An airsickness bag + an "Intel Inside" sticker + plastic doggie doo (available at finer novelty shops everywhere) makes a great gift for any Macintosh aficionado. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

I would be interested to see an airline engage in a major crackdown on this purloining of inflight items along the lines that Air India does occasionally at LHR.

During the 2 hr layover at LHR on the BOM-JFK route, all pax are deplaned and have to go through AI security again to re-enter the aircraft. During this security check, all carry-on bags were searched by hand and any marked AI items were removed. Passengers were then given the option of making reparations to AI for the cost of the items pilfered or facing larceny charges in England.

Needless to say, this proved very effective and AI was able to reduce their losses by almost 50%.

A quick check on eBay found

1. Sets of Airline Silverware
2. Back of seat "Safety Placards."
3. Barf Bags
4. Amenity Kits
5. Decks of cards

I wish I were surprised. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/confused.gif

Visit the new museum at the International Terminal at SFO and you’ll see a deluxe collection on items from airlines of long ago, including silverware, napkins and the like.

I wonder if the curator asks the donors where the items were received.

Hmmm... A few weeks ago I was in First on a CO CLE-LAX flight and swiped the cute lil salt/pepper shakers..... I hope this does not count!!! I was caught by the FA, and they had very much fun with me for the remainder of the trip. At one point the Pilot or Copilot was waiting for me as I exited the lavatory.. I promised I had not taken anything from there!!

I have a friend who collects airline "silver." When I am flying an airline and run across a new piece that he doesn't have, I ask the flight attenant for permission to take the item. I've never had my request denied.

eastwest. What was the barf bag bid up to on ebay? Was MrLimo the vendor perchance? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

------------------
~ Glen ~

I understand the concern about the life vest being removed, but I'm curious -- in the history of commercial airline flight, has there really ever been a case where they saved someone's life in the water? I.e. how many controlled, advance warning landings in water have you heard of? Me -- none.

Delary, have I been fooling myself that those vest that I have had demonstrated to me more times than I care to remember are useless in the even that I survived a landing on water? I am staggered at the story about Air India. I can assure you that the police would not be interested, they have more than enough to worry them than that. One wonders what people had been stealing to attract that form of attention. On a lighter note, Virgin Atlantc have engraved on the base of their salt and pepper set in Upper Class "Stolen from Virgin Atlantic"!

My previous comment about vests/whistles may have been seasoned with several pinches of sarcasm. However, several years ago a non-US carrier was hijacked (I think a 767, maybe 757), ran out of fuel, and attempted a power-out water landing [excuse the oxymoron]. Many were killed and many survived; I don't know how many of the survivors were assisted by their life vests.

On average, there would be around 400 blankets and pillows loaded on the 747 at BOM, but barely 200 of them left on board at LHR. Other popular items gone missing were headsets, silverware, glasses (this was another major problem) and even a personal TV unit that had been unscrewed from the Business Class seat.

Reminds me of a story about some Boeing workers who decided to go rafting on a raft they "borrowed" from the 747 plant. The coast guard met them half way down the river---they forgot about the raft's automatic radio distress beacon.

The lifevests are not particularly useful as a matter of fact. They are more a relic of the days when passenger airplanes landed in the water as a matter of course.

"In the event of a water landing" makes it sound so jolly but in fact a "water landing" is not something that will afford most folks the opportunity to use a lifevest http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

A Norwegian airline has run into an unexpected safety problem: Seat belts on its aircraft are vanishing because they have become a hot fashion accessory. “What we know is that it is in fashion for the street look,” Stig Martin Solberg, spokesman for Braathens.
He said mostly younger Norwegians steal the seat belts, then use them to hold up their extremely baggy pants. Solberg said the airline, Norway’s major domestic carrier, has been losing an average of 5 seat belts a day.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum...ML/001006.html

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[This message has been edited by CaliforniasCentralCoast (edited 01-26-2001).]