Aviation News

An airberlin flight attendant shows off the new call button in the Boeing 737. Accidental use of the call button has been the bane of may cabin crew for years

In the long history of bad industrial design, the flight attendant call button on commercial airlines takes a prominent place.

Usually located next to the reading light button and often indistinguishable from it, the dreaded button causes flight attendants to make countless pointless trips down the aisles every day, only to hear embarrassed passengers say they were just trying to switch on the light.

Not for much longer. The new interior design for Boeing’s 737 passenger jet, the best-selling plane in aviation history, includes an innovation that is as radical as it is obvious: a flight attendant button that is situated well away from the reading light button and actually looks different from it.

A photo provided by airline passenger Jill Tarlow shows an unnamed passenger scantily dressed and taken at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

A man who flies US Airways in women’s skimpy clothing, including little more than undergarments at times, said Wednesday that he does so to make business travel more fun, and complies with employees’ requests to cover up – though they rarely ask.

The 65-year-old Phoenix man, who spoke to The Chronicle on the condition that his name not be published, said he was unaware that a photo taken of him wearing ladies’ blue underwear and black stockings at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on June 9 had thrust him into a debate about racial profiling, travelers’ security and appropriate airline attire.

The man said he works as a business consultant and flies several times a month as a preferred customer on US Airways. He’s flown in scanty female clothing for several years and has put on a sweater or pants the few times an employee has asked, he said.

‘I have the right’

“It has never been my intent to put people in a situation where they feel uncomfortable,” the man said during a phone interview. “I try to respect other people’s opinions. As long as my dress is not indecent from a legal perspective, and so long as the airline does not object, I have the right to wear what I wear. And others have the right to wear what they want to wear.”

The photograph of the white-haired traveler at the Fort Lauderdale airport showed his exposed mid-section and thighs, and was taken by a passenger who said US Airways employees had ignored other passengers’ complaints about his apparel.

Six days later, a college football player at San Francisco International Airport allegedly refused a US Airways employee’s request to pull up his sagging pants, sparking an argument that led to his arrest.

That man, 20-year-old Dashon Marman of San Francisco, was booked on suspicion of trespassing, battery and resisting arrest, but prosecutors have not decided whether to charge him.

Racism charge

Marman’s attorney, Joe O’Sullivan, accused US Airways of racial discrimination for requiring his client – who is African American – to pull up his pants, while allowing a white passenger to fly “in his underwear.”

On Wednesday, the cross-dressing man said Marman had probably brought his problems on himself by initially refusing an airline employee’s request to hitch up his pants. He said that what happened to Marman did not amount to racial profiling.”His issue was that he refused to listen to an employee and became belligerent,” the man said. “I have a feeling youth played a role in his response. I’ve learned over the years, the best response to a confrontation is a soft response. Becoming angry is never a good practice. You cloud your own ability to think properly, and you reduce your chances of persuading the other person.”

Still, he said, he probably wouldn’t have asked Marman to pull up his pants.

“These kids probably look at me and don’t like what I’m wearing,” he said. “I’m not really one to put myself out there and pass judgment on what someone else is wearing.”

Seen all over

Photographs of the man traveling through airports around the country in women’s underwear appear on several websites. The man said he often agrees to pose for travelers’ snapshots, but thought the pictures were for personal use instead of public display.

“I have a lot at stake here,” he said, when explaining why he did not want his name published. “I’m a business consultant and would be extremely vulnerable to being discredited. … This is just something I do for fun. I don’t mean any harm.”

US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder declined to comment about the airline’s regular customer, citing privacy laws. She said the passenger who wore blue lingerie before boarding a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Phoenix did not violate the airline’s dress code, which prohibits exposure of private parts.

“These are two different stories,” Wunder said of Marman and the cross-dresser. “The crew is authorized the exercise discretion when it comes to ensuring safety and comfort of all passengers on the plane. … One of these men refused to comply with the pilot’s request.”

Crew has latitude

Al Anolik, a Bay Area attorney who advocates for air travelers’ rights, said that when it comes to dress codes, the airline industry requires that passengers not be “inappropriately clothed.”

The phrase is purposely vague, Anolik said, to give crew members maximum latitude in a post-9/11 world.

“The bottom line is, it’s not about the dress code,” Anolik said. “It’s about the crew, which has omnipotent power. If a crew member says something to you, and deems your response ‘unsafe’ – and that it could lead to a safety concern – that’s it. That’s the law. You’re out.”

Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Boeing’s graceful new long-haul jet, the 787 Dreamliner, landed at Le Bourget aerodrome to woo crowds of admirers at its first Paris International Air Show yesterday.

Paris is home turf for the US giant’s European rival Airbus, and Boeing was determined to show off its most modern plane at a time when the duelling pair are vying for an important order from Air France-KLM.

The airline is due to decide whether to buy the Dreamliner, which is due for delivery to its first client in September, or to stick with France’s Airbus and face a wait for its rival A350 long-haul carrier.

Industry sources expect the giant flag-bearer to pick a mix of the two planes, despite political pressure in France to make the patriotic choice.

There was a headlong rush of major aircraft orders on the second day of the Paris International Airshow as rivals Airbus and Boeing fought to grab the headlines.

The day was dominated by the Airbus A320neo, the upgraded, more fuel-efficient medium-haul workhorse which appeared to get the better of Boeing’s venerable 737 series, the world’s biggest-selling plane.

The medium-haul market is the single most important segment of the industry and will likely account for nearly half of all commercial aircraft sales by value over the next 20 years, according to Boeing.

The figures do not include memorandums of understanding or letters of intent for aircraft of which there were several on Tuesday, mostly large potential orders for the Airbus A320neo.

(Figures in US dollars)

Airbus:

- 60 A320neo aircraft, the updated and more efficient version of the workhorse A320 series, worth some $5.5 billion dollars at list price for Gecas leasing company of the United States.

- 36 A320neos plus 14 options for Aircraft Leasing Corporation which also ordered one A321 and 11 long-haul A330s in a deal that could be worth $6.0 billion.

- 30 A320neos for Scandinavia’s SAS Airlines, worth up to $2.8 billion.

- 6 A320neos for Taiwan’s TransAsia worth $600 million.

- Four A330-300s for Saudi Arabian Airlines, worth $800 million.

Boeing:

- 14 B737-800s worth $1.1 billion for Aircraft Leasing Corporation.

- Two B747-8, the upgraded version of the original 747 jumbo jet aimed at the Airbus A380 superjumbo, with a list price of $635 million. Another client signed a commitment to buy another 15 of the aircraft.

- 6 B777-300ER for Qatar Airways worth $1.7 billion.

- 10 737-800 for Malaysia Airlines at $800 million.

- 8 777-300ER for Aeroflot, $2.2 billion

- 2 737-800 and one 767-300ER for MIAT Mongolian Airlines, $245 million.

- 15 737-800 for low-cost carrier Norwegian, worth $1.2 billion, plus three 787 Dreamliners.

- 14 737-800 for US leasing firm ALC, $1.1 billion.

Embraer:

- 39 orders for its E-jet series of regional aircraft worth $1.7 billion

Bombardier:

- 10 CS100 regional jets worth more than $600 million.

- 10 Global 8000 business jets for Switzerland’s VistaJet, a business aviation specialist, worth $650 million

ATR, a joint venture of EADS and Italy’s Alenia:

The company said it had 78 total orders worth $2.4 billion in all among which it detailed:

- 15 ATR 72-600 planes for leasing company GECAS worth some $340 million

- 10 ATR 72-600 for Brazil’s Azul.