The Rapping Flight Attendant and More Fun with Airlines

I first saw a news report on David Holmes on CW-WHAM TV here in Rochester, New York. I was thrilled that a very serious business of airline travel allowed a flight attendant to think outside the box to convey a very informative, important, and often maligned, pre-flight safety announcement in a highly effective and original way.

David Holmes, 40, has and been employed as a flight attendant at Southwest Airlines since 2005. Tired of reciting the usual boring safety announcement, he decided to spice it up. The result got me to start thinking...

As usual an original take-off of the monotonous gets my funny-bone to start aching for more, so I had to find other alternatives to the commonplace airline practices.

I hope you enjoy this twisted tribute to the airline industry that my mind can't help but wander into...

Credit: http://www.theage.com.au

An American flight attendant has developed a novel way of ensuring passengers pay attention during the pre-flight safety announcement - he delivers it as a rap.

Forty-year-old David Holmes, a flight attendant for US airline Southwest, has become an internet celebrity since passengers began posting videos of his cabin announcements three months ago.

"Before we leave/ our advice is/ put away electronic devices/ fasten your seatbelt/ then put your trays up/ press the button and make the seat-back raise up," Holmes raps, encouraging the passengers to stomp and clap to give him an accompanying beat.

Holmes, a former personal trainer, has been working for Southwest since 2005 and said he initially did the rap because he was in a good mood and wanted to have some fun at work.

Afterwards, he told CNN, some passengers said his delivery made them listen to pre-flight announcements for the first time.

Despite his apparent rapping skills, Holmes is no freestyler - in an interview with the Wall Street Journal he said his lyrics are carefully written out in advance, often while enduring long waits in airport terminals.

While Holmes doesn't always do the rap (it depends on the vibe he gets from the passengers) he normally does it whenever flying back into his home town of Las Vegas.

http://www.blogsouthwest.com/trackback/2147

Tue, 04/28/2009 - 08:49 - Lindsey Reynolds

You've seen him on YouTube, you've twittered about him all month, you've shared his video with all your friends-heck, even Oprah talked about him on her "Live Friday" show last week! Now's your chance to catch David Holmes, Southwest's own "Rapping Flight Attendant", perform on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 28th at 10:35 CST. Our own Christi Day will be tweeting live from the performance, so be sure to follow @SouthwestAir throughout the day for constant updates. David, we wish you the best of luck, and lots of LUV!

International Civil Aviation Organization

Important, but as dry and boring as can be...

A safety demonstration typically covers all these aspects, not necessarily in this order:

* a reminder to review the aircraft safety card

* the use of the seat belt

* the requirement that passengers must comply with lighted signs, posted placards, and crew members instructions (Generally only included in safety demonstrations on US and New Zealand carriers as the FAA (US) and CAA (NZ) require it to be stated)

* the location and use of the emergency exits, evacuation slides and emergency floor lighting

* the use of the oxygen mask

* the location and use of the life vests, life rafts and flotation devices (not typically included if the flight does not overfly or fly near vast masses of water)

* the brace position (not typically included on U.S. nor EU flights)

* the use of passenger seat cushions as flotation devices (typically only included on aircraft that do not provide life vests)

* generally, a reminder not to smoke on board, including the toilets

* reminder not to tamper with or disable lavatory smoke detectors

* the precautions to take before take-off and landing:

o to stow luggage under a seat or in an overhead compartment

o to return folding trays and seat backs to the upright position

o to turn off most electronic devices (laptops, mobile phones, etc.)

Credit: Wikipedia

Videos and Pictures

The following either tickled my Funny-Bone or were selected for originality

Which tact do you think is more Appropriate?

SoyCandleLover-Maker (SoyCandleLover) on Twitter.

Squidoo Giant RocketMom writer living just south of Rochester, NY. Loves living Green, Gardening, 80s, Movies, Reading, Music, Twilight, Glee, Quizzes & Polls.

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