Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Galley Gossip: Funny flight attendant book - Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase!
Ever since reading the book Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase: Hilarious Stories of Air Travel by the World's Favorite Flight Attendant, written by Betty N. Thesky with Janet Spencer, I've been tempted to do a spin in the middle of the aisle as soon as I've finished serving my three rows to alert the flight attendant working on the other side of the cart that I'm ready to move. Normally we'll patiently wait for our partner to finish serving or we might fill a few cups with ice, restock the cart or offer to make a few drinks, but in Betty's hilarious book two flight attendants add a touch of disco pizazz to the boring beverage service routine. One of these days I'm going to do it - the spin. If you're looking for a book full of funny stories about flight attendants, pilots, ground crew and even passengers this is it! Reading it is like going to dinner with your favorite crew on a fun-filled layover. The crazy stories just keep on coming! While the book is full of laughs, there's a lot to learn, too. Throughout the book Betty answers common questions asked by passengers every day. For instance...
The reason you have to stow your carry-on items and put away your computers is to avoid the possibility of having them act like airborne missiles.
The reason you have to return your tray table to its upright and locked position is so you won't impale yourself on it if the plane crashes
The reason you have to return your seat to its upright position is to make evacuation easier in event of a disaster, to minimize whiplash, and to prevent you from slipping under your seat belt in the event of a sudden stop.
By far my favorite thing about the book is all the interesting facts at the bottom of each page, and there are 139 pages!
10 FUN FACTS FROM BETTY'S BOOK...
1. Around 25% of first class passengers pay full fare. The rest are upgrades, frequent fliers and airline employees.
2. Airlines update the fares in their computers about 250,000 times daily.
3. 12 million free tickets are issued annually due to frequent flier miles.
4. Airplanes take off and land every 37 seconds at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.
5. The first airplane toilets were simply a hole in the fuselage of the plane through which one could see the countryside passing below.
6. The Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama, sells about 10 million items from lost luggage annually.
7. One of the biggest planes is the Boeing 747. If set upright it would rise as high as a 20 story building
8. Air travel is the second safest mode of transportation. Only the elevator / escalator is safer.
9. Tolerance for alcohol drops by about 30% when you're at 30,000 feet, so a few drinks will go a long way.
10. The longest flight in the world is the nonstop flight from New York to Hong Kong which travels 8,439 miles over the North Pole in 15 hours and 40 minutes.
Betty N. Thesky is a flight attendant who works for a major airline and the host of the popular podcast Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase. You can read more about Betty on her website BettyInTheSky.com
2. Airlines update the fares in their computers about 250,000 times daily.
3. 12 million free tickets are issued annually due to frequent flier miles.
4. Airplanes take off and land every 37 seconds at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.
5. The first airplane toilets were simply a hole in the fuselage of the plane through which one could see the countryside passing below.
6. The Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama, sells about 10 million items from lost luggage annually.
7. One of the biggest planes is the Boeing 747. If set upright it would rise as high as a 20 story building
8. Air travel is the second safest mode of transportation. Only the elevator / escalator is safer.
9. Tolerance for alcohol drops by about 30% when you're at 30,000 feet, so a few drinks will go a long way.
10. The longest flight in the world is the nonstop flight from New York to Hong Kong which travels 8,439 miles over the North Pole in 15 hours and 40 minutes.
Betty N. Thesky is a flight attendant who works for a major airline and the host of the popular podcast Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase. You can read more about Betty on her website BettyInTheSky.com
Filed under: Stories, Airlines, Transportation, Airports, Galley Gossip, Travel Trivia
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ryeobot Aug 9th 2010 9:52AM
I don't know how old is this book it I think fun fact #10 is wrong. As far as I know, the longest flight is Singapore Airlines flight 21 from EWR to SIN. The flight is 18 hrs 50 mins long.
Crissy Aug 9th 2010 10:25AM
The book is pretty new, I think it came out this year. But flight routes change so much and the editing process of a book is so slow, that fact probably got lost in the editing process.
I haven't read the book, but Betty does have a very good podcast.
Brenda Aug 9th 2010 1:32PM
The book sounds very neat and entertaining, but I wished they had fact checked about our business, Unclaimed Baggage Center, before printing their numbers as fact. We do not sell 10 million items from unclaimed baggage each year. The true number is closer to 1/10th of that.
Emily Aug 9th 2010 6:16PM
This book sounds fun!
Not related...did you hear about this JetBlue flight attendant? CRAZY! http://m.gawker.com/5608503/flight-attendant-uses-inflatable-slide-for-dramatic-job-walk+out