When the pilot greets you on board, they’ll
talk about the weather and flight duration after introducing themselves and the crew. But have you ever been on a flight where the
Captain introduced the plane itself? I don’t mean “Boeing 737,” but something
like “Miss Moneypenny” – really! You can’t make this stuff up! Planes are a relatively recent invention. Before them, there was another popular means
of mass transportation – ships. Well, it might come as no surprise that aviation
inherited a lot of things from seafaring. Distances are measured in nautical miles,
aircraft can also be called ships, and the pilot is no less than the captain himself. Plus, he’s got a trusted crew to help him
on board. Each major ship in history had its name: the
Santa Maria, USS Constitution, HMS Victory, the Titanic. You’ve heard of the Titanic? A lot of them were named after places they
came from, historical figures, or just some noble-sounding words. So if you’re wondering where the practice
comes from, the aviation industry took this old maritime tradition and flew with it! The first major airline to do it was Pan American
Airways, once the largest international air carrier in the United States. In 1929, they invited Amelia Earhart (you
know, the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean) to wish good luck to their
first aircraft flying from Miami to Havana. It was a Ford Trimotor fittingly dubbed Cuba. They continued naming their aircraft, many
of them with maritime monikers, until Delta bought the historic airline in 1991. Fortunately, the naming tradition grew strong
and lived on. Around that same time in the1920s, similar
things were happening across the pond. KLM, the official Dutch airline, gave its
first aircraft the name Dikke Dirk, which translates as Fat Dirk. They picked this name after the last two letters
in its registration – DD. The “fat” part was a joke about its unusually
chubby fuselage. The airline still gives names to its planes,
but mostly chooses cities, heritage sites, and sometimes even local bird and insect species
for inspiration. Today, a lot of major airlines like Virgin
America, Virgin Atlantic, Qantas, Icelandair, and JetBlue spend a good amount of time and
money coming up with the perfect name for their aircraft before sending it off. Now, it seems logical to name a plane after
a famous explorer or the city it was built in, but sometimes the names written below
the pilot's cockpit window on the nose of the aircraft are way more eccentric than that. Get ready to meet Pepper, Scootalicious, Ladybird,
and the Big Yella Fella! Sounds like members of some rock band… Many airlines name their planes after something
that means a lot for their national culture, traditions, or sights. In Australia, for example, Qantas aircraft
proudly bear the name of local cities, Aboriginal art, and the continent’s first pilots. One plane, for example, is named Nancy-Bird
Walton, after the woman who founded the local female pilot association. Even though she was almost a century old by
the time her big metal namesake first took to the skies, she was on that flight! Another interesting naming example from Down
Under is Nullarbor, which is the Latin for “no trees.” It's also a flat and arid region in Australia
with basically nothing in it… certainly no trees! Virgin Australia likes naming their planes
after the country-continent’s endless beaches – there are so many of them that they can
keep buying planes and never run out of names! The national airline of Israel called El Al
names its aircraft after local cities. So there might be a Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
flying somewhere above the clouds right now! They always celebrate the naming of a new
plane with a whole ceremony in that city. In Hawaiian culture, giving a name to a person
or even an object is a revered practice. They say it can make or break a person’s
(or object’s) prosperity and spirit. So, it’s no wonder Hawaiian Airlines always
name their planes, and they mostly take inspiration from constellations, flowers, and birds. Makali'i, for example, is a constellation
that’s so important in Hawaiian mythology that there’s an Airbus 330 in the local
air fleet bearing its name. There’s also an aircraft named after the
famous Maui-born sumo wrestler Jesse Takamiyama. Iceland is the place to be if you want to
see some striking landscapes and powerful nature, what with all its volcanoes, geysers,
hot springs, and glaciers. When one volcano with a name I’m not even
going to try to pronounce [Eyjafjallajökull]—see?-- erupted back in 2010, the whole world learned
about it since flights across the globe were severely delayed. Well, Icelandair decided to name a Boeing
757 after the thing! In the Land of Spices, airline marketing agents
used that ginormous flavorful variety for inspiration when naming their aircraft. So, head to India, and you just might fly
on a plane called Red Chili, Coriander, Pepper, or Turmeric! All those spicy planes are the fleet of Spicejet
airlines. By the way, if you were to name a plane after
your favorite food or spice, what would it be? “Flaming Hot Cheetos requesting permission
to land…” Let me know your pick down in the comments! It's also quite popular to name planes after
prominent people. Russian national air carrier Aeroflot looks
to the country’s great writers, scientists, and composers for inspo. So if you’re ever flying with the carrier,
don’t be surprised to hear the plane introduced as Dostoevsky, Brodsky, or . Virgin Atlantic airlines give their planes
mostly female names, such as Pretty Woman, Queen of the Skies, Ladybird, and Indian Princess. These names are accompanied by a painting
of Lady Luck on the side of the craft. She’s painted in the Pinup Girl style of
Peruvian artist Alberto Vargas. The airline also has a plane named after him
called Varga Girl. Nice way to pay tribute! JetBlue airlines stay true to their brand
when naming every new plane they get. They try to include the word “blue” in
that nickname. Their very first plane was an Airbus A320
called BlueBird that traveled from JFK to Fort Lauderdale. When they purchased the first US-made Airbus,
they honored the famous Alabama city it was built in by calling the plane BluesMobile. Among other aircraft in their fleet are “Blue
by Popular Demand” and “Hopelessly Devoted to Blue.” And when airlines need some help from the
public, they hold competitions among their social media followers to invent their own
perfect plane name. From Irish Ryanair to Australian Qantas, airlines
give their fans a chance to commemorate themselves or just get crazy and creative when coming
up with those names. Some of the funniest suggestions Virgin America
got were “pineapple express” and “#nerdbird” to point out that Virgin is the first airline
to have fleetwide Wi-Fi. Another Virgin plane was named after an Irish
sheep farmer. His son won the right to designate an aircraft
at a Virgin Unite auction. Singaporean airline Scoot is using eccentric
plane names as a way to show how cool and fresh they are. Many of their flights are India-bound, and
some savvy social media polling helped them find the perfect names the Indian youth just
loves. According to them, they were Scootalicious,
Dream Start, and Big Yella Fella. After they merged with another airline TigerAir,
they named an aircraft Conscious Coupling. Speaking of Scoot, it’s not only the jets
that get weird names but also the airlines themselves. There was one in Taiwan called U-Land. (Hmm, was there a U-Fly as well?) Ransome Airlines were a regional carrier based
in Pennsylvania. Vegas-based Bonanza airlines used to fly between
the western United States and Mexico. There was also the Russian airline Touch and
Go. It seemed to be doing just fine flying to
Cyprus and Greece, but in the end, the whole business was, ya know, touch and go. How about BRA airways? It was a Brazilian airline, but the name doesn’t
come from women’s undergarments. It stood for Brasil Rodo Aéreo. Don’t be too upset that you can no longer
book with BRA since they closed in 2007. Can we say the BRA was removed. No we can’t? okay. There’s a whole new BRA airline, but it’s
based in Sweden. The acronym stands for Braathens Regional
Airways. Ah so many jokes, so little time. Finally, out of the still existing and pretty
successful, there’s the Hungarian budget airline WizzAir. The company is doing great, and you can get
yourself an account on its official website in the “My Wizz” tab. Ah so many jokes, so little time. Hey, if you learned something new today, then
give the video a like and share it with a friend! And here are some other cool videos I think
you'll enjoy. Just click to the left or right, and stay
on the Bright Side of life!
