The French businessman flying in China wants his airplane seat mate to be a woman who will escort him during his ”lonely after-work evening”. The 32-year-old American woman wouldn’t mind meeting her ”soul mate” on her plane trip to South America.
Thanks to the internet, these travellers might get to choose their ideal travel partners in their next voyage.
Peter Shankman founded AirTroductions.com to make air travel more pleasant by giving people a way to pick who they want to sit with in an airplane, whether to find love, business contacts or just a silent flying partner.
”Everyone has been in this situation where you’ve been on the plane and you see these people coming down the aisle, and you’re just like, ‘Oh no,”’ Shankman said.
The website, which he launched in October, can help individuals ”find someone to sit next to who won’t drive you crazy, just someone to talk to for three hours who’s a nice person who won’t invade your space and try to hit on you”, said Shankman (33), who runs a PR and marketing firm in New York.
AirTroductions.com, which has more than 7 300 registered travellers, allows users to post a profile and a picture. They can then enter their itinerary — from any airport and airline in the world — and search for people who might be on the same plane or airport terminal.
Users must pay a fee to contact a potential travel companion. If two people hit it off upon meeting at the airport, it is up to them to change their seats.
A random scan of profiles on AirTroductions.com shows a diverse group of people from around the world — Shankman said more than 1 500 members are from about 50 countries — looking for trysts, friendship, work opportunities or just peace and quiet.
Profiles are vetted before they are posted to ensure they are clean and don’t include raunchy lines like ”we’re looking to join the ‘mile high club”’, Shankman said.
The Frenchman doing business in China and the California woman flying in South America are not the only ones hoping for an amorous airport connection.
A 28-year-old Las Vegas man wants to sit next to an attractive woman for a change.
”Somehow I always get stuck sitting next to some fat guy who is big enough to fill two seats and breathes really loud and falls asleep drueling (sic) on me,” he complains. ”Thus, I would like to sit next to a cute, intelligent, nice, fun woman who smells a little better than the Whopper from Burger King that the guy brings on the plane.”
The size and scent of passengers seem to worry a few AirTroductions.com members.
”I’m always looking for someone who can talk about something other than their work or their affiliation with God,” writes an American travelling in Asia, adding: ”Oh … and please don’t smell bad.”
Garrulous seatmates and bawling babies are also major irritants to other travelers.
A California man flying within the United States wants to meet ”someone who will not talk so much during the flight that I will want to jump out of the airplane an hour into the flight without a parachute”.
Michele Hickford hopes the website will help her find potential clients for her consulting business during her trips.
But she noted there are still too few members on the website to guarantee finding someone on the same flight. Still, Hickford (48) likes the idea of choosing her seat mate.
”I’d much rather have an interesting like-minded person next to me than a screaming baby,” the Florida woman said in an interview.
By giving people the ability to choose their flying partner, Shankman hopes to make travelling a more enjoyable experience in an age of cranky, harried passengers.
”Air travel back in the Fifties and Sixties used to be fun. People used to be excited about getting on the plane; they would even dress up for it,” he said.
”And now they get on the plane because they have to. They say, ‘You’re in my seat! Get off my arm rest!’ It’s not fun any more. And I think that maybe I can bring back a little bit of the enjoyment to it.” — Sapa-AFP