Smokin’ Airline
Smintair, set to debut in 2007, is an airline catering to people who prefer to puff on Marlboros while flying the friendly skies. Although the name may sound like a debilitating infection of some kind,* the company is actually promising a return to a more glamorous age of air travel. From the company’s website:
“Although innovative, SMINTAIR will treat its passengers like the guest of an international Grand Hotel. It is an obligation to SMINTAIR to bring back the exclusivity in flying encountered in the 1960s and dearly missed by so many.”
With those kinds of promises, I can only wonder how much airfares are going to be going for. And, perhaps more importantly, will everyone get their own tiny, paper-covered pillow? And, will that pillow have a mint on it?
The move away from economical air travel and back toward luxury is interesting, and will likely fill a gap in the travel market. However, the niche-marketing of a smokers’ airline may or may not work. Smokers increasingly see themselves as a marginalized group — often rightly so — but how much will they be willing to pay to light-up in-flight? The marketing will likely turn off a number of consumers who would otherwise be interested in high-end travel options, and the ads could easily be accused of glamorizing smoking. I mean, have you seen that woman in the print ads? She is hottt.
*”Timmy, your father isn’t going to make it. He’s got smintair.” See, it just works.