# Richard Branson, the air stewardess **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 13, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-branson-the-air-stewardess/658214 "2013-05-13T05:23:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-branson-the-air-stewardess/658214/1 "2013-05-13T05:23:29Z")
As a result of losing a bet with Air Asia’s owner Tony Fernandes, Virgin’s boss, Sir Richard Branson, served as an air stewardess on an Air Asia flight. He also intentionally spilled a tray of drinks on Fernandes. Look for the pics, they’re great. Sir Richard Branson looks like a great sport, if not an ugly stewardess. I wonder where he got the uniform and shoes. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-branson-the-air-stewardess/658214/2 "2013-05-13T12:52:15Z")
Ah, to be a billionaire and willing to make a fool of yourself and wear lurid lipstick. Seriously - that color does not work on him. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-branson-the-air-stewardess/658214/3 "2013-05-13T13:48:14Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Look for the pics, they’re great. Sir Richard Branson looks like a great sport, if not an ugly stewardess. I wonder where he got the uniform and shoes. Branson has the money to get them custom made if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-branson-the-air-stewardess/658214/4 "2013-05-13T15:01:26Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > As a result of losing a bet with Air Asia’s owner Tony Fernandes, Virgin’s boss, Sir Richard Branson, served as an air stewardess on an Air Asia flight. He also intentionally spilled a tray of drinks on Fernandes. > > Look for the pics, they’re great. Sir Richard Branson looks like a great sport, if not an ugly stewardess. I wonder where he got the uniform and shoes. I wonder if he’s been trying to lose a bet like this for years. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-branson-the-air-stewardess/658214/5 "2013-05-13T16:19:06Z")
> **[Virgin's Richard Branson loses bet, serves fliers in drag](https://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2013/05/13/virgins-richard-branson-loses-bet-serves-fliers-in-drag/2155179/)** > > When asked about Branson's skills as an attendant, a rival CEO said they were "rubbish." > **[Richard Branson does drag after losing bet | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/branson-flight-attendant/index.html)** > > Virgin Group chairman lost a wager and had to serve as a flight attendant on AirAsia X flight. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-branson-the-air-stewardess/658214/6 "2013-05-13T17:51:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [USA TODAY](http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2013/05/13/virgins-richard-branson-loses-bet-serves-fliers-in-drag/2155179/) > [http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/13/travel/branson-flight-attendant/](http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/13/travel/branson-flight-attendant/) My eyes! He could have at least shaved the beard. Hair looks pretty, though 😛 ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-branson-the-air-stewardess/658214/7 "2013-05-14T01:35:49Z")
In one of the photos on [cnn.com](http://cnn.com), he had heavy eye makeup on; bright blue eye shadow, black eyeliner, and false eyelashes. He does have great hair though. Also, he was slim enough to look good in the stewardess uniform, if that’s what you go for. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-branson-the-air-stewardess/658214/8 "2013-05-14T03:22:28Z")
The other stewardesses seem to be wearing blonde wigs - is that specially for Branson? I don’t think they normally wear wigs. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-branson-the-air-stewardess/658214/9 "2013-05-14T05:27:36Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > The other stewardesses seem to be wearing blonde wigs - is that specially for Branson? I don’t think they normally wear wigs. I was wondering about this myself. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-branson-the-air-stewardess/658214/10 "2013-05-14T15:15:27Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > The other stewardesses seem to be wearing blonde wigs - is that specially for Branson? I don’t think they normally wear wigs. Flew AirAsia from Penang to Bangkok last year. No one wore a wig, but most of the flight attendants were in fact male. Nice airline; I’d fly them again in a heartbeat based on my one experience. Side note: is Fernandes a single owner? AirAsia seems more like a franchise sort of arrangement. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-branson-the-air-stewardess/658214/11 "2013-05-16T04:11:49Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Flew AirAsia from Penang to Bangkok last year. No one wore a wig, but most of the flight attendants were in fact male. Nice airline; I’d fly them again in a heartbeat based on my one experience. > > Side note: is Fernandes a single owner? AirAsia seems more like a franchise sort of arrangement. Tony Fernandes is CEO of the AirAsia Group based in Kuala Lumpur. The subsidiaries such as Thai AirAsia are largely locally owned. Thailand protects the local aviation industry, and all airlines must be majority Thai-owned by law. Thaksin is behind the Thai AirAsia joint venture. We’ve had bad experiences with them in the past with lateness. Plus their times always seem to be inconvenient for where we’re traveling. We looked into flying them to Tokyo last month but would have gotten in during the wee hours if we’d flown straight there or else would have had to change planes in Kuala Lumpur with a something like a six- or eighthour layover in that airport. The money we would have saved just wasn’t worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-branson-the-air-stewardess/658214/12 "2013-05-16T04:19:47Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Tony Fernandes is CEO of the AirAsia Group based in Kuala Lumpur. The subsidiaries such as Thai AirAsia are largely locally owned. Thailand protects the local aviation industry, and all airlines must be majority Thai-owned by law. Thaksin is behind the Thai AirAsia joint venture. Missed the Edit window: Specifically, Thaksin’s Shin Corporation originally owned a majority share of Thai AirAsia, but then Asia Aviation, 49%-owned by Shin, bought those shares. Thaksin is behind all these ventures.