PHILIPPINES: Cebu Pacific cabin crew dance to Safety demonstration

Record ID: 741660

  • Title: PHILIPPINES: Cebu Pacific cabin crew dance to Safety demonstration
  • Date: 9th October 2010
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) BUSINESSMAN ON FLIGHT, RAMON ICASIANO SAYING: "I don't see anything wrong about it. It's all for the passengers' entertainment." VIEW OF PLANE'S WING FROM WINDOW PASSENGERS WALKING FROM PLANE ON TARMAC CEBU PACIFIC VICE-PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING & DISTRIBUTION, CANDICE IYOG, SPEAKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEBU PACIFIC VICE-PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING & DISTRIBUTION, CANDICE IYOG, SAYING: "It's part of fun games, and we did this while we were already cruising and we thought it was a very fresh idea which would make people pay attention to the safety demonstration, especially since this was the second one that was conducted in the flight." CEBU PACIFIC PLANE ON TARMAC (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEBU PACIFIC VICE-PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING & DISTRIBUTION, CANDICE IYOG, SAYING: "As far as we're concerned we don't think there's anything wrong with what we did. As you can see, our cabin crew do what they do out of their spirit of fun." CEBU PACIFIC PLANE TAXIING ON RUNWAY
  • Embargoed: 24th October 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Philippines
  • Country: Philippines
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky,Travel / Tourism
  • Reuters ID: LVA9LBG0QMR6QA96FFF8AACEM1HZ
  • Story Text: Male flight attendants of Cebu Pacific Air dance to the safety demonstration, after the initial performance became an internet sensation.
    One more time, with feeling.
    The cabin crew of Cebu Pacific Air wore their dancing shoes in flight once more, this time with an all-male performance of "Safety Dance" on Friday (October 8), as the company prepares to launch its initial public offering.
    Cebu Air Inc., which owns Cebu Pacific, is set to raise at least $538 million in Philippines' largest IPO, tapping a strong equity market and healthy demand for exposure to a growing regional travel market.
    While the budget airline flies no-frills, without meals, blankets or movies on board, the crew makes up for it with amusing in-flight activities.
    Long known for entertaining passengers with mid-air games such as name-that-tune and scavenger hunts, Cebu Pacific said they also wanted to make the safety demonstrations "fun and exciting" to get passengers to pay attention.
    The first performance, with an all-girl cast dancing to a mash-up of Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" and Katy Perry "California Gurls", went viral on the internet, earning more than 8 million hits on You Tube.
    Aware of the airline's new gimmick, passengers were surprised when male flight attendants suddenly began strutting down the aisle to "Safety Dance", a 1980s hit by new wave group Men Without Hats.
    The dancing was only an add-on, the airline said, and the crew still conducted a proper safety demonstration before takeoff.
    "For me this is cool, because flights are usually boring -- you spend one to one-half hours just sitting," 72-year-old tourist Leopoldo Pasumbal said.
    Flight attendants showed off their bouncy choreography while pointing to emergency exits and showing passengers how to use life vests and oxygen masks.
    The in-flight dancing has received some flak.
    The Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines said that requiring cabin crew to dance in front of passengers was "demeaning and undignified, they are not entertainers." Women's rights group Gabriela said making the female air hostesses dance objectified women and signified machismo.
    But Cebu Pacific's passengers are pleased with the on-board performance, applauding appreciatively and demanding "More!".
    "I don't see anything wrong about it. It's all for the passengers' entertainment," businessman Ramon Icasiano said.
    Candice Iyog, vice president for marketing and distribution, said the idea has definitely taken off.
    "It's part of fun games, and we did this while we were already cruising and we thought it was a very fresh idea which would make people pay attention to the safety demonstration, especially since this was the second one that was conducted in the flight," Iyog said.
    The Manila-Davao-Manila route on Friday was only the second flight with a dancing crew.
    The airline will look into introducing other such innovations, and will evaluate if cabin crew of other flights should also choreograph some moves.
    "As far as we're concerned we don't think there's anything wrong with what we did. As you can see, our cabin crew do what they do out of their spirit of fun," Iyog said.
    The publicity generated from the dancing attendants is well-timed, as the company plans to launch its IPO on October 12.
    Cebu Air Inc. plans to use its share of the proceeds to buy more aircraft from Airbus to better compete with Singapore's Tiger Airways and Malaysia's AirAsia, its major regional budget airline rivals.
    The airline flew the most number of passengers domestically in the first quarter, topping state-run Philippine Airlines and also flies 16 Asian routes, including to Singapore, Bangkok, and Hong Kong.
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