Experience 054. Lighting Up. History of Smoking on Flights.

The Seat 1A Podcast

In this experience we look at the history of smoking on flights. Geoff and Vinod remember smoking on flights, the ashtrays in the seats, and the turning off of the no smoking sign.

A question that Vinod was (and still is) asked is, "Are the smoke detectors in the lavatory real?" Absolutely. The purpose is all about putting out the live flame. But if smoking is not allowed on flights, why are there still ashtrays in lavatories?

While Vinod never caught anyone in the act of smoking on the flight, he had numerous cases where passengers had been smoking just prior to his interaction. If passengers are caught smoking, it's a chargeable offense.

Vinod shares a story of a Mountie that had to fly to Mexico for a day, due to supervise a passenger who had been caught smoking on charter flight.

We open the history books on smoking on flights. When and where did it end? (Hint, much more recently than you may think.) We take a look at a few plane crashes. Firstly, how smoking played a role in the investigation of a 1985 Japan Airlines crash. Next, we look at the 1973 Varig flight that showed the need for early detection of fires in the lav. We finally look at the 1983 Air Canada flight which showed the need for smoke detectors and fire suppressants in the lav.

Fire on board is a scary, scary, thing.

Vinod shares his story of a random Portuguese charter in Edmonton. In general, private carriers do a lot of what they want.

Smoking lounges still exist in various countries – Geoff shares his experience from Frankfurt and Vinod shares his experience from Tokyo.

We look briefly at a US Supreme Court case where onboard smoking was one of the key reasons for the trial.

Pro tip – if you see or smell smoke, let your flight attendant know.

There were attempts in the US to start a smoker's airline, however it never was able to get in the air.

These days the only place you'll see cigarettes in an airplane is in duty free.

News Items:

• airlineweekly.com article "Los Angeles Airport Approves New Terminal, Concourse for 2028 Olympics."
• businesstraveller.com article "Dubai International launches food and duty-free ordering service for passengers

If you have a story about smoking on board, fire on board, or other experiences that you would like to share, please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you wish to support the show financially, we are on Patreon. Show notes are available online at http://podcast.seat1a.org/