Nice. Humor always helps flying. Southwest FA’s are known for their comedy. I’ve heard some really good ones. As a matter of fact – not to take anything away from this one because it’s not bad – I’ve actually heard way funnier SWA FA routines. 
Fined by the FAA and fired from Southwest in 5…4…3…2…
Upon landing in Austin on a Southwest flight a few years ago, the flight attendant deadpanned “We’re here”. A few minutes later when we stopped at the gate, she said “Get out.” Everyone roared.
I was on an AA flight about 15 years ago where the FA did the following:
- Fumbled with the seat belt, as though he had never used one before (just like most airplane passengers)
- Showed how to put on the oxygen mask, then pulled it away to reveal a pig’s snout
- Advised passengers to choose which child they wanted for the oxygen mask, because the other one is going to die
I can see that last one not going over too well, and I was surprised at the time (I still found it funny, though it was still pre-parenthood)
My mom was on a SW flight and was reading a book during the safety demo. The FA pulled the book out of her hands. Ma didn’t think that was so funny, hypothesizing that she could have flying to a funeral, etc.
EDIT: Not an FA story, but when my dad worked for the airlines, he got to non-rev in the jumpseat (which has perhaps since been disallowed – this was late 60s, early 70s). Upon landing, the captain said “Who-o-o-ah, Newt! Whoa boy!” Ever since, Dad’s always said this when making a sudden stop in the car, and he got me doing it, too.
Have you never flown Southwest? They all, or almost all, do stuff like that.
Apparently, FAA strongly approves of SWA’s approach, as the passengers pay far, far more attention. I can’t recall the last time I listened to any FA safety announcement, other than on Southwest.
Also, the last time I was on a Southwest flight, one FA did a fantastic beat-box routine.
That would explain why parts of this routine sounded extremely familiar to me. I think it was about six years ago, and while the flight attendant herself sounds familiar I like to think that it’s a different one and they just happen to share material.
The transcription missed the joke about tampering with the smoke alarm AND WEBCAM in the bathrooms.
On a flight I took we gave the stewardess standing ovations with cries or “encore” and yes…they did it a second time.
Sure, but I’ve never seen one do it this well.
And, um, could it be that some BB readers haven’t flown Southwest? Just, maybe?
It’s too bad you couldn’t do this on Air Canada, they’d have to do the routine in French/English and it’d take too long.
WestJet flight attendants in Canada do the same sort of thing. Not all of them are amazing at it, but some of them could probably make money doing standup comedy in their spare time. It’s a great idea. Makes things not so boring.
On Ethiopian Airlines, the safety demo was on a video. Many of the passengers thought it was (unintentionally) hilarious – the video shows only one passenger on the entire plane, while we, in fact, were packed like sardines.
I liked the guy’s expression when he seizes the oxygen mask.
For good safety videos search “Air New Zealand Safety Videos” on YouTube. We flew them to NZ last XMAS and the safety videos were great. LOTR/Hobbit-themed, of course.
Airplane announcements! I have two favorites:
First, Capt Eric Moody of BA upon the loss of all 4 engines on a 747: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.”
(It was due to volcanic ash. They restarted 3 and landed in Jakarta.)
The other is probably apocryphal, but still hilarious. I heard it from Stephen Fry (on QI) in a strong Australian accent: “It’s time to push some service down the aisles and some scenery past the windows.”
I’m not sure how many people actually internalized the location of the red tab on the life jacket and when to pull it from this presentation. Maybe they’ll work it out if and when the time comes.
I also wonder how many people, in the event of an actual emergency, put on a disconnected mask after ripping the oxygen supply tube completely out of the overhead.
Specifically, the volcanic ash was melted by the turbines and turned into glass which caked on the blades. Once it cooled down enough, it broke off.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed that she glosses over some pretty important items.
I’m all for having fun, but a safety demonstration really is serious business. Many people in an accident aren’t able to unbuckle their seatbelt for evacuation.
Smoke hoods are an interesting topic. They would certainly save lives in the event of a fire evacuation, but they haven’t been introduced because the FAA isn’t confident that people will be able to figure out how to use them from a safety demonstration.
I saw one of those on YouTube about a month ago! Great fun. The only time I ever flew Air New Zealand was in 1999, the first time I flew from Los Angeles to London. (The London-bound passengers already on the plane had just flown some 11 hours from Auckland, and already looked exhausted.) That was the most comfortable, civilized flight I’ve ever experienced, and once we got off the plane I was delighted to see the flight attendants all wore jaunty green bowler hats as they disembarked.
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