc. began a domestic-fare increase last night of $4 to $10 roundtrip, Farecompare.com CEO Rick Seaney said.

"While demand is down from last year and remains well below the 2006 peak, passengers still should expect full flights" because airlines have reduced the number of available seats, Heimlich said in a statement before the call.

More than 85 percent of aircraft seats will be occupied on the Sunday and Monday following the holiday, the busiest days of the season, according to the ATA, whose members include Delta Air Lines Inc. and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines.

That's about the same as in 2010. Daily passenger volumes may be 1.3 million to 2.3 million over the 12-day period, the ATA said.

Fuel expenses for U.S. passenger airlines rose 38 percent in the first nine months of 2011, to become "by far the largest driver" in the carriers' expenses, Heimlich said.

Virgin Atlantic Offers New Economy Dining Service

Airlines and Destinations: Virgin Atlantic Airways is offering a new dining service in all of its Economy Class cabins as part of the airline’s recently introduced £100 million ($160 million) product investment. 

“We have a passionate team of food experts, hospitality managers and designers who have put every single aspect of our meals service under the microscope and our goal was to make sure that any ideas we came up with made our passengers’ journey even better than it was before,” says Paul Sands, head of customer experience for Virgin Atlantic Airways. “After a difficult period for the industry we have invested £100 million into our product and the result is the best meal experience ever in our economy cabin.”

Now available on all Virgin Atlantic flights, the new meal service is intended to create a more restaurant-like environment, using a redesigned menu which aims to offer a fresh approach to dining at 30,000 feet. Upon reaching cruising altitude, passengers are offered a ‘welcome cocktail’ – a refreshing blend of fruit juices served “virgin” or with vodka.

The ‘welcome cocktail’ is served in a new purple glass and finished with a red swizzle stick.

Following the new beverage service, Economy Class passengers will have the option of selecting a main course from a menu featuring a selection of fresh and inventive dining options.

The redesigned and upgraded meal service will be presented on smaller, soft-touch, non-slip metal trays with redesigned cutlery to give economy-class passengers more space to eat their meals and sample their overall in-flight experience.

Passengers will be offered a new dessert menu, featuring a rotating array of dessert items intended to entice the palate. In addition to a choice of coffee or tea, Virgin Atlantic will begin offering hot chocolate on evening flights.

When the lights are dimmed and the in-flight movies begin, a retro movie-theater environment is created as Virgin Atlantic’s flight attendants make their way through the aisles of the aircraft wearing custom-designed usherette trays, serving passengers treats which include the on-board ice cream and popcorn for which Virgin Atlantic is known.

Virgin Atlantic says that, with environmental sustainability constantly at the forefront of all of the airline’s initiatives, its new in-flight dining service has made significant enhancements in this area.

The new soft-touch tray removes the previously used paper tray liner and is 46 per cent more greenhouse-gas efficient over its life cycle than the tray it replaces, according to Virgin Atlantic The new menu is also printed on Forest Stewardship Council-approved, part-recycled paper.

With these changes, Virgin Atlantic says it will save 132 kilograms of weight per aircraft. The airline says that, compared with the fuel-burn and CO2 emissions resulting from the weight of its previous dining service, the new service will offer a 4 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions, the same amount used to produce 167,000 new Economy Class glasses.

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Report: Qantas to Cut Fares to Win Back Passengers

Fox Business: Australia's Qantas Airways plans to cut fares and launch an advertising blitz to win back passengers, a newspaper said, after its showdown with unions caused international travel chaos and left almost 70,000 travelers stranded.

Qantas flights returned to normal on Tuesday for the first time since it grounded its global fleet last weekend, a deliberate tactic to gain the upper hand over trade unions in a long-running and costly labor dispute. The tactic succeeded in spurring local authorities to order an end to all industrial action on Monday and should ensure a speedy resolution, but it also hurt the Qantas brand and left many passengers vowing to shun the airline in future.

Major rival Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA), which competes with Qantas on a key Asian route to the UK, said its bookings had been strong since the Qantas grounding, especially for flights from Britain to Australia.

"Demand has been particularly strong for flights out of the UK and into Australia in recent days," SIA spokesman Nicholas Ionides said, although he was not aware of any noticeable new trend for bookings out to the Christmas-New Year holidays.

Aviation and brand experts say Qantas has a huge job to restore confidence in its brand, which has traditionally stood for safety and reliability.

"Qantas will cut prices across its international and domestic network, offer grounded passengers special promotional deals, and take out one of the biggest national advertising campaigns in its 90-year history in a bid to win back disenchanted travelers in the lead-up to the peak Christmas period," the Australian Financial Review said.

Qantas also planned to temporarily double the rate of frequent flyer points earned, the newspaper said in its unsourced report.

QANTAS SHARES UP, BUT RIVALS POUNCE

A Qantas spokeswoman described the newspaper report as speculation, but said the airline was apologizing to passengers. "We are also looking at some other customer care and engagement opportunities however we are still in planning stages and do not have any details at this time."

Qantas shares rose 1.1 percent in a weaker overall market on Tuesday, extending strong gains made on Monday. The stock has risen 5.5 percent since CEO Alan Joyce grounded the airline on Saturday, with investors judging it a tactical victory in a war with unions. Joyce also won support from AirAsia Bhd CEO Tony Fernandes, who said the move to ground the fleet was about survival.

"You have to salute Alan Joyce for doing what he's doing. This is not about workers versus management. It's about survival in the modern world," Fernandes said on his Twitter account.

The grounding created a national crisis, prompting Australia's labor-market tribunal to step in. On Monday, the tribunal gave both sides three weeks to settle the row or submit to its final ruling on the matter, a tight timeframe that investors believe is more likely to favor Qantas.

Before the grounding, Qantas said it had lost about A$70 million ($75 million) since September owing to the industrial action in its dispute with three trade unions over pay, working conditions and its plan to base more operations in Asia.

Joyce had complained of "death by a thousand cuts" at union hands. Qantas's estimates of the daily cost of a grounding suggests it lost another A$40 million at the weekend. Trade unions have accused Joyce of risking the airline to pursue a reckless industrial-relations strategy, and one union official has even spoken of a campaign of "civil disobedience" if workers fail to get justice at the tribunal.

Brand expert Tim Heberden, of consultancy Brand Finance, said fare discounting could help win back customers but Qantas needed to be very careful to repair any long-term damage. "I think Qantas will have to tread very carefully -- not just in the coming months but in the coming years -- to regain lost ground in terms of its reputation," he said.

Domestic rival Virgin Australia has been taking market share from Qantas during the months of union strife, taking aim at Qantas's more profitable business customers.

Credit ratings agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's have both signaled possible credit downgrades for Qantas, citing the grounding and potential for lasting brand damage. Both agencies rate Qantas at the lower end of investment grade. Another rating agency, Fitch, said late on Monday there was "potential for management's showdown with labor to drive a material shift in passenger booking trends that could worsen the carrier's revenue performance in coming months".

Ryanair Cabin Crews Strip for Charity

The Telegraph: Ryanair’s cabin crews have stripped off for the airline’s fifth annual charity calendar.

Proceeds from “The Girls of Ryanair” calendar, which features scantily-clad female flight attendants, will go to DEBRA, which provides support for patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a genetic skin condition.

The charity was chosen from nearly 400 applicants, and Ryanair said it hopes to raise around £85,000 ($135,000).

The calendar costs £8.50 $13.50) and can be purchased on board Ryanair flights, from DEBRA’s charity shops in Spain and Ireland, or on the airline’s website www.ryanair.com.

Stephen McNamara, a spokesman for Ryanair, said that the money raised would be used to take 50 children with EB, and their families, on a holiday to Malaga, where they are provided with support by members of the DEBRA team.

Jimmy Fearon, DEBRA’s chief executive, said: “Ryanair’s donation will help us to deliver a once in a lifetime opportunity for 50 families to enjoy a holiday, with professional care and assistance on hand to allow parents and children time to rest and enjoy their precious time together.”

Last year’s calendar saw money donated to the German charity Tafel. In 2009, cash was raised by the British charity, KIDS. The publication of the 2009 calendar led to Labour MEP Mary Honeyball accusing Ryanair of "sexualizing" the airline industry, and called the stunt "a desperate bid for profits".

Michael O'Leary, the airline's chief executive, responded by describing Ms Honeyball as "anti-fun", before sending her his own copy of the calendar.