Picture the scene. You’re sitting beside the love of your life, you’re tucking into some champagne as you cruise at 30,000 feet on your way to your dream honeymoon destination, when suddenly you’re asked to step into the pilot’s cockpit so he can marry you. It sounds like a scene from a bad sit-com, but according to the budget airline Easyjet it could be the route to getting their profits back to the heights they’re used to.
Fewer of us are flying anywhere these days and the airlines such as Easyjet and Ryanair, who have thrived on those passengers who fly when perhaps they don’t really need to, are finding themselves having to drum up clientele in more ingenious ways. The Scrooges at Ryanair have considered a number of money-making ideas, from coin operated toilets to a fat-tax for customers of a certain weight. Now Easyjet are appealing to our romantic side with the idea of having the pilot marrying the couple mid-air.
If successful, Easyjet would like the pilot to personally become licensed to wed a couple in his cockpit while they fly to their honeymoon. They are selling the idea as a time-saver, but mostly as a chance finally to be able to get married above the clouds. At present UK laws state that marriage must be conducted in a stationary setting. It must also be conducted by a religious minister, or a registered member of the council. The legal hurdles won’t be easy for Easyjet to fly over with this one, but rest assured they’ll be hoping the right people say “I do” when it comes down to a decision.
