They made us laugh, roll our eyes and some even made us cringe. Wrap up your work week with fun travel news Friday – a collection of this week’s weird stories.
1. Why don’t women apply to fly?
Female pilots – they’re a rare breed in the aviation world despite ongoing efforts from airlines to create gender equality in the skies.
And what’s the reason women are not taking the lead in the sky? It is still deemed a man’s job.
A new study conducted by British Airways, found 63 percent of women said they were put off from pursuing a career as a professional pilot because as they were growing up there was a lack of visible role models and they were constantly being told ‘it was a man’s job’.
2. We won’t charge you to pee: Tigerair
Uhhhh thank you? What else is there to say to an airline boss when he confirms passengers will ‘never’ be charged for using the toilet mid-flight?
But don’t go getting too gracious.
John Borghetti, who now overseas the airline since it was purchased by Virgin Australia, says while Tigerair won’t charge passengers to pee, he is a fan of ancillary fees that will improve the low-cost experience for travellers.
3. Craziest items stolen from a hotel
People stealing from a hotel? Not really a big surprise, but what they’re stealing – that’s another story.
According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association, item thefts at hotels cost property owners around $100 million a year, with guests taking whatever they can get their stick fingers on, Yahoo Travel reported.
However, the most common items taken from hotels are the shampoos. Are they that great or is it just the thrill of the freebee?
Another common item is the bathrobe, which let’s face it, is so much more comfortable than the one you already own.
Once you move aside from the usual items, guests are also apparently taking room service trays, bud vases and butter holders.
People are also swiping pillows, which the industry has jumped onto, with new technology that allows them to track their linens once they’re out of the bedroom. Read on
But pillows and silverware is nothing compared to the travellers that somehow managed to leave the hotel with a $300,000 artwork; a 12-foot model of the Concorde; a grand piano (how?); and even showerheads.
What’s the weirdest item you’ve ever taken from a hotel?
4. Investigations underway over an air crew argument
An investigation has been launched after a Norwegian Airlines flight flew from New York to Stockholm with only five staff onboard.
According to the Daily Mail, four of the nine cabin crew refused to board the aircraft and got into a heated arguement with the plane’s captain because they felt it was unsafe to fly in a snowstorm.
Since the incident last month, the American crew members have been suspended while an investigation looks into staff allegedly disobeying the captain.
The director of operations for Luftfartstilsynet Einar Schjolberg said the incident was a breach of regulations because the aircraft wasn’t flying with the minimum required staff.
However, Tomas Hesthammer, Norwegian’s head of flight operations said the legal minimum for a flight of 196 passengers is five crew.
“What seems clear is that the four cabin crew chose not to follow the captain’s orders, and eventually left the plane. This is extremely unusual and it is very serious when cabin crew doesn’t obey the captain’s orders,” he said.
“The flight to Arlanda was a perfectly normal flight despite fewer cabin crew members on board than usual. It is correct that the captain chose to fly with five cabin crew.”
