February 25, 1990, was the day domestic flights of six hours or less became smokefree. The ban was an enormous leap forward for the passenger experience, and was the result of a succession of high-profile accidents involving inflight fires: Varig Flight 820 on July 11, 1973; CAAC Airlines Flight 2311 on December 24, 1982; and Air Canada Flight 797 on June 2, 1983; and years of sustained campaigning by the Association of Flight Attendants and the non-smoking public. “It was quite ugly. I was working the 707s, sitting in the back, and once the smoking sign went off, you couldn’t see
Puff Piece Cigarettes and matches were once intrinsic to the passenger experience – flight attendants would even hand them out like peanuts. BY PAUL SILLERS
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the front of the plane – it was just a cloud of smoke,” says American Airlines flight attendant Tim Kirkwood, recalling the pre-ban days with Trans World Airlines. Once the ban was enforced, but before smoke alarms existed, it was down to the attendants to patrol the lavatories. “In most cases, you just scolded them, but if they did it again, you might have them met by the authorities.” While smoking was outlawed in the passenger cabin, initially it was still allowed on the flight deck – regulators were concerned that withdrawal symptoms would impede pilots’ concentration. Cabin crew (half of whom smoked when the ban was introduced) would game the system, recounts Rob Gallagher, former director of Catering and Onboard Service at Virgin America (now Alaska Airlines), who was a Continental Airlines flight attendant at the time: “In the first year, crewmembers would sneak to the cockpit to have a smoke if the captain allowed it.” Today, crew are ever conscious of the potential dangers, but there are still some passengers who think smoking is just a trivial infringement of rules that exist to be broken. “Once, a passenger entered the toilet and I had a feeling something wasn’t
right,” recalls a former flight attendant who worked 18 years with various airlines in Asia. “As soon as he came out, I pulled out the bin and it was smoldering with smoke from burning tissues. I grabbed the nearest coffeepot and poured it all into the bin. Sizzling sounds all over. The purser informed the captain, who handed the passenger over to security once we landed.” Smoke-detection technology is improving, the former flight attendant says: “In the past, the design of smoke detectors protruded, allowing passengers to cover them with plastic cups. Some covered them with wet towels – worked enough to have a quick puff.” Nowadays, systems are tamper-proof and alarmingly conspicuous, she says: “Airbus A380 smoke detectors produce piercing chimes and ‘SMOKE LAV’ warnings flash on the cabin attendant control panels.” And while they may be tamper-proof, they’re not always foolproof, she points out. “On a flight from New York to Dubai, crew came within seconds of hearing the alarm, equipped with [Halon extinguishers] ready to fight the toilet fire – only to discover the passenger was using hair spray in the lavatory!”
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
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