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By Melinda
Mahaffey
IN-FLIGHT SERVICES
>Six percent of travelers said they'd started a romantic relationship in flight over the last year, according to an October 2006 TripAdvisor survey.
>In an August 2006 survey, Zuji, Travelocity's Australian arm, found that 7 percent of men had joined the Mile-High Club, while 48 percent still wanted in. Their odds aren't great, though—only 26 percent of women were interested, and a scant 1 percent had actually done the dirty deed.
>Air mix is limited to three lateral rows—which means you are at risk of catching only what the people directly in front of and behind you have.
>In a 2004 EPA study of the drinking water on 327 aircraft, 15 percent of the samples contained coliform bacteria, an indicator of possible pathogens.
>Between January and September 2006 (the most recent data available), there were 79 "unruly passenger" incidents, according to the Department of Transportation.
>If you want to arrive on time, pick a flight that gets in between 6:00 and 6:59 a.m. The worst time to arrive, statistically speaking, is between 8:00 and 8:59 p.m.
>The worst flight for late arrival is ComAir's Flight 5283, which leaves JFK at 6:15 p.m. It is late 100 percent of the time, arriving on average about 79 minutes behind schedule at Washington National.
>Emirates won the 2006 Skytrax Award for best in-flight entertainment for the fourth year in a row, while Thai Airways picked up best in cabin crew.
AIR FOOD
When low-fare carriers eliminated in-flight meals as part of a smarter business plan, the rationale was that no one wanted to pay more to eat a tray of cardboard anyway. Adding insult to injury, at 30,000 feet your body acts against you—your taste buds work less efficiently, and the pressurized atmosphere dehydrates you and slows digestion.
As meals have vanished on some carriers, others have signed up high-profile chefs to differentiate their offerings and entice fliers into their business and upper classes. For example, American Airlines offers a cowboy steak created by Stephan Pyles; Gulf Air has been named best in in-flight caterer for the last three years by Skytrax (a survey with over three million participants), largely due to the finishing touches added by its onboard chefs.
But while a steak at 30,000 feet may taste great, it isn't exactly heart-healthy. And since few airlines offer nutritional information on their meals, and no studies have been done on the subject, how is a flier to eat healthy? Conventional wisdom says pack your own brown bag, but with tighter security restrictions, that's nearly impossible.
Recently, airlines like Qantas and JetBlue have been listening to fliers' concerns. Qantas has teamed with Australia's Heart Foundation; JetBlue has axed the trans fat in its snacks. At the end of the day, though, the best bet is still to request a special meal, and skip the coffee and carbonation.
Want a sneak peak? Log on to airlinemeals.net, where contributors have posted hundreds of photos and reviews of their own small trays of heaven—or cardboard.
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