Giving up your first class seat?

[webmaster]

Very cool..... and no, this doesn't involve the super hornet or any AF aircraft landing on a carrier, so don't get upset.... -- John

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040715/D83R8SBO0.html

Jul 15, 10:01 AM (ET)


DALLAS (AP) - Eight soldiers flying home from Iraq for two weeks of R&R flew in style instead of coach after first-class passengers offered to swap seats with them.

"The soldiers were very, very happy, and the whole aircraft had a different feeling," flight attendant Lorrie Gammon told The Dallas Morning News in Thursday's editions.

The June 29 seat-swap on American Airlines Flight 866 from Atlanta to Chicago started before boarding, when a businessman approached one of the soldiers and traded his seat.

When the swapping was done, "the other two first-class passengers wanted to give up their seats, too, but they couldn't find any more soldiers," Gammon said.

Another flight attendant, Candi Spradlin, said she was impressed with the acts of good will.

"If nothing else, those soldiers got a great homecoming," she said.

 

[bch]

Awesome, saw that on a flight from Corpus to San Dog too. Made the guy's day too!

 

[crysmc]

That's awesome. I think it's really great when civilians give up airplane seats or buy a round of drinks for our soldiers. It's nice to see civilians sacrifice a little to thank our soldiers who sacrifice so much.

 

[Jaxs170]

I was flying to San Dog on United and the captain gave word to the FAs to give free drinks to the servicemen on board. There were a bunch of guys heading to Pendleton then onto Iraq. (I declined the offer since I didn't think it would be right for me to take the drinks seeing as I have a very cushy job and these guys were doing the tough, down and dirty work to keep me safe so I can do my job. Even after I declined the FA (VERY cute) still tired to get me to take one. After thinking it over I still wonder if I should have accepted to give me a chance to talk to her some more, lol.)

 

[RickyDT34]

I was given a first class seat while in uniform on a flight from Memphis to Jax. I was later told by someone in my command that it is inappropriate to accept a first class seat in uniform because it may look like the government is buying first class seats for its employees. Has anyone every heard of such a thing?

 

[Jaxs170]

Well, technically we cannot accept free gifts since it could be percieved as favoritism. I can tell you of many places that gave $1 meal deals to air crews for coming to their FBO (and buying hundreds of dollars of their gas), and we are talking meals that would cost $10-20 normally. The reason we paid the $1 was b/c that showed we were not picking favorites or taking free gifts. So, if you want to cover yourself, if given that opportunity again, give the airline $1 and you are good to go.

However, my question is, what were you doing traveling in uniform anyway??? Talk about drawing unwanted attention to yourself. I thought military personel weren't supposed to travel in uniform anymore, yet I see this everytime I travel commercial.