Another fun safety video from the folks at Air New Zealand. And a chance to win a trip for two to New Zealand.
Air New Zealand
Fun, new videos from Air New Zealand and British Airways
Air New Zealand, which brought us highly entertaining in-flight safety videos featuring flight attendants dressed in nothing but cleverly applied paint and that pixie-ish, always-exercising Richard Simmons (both videos below), now brings us another version of this in-flight necessity.
It’s definitely not as titillating at the “Bare Essentials” video (below), but it is sort of cute and has ‘guest appearances’ by Snoop Dogg, President Obama and others.
And, here’s a fun video made by British Airways (set to “London Calling,” by the Clash) urging locals NOT to travel during the London summer Olympics.
And, as promised, here are those earlier Air New Zealand videos.
And, because we don’t have Rico around any more (Air New Zealand killed off this cute, but somewhat creepy puppet) here’s the safety video Rico helped out with.
To the moon or to the center of the earth
I’m sure I’ll have to update this come Sunday morning, but long before April 1, 2012 rolled around in my time zone, I made a few April Fools’ Day sightings.
From the Republic of Vanuatu comes word that Richard Branson has launched “Virgin Volacanic” in order to take travelers to the center of the earth
“Using patented carbon-carbon materials pioneered for deep space exploration, Virgin is proud to announce a revolutionary new vehicle, VVS1, which will be capable of plunging three people into the molten lava core of an active volcano.”
First up (or should I say down) is Etna – Sicily, Italy, followed by:
• Stromboli – Aeolian Islands
• Yasur – Republic of Vanuatu
• Ambrym – Republic of Vanuatu
• Tinakula – Solomon Islands
The first trips are scheduled for 2015. More details here.
Also, we have news from WestJet about a kids-free flying experience:
Details of Kargo Kids, including booking information and a simple, easy-to-understand demonstration video, is available on the WestJet website
Air New Zealand announced “STRAIGHTUP Fares” for those willing to fly while standing in the aisle holding onto a hand bar.
And Spirit Airlines, ever the prankster, announced $9 (each way) flights to the moon.
In-flight golfing
File under: wish I was there to see this.
Through Monday, March 26, 2012, Air New Zealand is hosting an in-flight golf putting contest on flights between Auckland and Queenstown.
It’s a promotion to mark the airline’s airline’s sponsorship of the NZ PGA Pro-Am Championship and passengers enter by filling out an entry form at the departure gate lounge. Those whose names are drawn are invited to participate in the on-board putting contest. It looks like everyone will win something, but the overall winner will get plane tickets, a hotel stay, VIP passes to the NZ PGA Pro-Am Championship and Callaway golf clubs.
What’s next? In-flight bowling?
Air New Zealand: pay what you weigh
Whenever the conversation turns to people who are too large to fit into the seats on an airplane, (skinny) people always suggest that airlines charge passengers by weight.
Now Air New Zealand has done it.
Air New Zealand's Pay what you Weigh program
On Air New Zealand, check-in is now known as weigh in.
What do you think?
Will it spread to other airlines?
Will some passengers complain?
Will there be lawsuits?
Will you pay?
Will you pay more attention to that Richard Simmons “Fit to Fly” safety video?
Will you realize it’s April 1st in New Zealand?
Tidbits for travelers: Richard Simmons wants you to be fit to fly
Between following the antics of @BronxZoosCobra on Twitter and laughing at fitness guru Richard Simmons’ calorie-burning safety video for Air New Zealand, it’s been hard to get any work done.
See what I mean?
There’s even a ‘making of’ version of this one.
Watch the in-flight version once, maybe twice, and it’s fun and sort of adorable. But I can’t imagine having to sit through it over and over as a regular Air New Zealand passenger.
Unless, of course, that rascal Rico had made an appearance.
But seriously, wouldn’t it be great if everyone on an airplane had to stand up and do some synchronized stretching every once in a while?
Snoop Dogg and Air New Zealand’s Rico – together
I know Air New Zealand’s Rico videos are corny and put some people off.
But I can’t help it. I think Rico is dreamy.
Free cupcakes at Newark Airport; free coffee at LAX, with planespotting
The early bird gets the… cupcake.
If you’re catching an early flight Friday morning (January 28th) out of Newark Liberty International Airport, be sure to get yourself a free cupcake.
A branch of CRUMBS Bake Shop has opened in Terminal C (by the C2 checkpoint) and, to celebrate, they’re going to give the first 1,000 people who stop by a free cupcake. The sugary celebration starts at 6 a.m.
You might bring that cupcake with you to the LAX Theme Building Observation Deck on Sunday morning, January 30th, where Los Angles International Airport officials will be hosting a Sunday Morning Coffee from 8:30 until 11 a.m.
The Observation Deck is usually open to the public Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m and this Sunday planespotters and aviation buffs will be out in force to see some unusual airplanes that will be stopping by.
Air New Zealand’s new Airbus A320 with All Black Livery will be making at stop at LAX on its way to New Zealand from France. The All Blacks are a rugby team sponsored by Air New Zealand and this fall the 2011 Rugby World Cup games will be held in New Zealand.
Air New Zealand’s new Boeing B777-300 is also scheduled to operate at LAX on Sunday and Qantas Airways’ daily Airbus A380 super jumbo jet service between LAX and Sydney resumes this Sunday as well.
Here’s the Sunday morning schedule sent out by LAX:
- Air New Zealand All Blacks A320: ETA 9:25 a.m.; ETD 11 a.m.
- Qantas A380: ETA 9:45 a.m. (evening departure)
- Air New Zealand B777-300: ETA 10 a.m. (evening departure)
The Observation Deck has a 360-degree view of LAX’s terminals and airfield, and there are complimentary telescopes installed up there for better viewing. On Sunday morning there will also be a portable scanner available so visitors can listen to the radio transmissions between the pilots and the air traffic controllers.
And after the Sunday Morning Coffee event the party can go on: the space-age, retro-themed Encounter Restaurant, right under the Observation Deck will be offering a Plane Spotters Lunch Special.
What I’m watching, reading..instead of working
Don’t tell me this hasn’t happened to you.
You have stuff to do. Deadlines. Work someone will pay you for if you just, you know, do it.
So you pour a cup of coffee and sit down at the computer.
But then, dang, the Internet happens.
Here’s a bit of what got me distracted today.
Air New Zealand posted time-lapse video footage of its first new domestic A320 being built and painted with all black livery.
The paint job has something to do with the All Blacks rugby team, so of course I had to visit that site and then the Small Blacks site as well.
As long as I was visiting the Air New Zealand site, I had to check in on what that wild and crazy furry creature, Rico, was up to. I found this reel of bloopers.
A quick check of email and Twitter sent me off in new directions.
Florida’s Dali Museum was opening in its snazzy new building in St. Petersburg, FL. And as someone who first came upon that museum collection, by accident, when it shared space with a factory in Cleveland, Ohio, I of course had to visit.
While there, I came across this clip of Salvador Dali as a guest on the old TV show, What’s My Line?
Then, of course, it was time to check email and Twitter and catch up on my RSS feed.
A blog post by the folks at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum – 5 Cool Things at the Udvar-Hazy Center You May Have Missed – caught my eye because the Udvar-Hazy Center is just down the road Dulles International Airport.
And then I really got tangled up in the web. A comment on the museum blog post mentioned Anita, “the spider from Skylab.” I didn’t know about Anita so had to follow that thread.
It turns out that Anita and a companion spider, Arabella, were part of an experiment flown on Skylab, a space station launched in May 1973.
According the Smithsonian website:
Scientists and students interested in the growth, development, behavior, and adaptation of organisms in weightlessness provided a variety of biology experiments for flight in the orbital research laboratory. A common Cross spider, “Anita” participated in a web formation experiment suggested by a high school student. The experiment was carried out on the Skylab 3 mission, which lasted 59 days from July 28-September 25, 1973. Astronauts Alan Bean, Jack Lousma, and Owen Garriott carried out the scientific research in space, reported the results, and returned this specimen at the end of their mission. NASA then sent Anita, a companion spider “Arabella,” and the experiment equipment to the Museum.
Anita is on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center.
Arabella is in storage.
BBC Fast Track & ANZ’s new Boeing 777-300ER
On the BBC World News program Fast Track this week, Carmen Roberts offered up “Hi-tech ways to pass time at the airport.”
I’m delighted to find out that StuckatTheAirport.com was featured in the story, along with some other “online innovations that may just prevent that air rage from bubbling over.”
And speaking of innovation….
In Everett, Wa. on Wednesday, Air New Zealand took delivery of its first Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The plane is on its way to to Auckland, with a planned touchdown on Christmas Eve morning.
Sadly, I couldn’t join that first flight, so I can’t report for sure whether or not Santa is on that plane, but I do know that the plane is equipped with the new lie-down Skycouch or Cuddle Class seating in economy class, induction ovens that allow the preparation of made-to-order meals, bathrooms with wallpaper depicting book cases, chandeliers and other home interior elements (photo coming soon) and an in-flight story-time for kids hosted by the cabin crew.
