Tales of amorous air travelers joining the Mile High Club probably go back as far as airliners were equipped with lavatories. Maybe earlier.
Now an airline appears to be encouraging in-flight intimacy. Not surprisingly, the culprit is Sir Richard Branson, the brash billionaire chairman of Virgin Atlantic Airways.
The airline now offers first-class passengers on certain London-to-New York flights the option of double beds, or "double suites" as Virgin calls them.
The suites are actually two separate reclining seats in the premium Upper Class cabin that flip over to become flat beds. A cabin attendant removes a partition between the beds, fills the space between with a mattress and - voila - a double bed.
"Now passengers can enjoy even "suiter' dreams next to their loved ones," Branson said in a press release on the new option.
Not everyone is so pleased with this development.
"This is unnecessary and unfortunate," Ann Widdecombe, a Conservative Party lawmaker, told the Sunday Times newspaper. "There's an immense issue of public decency here because there are other passengers who will not wish to see or hear such things."
A British Airways spokesman told Cox News Service that the suites aren't private space. "These beds are in an airplane, in view of others, with flight attendants who patrol the cabin to make sure that both passengers and the cabin itself are secure," he said.
But the double beds and all they imply burnish Virgin's image as hip and iconoclastic. It's a reputation shared by Branson, known for adventurous pursuits - like his attempts to circle the globe in a balloon - and outrageous stunts.
You might remember his arrival to receive the local Tony Jannus Award in 2000. Branson waterskied through St. Petersburg's North Yacht Basin up to a pier at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort, dressed in a tuxedo.
In his newest venture on Fox, Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best , he will lead a group of contestants to exotic places where they will do stunts judged by Branson. The show debuts Nov. 9.
