Pan Am Training Video: "The Smoker" is a fantastically intriguing video from the 80s when people could still smoke on airplanes

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Originally published at: Pan Am Training Video: "The Smoker" is a fantastically intriguing video from the 80s when people could still smoke on airplanes | Boing Boing

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This video is evidence that, even when smokers were legally allowed to make their fellow passengers miserable by indulging their nasty habit in a plane, it still wasn’t enough for some arseholes.

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Second hand smoke? Insert maniacal laughter gif…

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I watched it and thought it was a simple example of how to politely and firmly deal with a customer clearly breaking the rules. Imagine my surprise when it turned out that was the “wrong” way and the video kept going. I was half expecting there to be a third example with the flight attendant begging the smoker to move, offering to let her fly the plane if she’ll only put out her cigarette, etc.

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So. Much. Legroom. :astonished:

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Excuse me Stewardess, I speak jive.

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One of the comments at YouTube on this vid is, “Having a smoking section on an airplane is like have a peeing section in a public pool.” Delightful.

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Boy, I thought they were going to have to duct tape her to the seat for a moment there.

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My first time in an airplane was flying from Houston, Texas to Frankfurt, Germany when I was in college. International flights still allowed smoking at the time (May, 1990) and, of course, there was also free booze. It was like being stuck in a really shitty bar for 12 hours.

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A classic – Steve Martin - "mind if I fart?" - YouTube

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Oh how I do not miss those days.

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Gotta love the casting director here. Those 2 actors’ husky voices were no doubt the result of decades of actual smoking.

Nowadays, of course, all the training videos deal with the most efficient ways to duct-tape Floridians to their seat for the period during which pilots make emergency landings to disembark these passenger-criminals.

Is the first approach explicitly “wrong”? I just noticed there were two different types of approach. (I didnt see any commentary.) Certainly, the second one was a little more personable (ie, kneeling to be at eye-level with passenger): however, some might see this as condescending, since this is also what you would do when dealing with a child(!)

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But my seat has an ashtray in the armrest. Of course I should be able to smoke.

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