Quirky airlines!

Are you the “If this isn’t fun, I am not doing it” person? Then this article is just for you!

Two things I really like in life are Aviation and Fun.

And, if you ask me why I love aviation, I have no single answer! Plane spotting and breaking my head to figure out the airline or aircraft excites me. I was that kinda girlfriend, who emphasized on watching aircraft videos with my boyfriend, well ex, during breakfast every single day. How dorky is that?  But, I am still an amateur and my crazy aviation geek friends keep my passion alive!  I wanted to show you all how fun aviation can be! And, you better read the article till the end, because I am watching YOU….!

Let the fun BE-GIN! 🍻

• Kulula Air: The Most-fun airline in the world!)

Kulula Air was the first thing that striked my mind when I thought of fun and aviation together!  If you ask any aviation geek to list out the top most fun things done by airlines, Kulula Air would be definitely in their list. They have an amazing wicked sense of humor. In fact, their slogan was ‘The most South Africa Airline!’ as a dig against their national carrier “South African Airline’.

They even introduced a very ‘Serious’ “Fourth wife flies free” campaign which got so popular in 2012 when their former polygamous president Jacob Zuma married his fourth wife. Obviously no one except Jacob benefited from this campaign. (P.S. Google says he has 6 wives currently. Probably he has finally figured out how to read a woman’s mind!).

Also, they have such entertaining cabin crew that I doubt if there could be any space for a moment of dullness during flight. I have selected a few quirky comments by their stewards/air hostesses that ROFL-ed me. Hope it gives you a good laugh too!  

“Please pay attention to the safety announcement, because you will be writing a test shortly”.

“There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have landed in Cape Town. Please take all your possessions. Anything left behind will be shared equally between staff. Please note we do not accept unwanted mothers-in-law or children.”

“Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Kulula Airlines.”

Hilarious, right? They definitely stole my heart!  Have you seen their livery?  Their airline-101 livery is an absolute trend-setter!

Very last photo about this airline (I promise XD)! How adorable is their billboard ad below?

• The Nudist Flight! (you heard me right!)

Do you fancy flying naked? Germany is the place for you! When my friend told me that apparently it is normal for someone to be naked around their family in Germany, it was very hard for me to believe. But apparently it is true that they like being a naturist a.k.a disrobed living. Not just at home, they even fly naked (no comments)! In 2008, an online travel agency, OssiUrlaub.de offered a nude chartered flight from Erfurt to a Baltic Sea island! But to respect the ‘aviation safety regulation’, people were asked to board and disembark the flights with clothes on but can strip naked at 30,000ft. (And it is perfectly N-O-R-M-A-L in Germany!)

(sorry no photos for this one, guys! 😉 You would have to google it yourself)

• WOW Air (the one with the GAY fleet!)

In 2018, I worked in Airbus for little over a year for the A320 Flight Hour Service engineering team. As a trainee, one of my tasks was to build an aircraft skeleton of all the parts installed on the aircraft. Let me tell you a little secret, I helped my colleague in doing this task for 3 airlines:  Primera, WOW and an airline which shall not be named for my safety.  Few months later, in October 2018, Primera Air ceased its operations, and following it WOW airline went bankrupt in March 2019. I promise you that I did not curse them, and the other airline that I worked on is doing absolutely fine (whew)!

While working on WOW, I was so impressed with their playful fleet names. WOW fleets were named as: TF-DOG, TF-CAT, TF-MOM, TD-DAD, TF-LUV, TF-WOW, TF-SON, TF-DTR, TF-JOY, TF-SIS, TF-BRO, TF-GMA, TF-GPA.. (I am not kidding, trust me it’s really how they registered their aircrafts!). In-fact, they were the first airlines to support LGBT rights and they named one of their aircrafts as TF-GAY in 2016. And just for that small window of awesomeness I wish they had stuck around longer.

• WestJet – The one with the April fool tradition

Since 2006, WestJet airline comes up with mind blowing ideas on one particular day every year! Their ideas are mind blowing like, offering WestJet passengers a discount on their flight tickets if you sing for them or providing a full-comfort sleeper cabin for eco passengers. They even introduced Helium in the cabin to make the flight lighter, and their most famous one is Kargo Kids that allows you to check in your kids at their cargo space (How cool is that? No more annoying crying kids in the cabin)! Chill guys, it’s all their April fool pranks! It is an annual tradition for this Canadian airline to come up with hilarious April fool prank videos on 1^st of April every year, as a part of their marketing strategy.

Having a bad day? Check out this hilarious video of a WestJet flight steward giving flight instructions! Share it with your drama-queen friend!  (P.S. WestJet is not paying me for marketing!) 

• The unfortunate number 123:

I currently work in Amadeus, an Airline IT company as Business Analyst. It is a job that revolves around air travel, dealing with several airlines. So, to explain a concept it is normal to use a fake flight number for better understanding. If I ask you to name a random three number next to an airline code such as AF, the first thing that most of us come up with is 123. But unfortunately, it is a bad thing to do it for Japan airline.

In 1985, JL123 which was carrying 524 people in their four engine 747 aircraft, crashed on a ridge near Mount Osutaka. Sad fact is that some passengers survived the initial crash. But Japan declined the immediate rescue aid from a nearby US Air Force Base, and the Japan Self Defence Force started their rescue operation a day later which increased the causalities rate. It is the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history. Hence mentioning JL123 even as an example to Japanese is frowned upon as they are still sentimental about it. (We feel you, mate!)

And, to just gain landing rights in China, Japan airline established a subsidiary airline Japan Asia Airways (until 2008) to fly to Taiwan, because they had to stop using the National Carrier Japan Airline to Taiwan! And during the bankruptcy in 2010, air hostess uniform was sold in black market to the local sex industry (Talk about people with weird fetishes!). It was worth their weight in gold as it was impossible to buy these uniforms. When a uniform from business class lounge was stolen and sold in the market, and JAL had to pay 2,500 dollars to keep it off the market. (Wow!)

Well, every amazing thing must end, and so does this article. This article is only for sharing fun facts and I really hope that you enjoyed it. All the content from this article is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced in any form without express written consent of the IAmKidding team. While the IAmKidding team strives to make the information as interesting and accurate as possible, do share it with your friends if you have enjoyed it!

So about Suriya, where do I begin! Fellow Potterhead, she has always been the gutsy, ultra-cool woman who continues to inspire me in many ways. Constant motivator and has always been there when you need anything. She is a gifted soul and forever my partner in crime and drinks. Cheers!