John Travolta Qantas safety video: annoying or appropriate?

If you're annoyed by the new John Travolta-hosted safety video on Qantas flights, the cabin crew probably feel the same way, it has emerged today.

The video starts with Travolta saying, "this is your captain speaking - well, maybe not today. But I can guarantee that the guys on the flight deck and the greater team care just as much about aircraft safety as I do.

"I've been flying over 40 years as a pilot and I can tell you, there's no one I'd rather have at the controls than a Qantas pilot."

The video continues with Travolta repeatedly calling the cabin crew "the team", a term which flight attendants have complained makes them sounds like McDonald's workers.

A Qantas spokesperson said the airline had received "only positive feedback from staff and customers".

However, a quick Twitter search shows otherwise, with customers posting sarcastic comments like "Unaudited thetan hosts at Qantas on Teegeeack reject Xenu safety video", which pokes fun at Travolta's public advocacy of the Church of Scientology.

Roughly translated, "unaudited thetan hosts" means people whose spirits haven't been analysed by the Church of Scientology; Teegeeack is a name for Earth, and Xenu is "the dictator of the Galactic Confederacy".

Another passenger wrote, "Seems odd considering he's not Australian. Think Air New Zealand wins with their naked video."

Others wrote:

"john travolta doesn't make me feel safe he makes me wonder if the #qantas pilot is a scientologist"

"Very odd that American John Travolta is the face of Australia's flagship carrier."

"8 Flights this weekend. That's a lot of John Travolta Qantas videos to sit through!"

"Is it really necessary to have John Travolta on the qantas inflight safety video?"

"Hi #qantas! Great flight this morning, but the presence of John Travolta on your inflight safety video does not relax me"

"Has anyone else flown with QANTAS recently and found it off-putting and tacky to have John Travolta giving the safety brief?"

"At the beginning of Qantas flights, we're forced to watch John Travolta talk about safety... It's rough"

"While I'm glad the old codger in the Qantas safety videos is gone, I'm not quite so sure about his replacement.. John Travolta???!"

"The new #qantas safety vid features Mr. Travolta and is somewhat intellectually insulting."

danwarne