As pax not crew:

I met Alan Shearer (Current Newcastle Captain, former England Captain) on a flight back from Barbados and he was a complete gentleman.

Met Billy Connolly at LHR and he was as funny in person as he is on the TV.

Shared a plane with Tony Blair to Bermuda and he was quiet throughout the flight. It seemed really strange seeing your Prime Minister sitting in Club World, not first!! You'd never see an American President doing that!!!

Actually Damien,
Im surprised he was in Club. He usually travels in Traveller when hes paying for himself. I just flew him self and Cherie over (and subsequently back...he even recognised me the second time) to Barbados sitting down the back, although they did get an exit row! I have also taken him to bermuda down the back a number of months back!!!
But I believe its simply a choice they have made to try and be "one" with their subjects!!! LOL!

Jim Davidson - invited me to his hotel..... (no I didn't!)
Gypsy Gings - gave us an impromptu gig
Mohammed Ali - punch drunk but lovely
Queen Nora (of Jordan) - friendly and a dream pax
Boris Becker - well behaved, nice quiet pax
Duran Duran (plus wives, children and hangers-on) - your worst nightmare
Princess Anne - wanted no fuss whatsoever

On one flight he and I were in adjacent seats. PAs fluttered around, but not around me. My ignorance of his importance was, I suppose, evident, so he and I were introduced. I confessed that I had not known who he was. As it turned out, he had not known who I was. Still am, actually. Those hurdles overcome, we had a pleasant trip. I think his Mum was in the row behind.

I 'ad that Yehudi Menuhin in the back of the plane once.

I'll bet that was only because there's no broom cupboard on an aeroplane though.

Best:

We had Lionel Richie checking-in at our desks a year or so back. As he walked up to the desk and said 'hello?'...the check in agent could'nt resist the reply 'is it me you're looking for?'. Total cliche line I know but he broke out in a big smile, asked her to get off her check-in desk and gave her a big hug. He must have heard it a thousand times but still appreciated it, such a lovely guy, totally down to earth.

Colin Powel the US Senator, very polite and all round nice guy.

Ruud Vannistelrooy (dodgy spelling!) footballer - I used to check him in every week to AMS, used to make me all dithering and unnecessary at check-in (cos I thought he was quite fit!:E ), when I asked him why he always came to my desk he said with a smile and a wink it was cos I was always looked so happy and welcoming when i saw him and always made him feel special...well that was it...me red as a beetroot, totally tongue tied with brain meltdown:\ ..i think he knew why but must have loved the attention cos after that, week after week he still always came to my desk rather than those of my female colleagues!

Worst:

Jeremy Kyle sat in our Lounge being very loud, vile, obnoxious with a total 'Don't you know who I am attitude'

Actually, hun, Virgin used to operate the Boeing 767-300. They leased one of the aircraft from Martinair of Holland and kept it for the best part of four years between early 1996 and late 1999.

As for "celebs", on my last flight I had Frankie Dittorri (sp?) both ways to and from HKG. He seems to like chatting with females but not males. Fine by me.

I'm also carried Nigel Mansell (Very nice man), Mel Smith (of Smith & Jones - also a very nice, but quiet, man), Gerri Hall + Jade Jaggar (both pleasant but deadly quiet), Will Mellor (didn't speak to him - didn't care!), That "I predict a riot" group (nice guys - like their Johnny Walker!), Victoria Beckham (absolutely delightful), Jane Fonda (nice) and a group of 9 members of the Omanese Royal Family (they are absolutely lovely people - flew them in July of last year and then again in December and they remembered my name and greeted me with handshakes and one hug.... How lovely!).

That's all I can remember just now.

Iam not crew but flew as pax on Orient Airlines from Moscow to Vladivostok in
1995 on an IL62.
This particular airlines had 3 classes.... Business, Standard and Economy. I was in Business on my own and the group Boney M filled Standard Class.
All went swimmingly until Vladivostok where a set of local dignitaires,press and flower girls in national dress bearing traditional gifts of bread and salt were waiting to welcome Boney M at the bottom of the steps.
Up got Boney M en masse heading for the steps only to be halted by a lady from the cabin crew who insisted that Business Class gets off before Standard Class and there was no way she was making an exception. So off I went down the steps and all these people headed for me cameras flashing etc.... only to have to stop and do it all again when the real Boney M appeared!!!
To cap it all the minibus sent to pick them up was sat there with a flat tyre and they had to get on one of the cattle transporters that the rest of us had to use to get to the terminal.

Celebrities Onboard
 

Had Deborah Hutton onboard in J class. Partner and I both working in J. Partner was/is a big fan and was 'too shy' to work her side of the cabin. I made mention of this to her and she asked for his address. 3 days later, an 8" x10" signed picture arrived signed saying: 'dear ....., Keep smiling, love Deborah xx'. True Story. :ok:

A question to check in and flight crew...

How do you know these people are celebrities? - Especially when they travel using their real names?

Are there "VIP" or similar marks by certain pax names on the passenger lists and computers?

Or do you simply go off Airline FF cards, the class they are travelling in or by simply recognising them?


My celebrities seem to all be current or ex footballers on the MAN-LHR shuttle - most seem alright and they travel regularly enough for the crew to recognise them, it seems.

What a great thread. Not suprised it's been picked up by a national newspaper.

How can you tell the celebs? Well, the famous ones you should recognise, the less famous ones will tell you!

I'm form the flight deck, so my expereince of dealing with them is limited. But one thing I found when flying for Virgin Atalntic was that it seemd to be the airline of choice for a lot of minor celebs, not because of it's image but because not having a first class, the 'celebs' could sit in the posh bit of the aircraft and not have to pay first class prices. I don't remeber one LA trip without some celeb causing a fuss.

When they are real celebrities they arrive on board last, and escorted, or with a company agent. In some cases I've even had someone arrive not from the gate but on the tarmac with a police escort. I also had in a few occasions the person with his/her group book the whole First Class for privacy.
In other cases I've realised I had someone famous on board because I checked the PIL. Sometimes they don't look at all in real life like in movies or pictures...

Thanks for the clarification Eddy :) However my statement was correct in the context of the article quoted, and was also made in the present tense, not the past :ok:

Oooh I've had a few celebs on board over the years ...

Peter Jackson (Lord Of The Rings director. Had him on almost weekly for a while whilst he was promoting the films. Very lovely, somewhat shy, remembered my name and always indulged in conversation)
Most of the Lord Of The Rings Cast (Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler ... all really lovely and one of them was very flirty! Fellow CC member at my former airline spent the night with one of the lads)
Princess Anne (absolutely lovely, very polite, smiley and unassuming)
Robbie Williams (very cheeky, EXTREMELY flirty and wouldn't take "no" for an answer when it came to inviting me to his concert/after-party/hotel. I went to the show, met him again but declined the rest of the "offer", esp as my fiancé at the time was with me! LOL)
Gwyneth Paltrow (very quiet, kept to herself, just pulled her hat down over her eyes and slept the entire time)
Rod Stewart's and Rachel Hunter's kids with Aunt (or nanny, not sure which) ... very lovely kids, awesome manners and head to toe in Louis Vuitton and designer gear
Nicky Watson (polite enough, swears like a trooper, insanely tall and yes her "assets" really are enormous)

+ lots of footballers (worked a charter for the Brazillian soccer team and entourage ... that was an experience!), rugby players and minor television personalities.

Ex flatmate has Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods and Tom Cruise on the same flight and said they were all amazing.

I had Colin Farrell on a flight. He slept in just his pants in upper class!!! He had a thing with the in flight beuty therapist down route in Miami!!!! I have also had Leonardo Di Caprio who was a little bit odd to say the least!!! There has been so many!!!!!

Best: Peter Andre and Jordan. Nice, down to earth, Peter chatted to us.

Worst: Charlie Brooks, Eastenders. Didn't say thankyou, didn't say anything come to think of it!

krinkly but....
 

The Karmic Celeb Charts

Best=

1) Sir Trevor McDonald (ITN Newscaster) – (3 Flights) The epitomy of a ‘Sir’ – fun, engaging, one of life’s true ‘patricians’.
2) Nelson Mandela – An enigma in a seat. (No comment about Winnie – who he was then married to…and co traveller on UK visit many moons ago). CC said he wanted to use his own SA chilli sauce with everything. Came upstairs for a long chin-wag.
3) Bryan Adams – said he was straight but fancied me. He asked if he could stroke my hair and I let him. Stroked something in me….er..em…(especially as I’d never heard of him before). Fun & genuine!

Worst= (Allegedly….in case I get sued…..)

1) Cilla – She’d got sat in rows 5&6/J/K in the old ‘classic’ BA F/C setup. Wanted FD to come down and explain why she was sat next to the ‘**** house’. (5&6 were beside the loos….but..not exactly ‘in them’…hehe). Told CSO(CSD) to just ‘do whatever’. Got a running commentary throughout the flight of all the shenanigans from her and family. So much so, that we ‘refused’ a FD visit request, much to the CSO’s (crews) glee.
2) Princess M – (The one who liked Famous Grouse & Cigs) - 4 in entourage upgraded at check-in from Y to J. Then on boarding to F. Gave CC such a run-around that I came down to have a chat and found her to be one cucumber sandwich short of a BuckinghamPalace tea party.
3) Joan Collins – (allegedly) – from crew comments in the days post the u/d ‘lounge’ when, for a short while the classic BA 747-136 had F/C in both A-zone and the u/d. Anyone ‘who was ‘anybody’ (ahem…) was sat in A zone F/C. The rest were sat upstairs…sorta thing…. Seemingly JC, on boarding, asked CC if there was ‘anyone she needed to know about’ sat downstairs. To which, a list was read off. JC seemingly shrieked when ‘Vidal Sassoon’ was mentioned and asked CC to tell him that she was sat upstairs and he was welcome to come and visit anytime, to which he allegedly replied…’tell the b*1tch to fe*k aw*f’. Message was diplomatically returned.

K

Dan Winterland

Yeah mate ... we can tell by your spelling ;)

:p :p :p :ok: