Too Close To Home

Warning: Contains material that may be disturbing to flight attendants and pacifists.

Let me clarify right now that this is not a review of Jodie Foster's new movie. Nor is it about the scriptwriting or any writing for that matter. This is about how Flightplan was uncannily spot-on in its portrayal of flight attendants from a certain airline.

I have flown this particular airline every time I travel to destinations further than 3 hours and each time I have left with a bad taste in my mouth. Am I exaggerating? Well, considering that most fellow travellers have shared similar unsavoury experiences, I don't think so. Here are just two examples:

Last December my two close friends returned from Sri Lanka with only borrowed clothes on their backs and various injuries. After take-off, one of them asked for a first aid kit. The stewardess unconcernedly replied, "Ok, but I have to serve the orange juice first."

Upon arrival at KLIA, they disembarked with a airline blanket wrapped around them as neither was wearing any undergarments. A steward stopped them and demanded the blanket back, saying it was airline property.

According to an E! Online report, 'It will be a cold day in hell when Flightplan winds up as an in-flight movie - especially if flight-attendant unions have anything to do with it". Apparently flight attendants the world over are calling for a boycott of the movie, saying they fear it will depict them in as rude and unhelpful.

After being in the company of the World's Best Cabin Crew, I must say that this fear is totally justified.