Korean Air probably really is the greatest airline around right now (not that I’ve flown all of them), and not just because of the alcohol. It’s no surprise that they’re doing a fair amount of advertising in the US now. They fly a variety of international routes, not just to Korea. How they manage all this when other airlines struggle is, of course, a mystery – it’s not like their fares are higher, usually. I flew with them because they were consistently the cheapest option for my routes (both to Bangkok and to smaller Chiang Mai).

http://classifiedhumanity.com/post/4779670424/why-why-why-why-why-was-i-born-when-i-was

If a domestic airline were like this, all the rest would go out of business.

Saw this story and it reminded me of an old blog post I had going in 2005. Thought maybe boing boing users could help me find a picture of a DC-10 with the pong tables installed.

“So anyway she’s telling me about how the old DC-10′s back in the day used to have what was called a “pub” or “popcorn bar” on the airplane and she was telling me how they used to have Pong Games in the pub area of the plane. There were 4 setups, 2 of the tables had Team Pong going on (2 players on each side) and the other 2 tables were singles… In these tabletops were televisions mounted underneath glass, kinda like the old bar stool Pac-Man and Galaga games I remember !!So anyway as we were talking and I was grilling her, she remembered a specific celebrity that couldn’t get enough of the game.. Good ole Chuck Woolery.. I’m sure you all remember him.. The guy is like the Game Show Host GOD… Anyway she said that during a trip from Houston to L.A. Ole Chuck couldn’t put down the game!!! She also told me that the game Pong caused such a stir on some flights that they would have to go and tell all the passengers to sit down and take their seats and that they would come get them when it was their turn..”

I still haven’t found that pic!!!!

=(

Air France had an open galley full of food and drink (wine included) in coach, the last time I flew internationally with them, on personal travel – a long time ago but still post-911.

Air Canada opens their airport lounges (as do many carriers) for any business class passenger at no additional charge.  Booze is in fact, available self-service, though to take an entire bottle, you would have to remove it from the dispenser, which could get messy.  Beer and wine, food/drinks are just sitting there for the taking, though it is generally understood that it is meant for consumption within the lounge.

Most business class passengers (nearly all) have a level of decorum that prevents abuse.  That said, so do most coach customers, but they are not given the opportunity to abuse the privilege.