Experience 069. That Club. Miles High in the Sky.

The Seat 1A Podcast

In this experience we discuss that infamous club a mile high.

We look back to the golden age of travel with beautiful flight attendants and pilots and exotic locations.

Now add that to four- and five-star hotels, and crews from around the world it can lead to romance and attraction. Don’t screw the crew...well at least not yours.

The captain and crew manager would keep an eye on their crew during layovers, otherwise there was the risk of people making bad decisions.

Cancun was a location where crazy stuff would happen complete crews from multiple countries, beaches and alcohol.

Sometimes crews would hook up with hotel staff, sometimes there would be action at the beach bar. And sometimes it just went too far...and people ended up getting fired.

Crews need to be aware at all-inclusive resorts if they are interacting with their passengers.

At some airport hotels, there are party rooms for crews. Vinod shares his experiences at LGA and LAX.

Vinod thinks back to a pool in Colombo with an Emirates crew and thinking "one day".

There is a serious side to the glamourous interactions. Accusations of assault and misconduct exist, and some airlines have pilots and flight attendants sleep at different hotels.

Crew and passengers connect -- Vinod shares a couple of experiences where the individuals ended up getting married.

Working for an airline expands the possibilities of international relationships. Vinod shares a story of how he outsmarted Tinder.

If you're liking this episode experience, you may also enjoy Experience 039. "Crew Life Between Flights. Crew Layovers." It's available wherever you listen to your podcasts.

We look at passenger activity in the cabin and remember back to when people were shocked that amorous airline advertising led to amorous activity...who knew?!

Vinod shares a memory of his first flight and learning that sometimes you just ignore the oblivious, but sometimes you can have some fun.

Are you kidding me? On a Nanaimo flight? In the middle of the day? Oh it was time for fun for Vinod and the crew and a couple of passengers who were passionate in the lavatory.

Technically amorous activities in the lav are illegal due to air law - in the event of loss of cabin pressure, there is only one oxygen mask.

Often Vinod would discover the evidence after the fact like wrappers and blister packs of pills on the floor.

Vinod shares a memory of when the call bell was ringing multiple times but not from the cabin...and the pilot advised there was banging coming through the wall to the flightdeck.

The Mile High Club is probably a bucket list thing for some people. And we haven't even discussed private aircraft.

However, in 2023, many things have changed.

News Items:

• simpleflying.com article "Aircraft Making Stops For Fuel Due To San Diego Shortage"
• businesstraveller.com article "JetBlue to launch daytime New York JFK-London Heathrow service"

If you have a story about aviation relations a mile up or on the ground, upcoming trips, or other experiences that you would like to share, please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you wish to support the show financially, we are on Patreon. Show notes are available online at http://podcast.seat1a.org/