The Mile-High Club Mindset

Few places are less conducive to erotic optimism than airplane toilets. Common sense suggests these aren’t the best places for even the quickest slap-and-tickle.

They induce intense claustrophobia, produce mysterious – and often alarming – noises, and smell like – well – airplane toilets. There is also the disturbing possibility of E. coli on certain surfaces.

But the allure of airplane toilets as a setting for erotic mischief is nevertheless such that they maintain a devoted global fan base.

No less than fifteen percent of airline passengers have admitted membership to the Mile-High Club, according to a recent Jetsetter and Travel and Leisure survey.

In theory, you can join the club anywhere on an airplane. In this case, the bathroom is the obvious ideal.

“Aerial Petting Ends in Wetting”

The first ever account of in-flight nookie dates back to 1916. The occasion famously involved a 23-year-old aviator and inventor of the autopilot system, Lawrence Burst Sperry, and a New York socialite he was teaching to fly.

As is wont to happen when the pilot in command of an aircraft engages in activities other than flying, the plane crashed.

Fortunately, rescuers found Sperry and his partner alive – and stark naked – in the waters off Long Island not long after 🙂

When queried as to their state of undress, Sperry sheepishly offered that the impact had ripped their clothes – which miraculously remained untorn – from their bodies.

But reporters covering the story would have none of it. The tabloids of the following day summed up the incident with the delightfully cheeky headline, “Aerial Petting Ends in Wetting.”

Perhaps Sperry had forgotten to engage the autopilot while manipulating his joystick!

A Growing Membership

More than a hundred years later, sex at 30,000 feet remains an obsession for many people. Membership to Sperry’s club continues to grow with a few couples lately opting to make their initiations part of the in-flight entertainment.

“I’ve seen a whole lot of sexual encounters go wrong and for a variety of reasons,” says Jenna Leigh, author of the book Faking the O and a former flight attendant. “That said, the No. 1 reason they fail or get caught in the act is because they’re too obvious about it.”

True enough, in 2017, an unidentified pair was filmed having sex in their cabin seats on a Ryanair flight to Ibiza. The couple gave at least two other passengers quite a show.  

In November 2016, police in Detroit arrested yet another a couple for having oral sex aboard a Delta Air flight from Los Angeles.

The two – a 48-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man – had apparently met during the flight and decided to have at it, again in their cabin seats.

Is it the boredom? Is it the air pressure, or the drinks prior to take off? What is it, exactly, about air travel that makes so many people so horny?

Tight Skirts and Open-Minded Flight Attendants

Some of the earlier reasons for mid-flight arousal were obvious – perhaps none more than the beautiful, sexually-charged flight attendants who slipped quietly up and down the aisle.

From hot pants to mini-dresses to tight skirts, the female flight attendants of just a few decades ago had an explicitly sexual impact.

Don’t assume, however, that today’s flight attendants are as ‘open-minded’ as the Middle East-based stewardess recently fired for charging passengers $2,000 for mid-air trysts.

While the lady did make $1 million over a two-year period, she and her furtive sideline were an exception rather than the rule.

“Unless you’re Ralph Fiennes, you’re probably not going to find yourself in a lav with a flight attendant,” says former airline crew member turned writer, Tiffany Hawk. “When frequent flyers proposition crew members, it usually speaks to their egos or their loneliness.”

In any case, neuropsychology professor Daryl Cioffi says the flight attendant’s successful side-venture may have been helped by passenger anxiety and the cramped conditions on board.

The setting apparently provides the ideal situation for increased levels of neuropeptide oxytocin, a hormone known as the ‘love drug.’

“Planes are perfect,” Cioffi tells the Conde Nast Traveler. “Being close to one another, and in a potentially life-threatening situation, allows us to bond more with others.”

The Journey Motif

Margaret King, director of the Center for Cultural Studies and Analysis in Philadelphia, says other on-board factors might also add to a libidinous in-flight situation. For instance, an airplane’s vibrations are purportedly conducive to intimacy, she says.

That, along with in-flight alcohol, a plane’s low cabin ceiling, seating, and the shared environment might create an atmosphere that’s difficult for some to resist, says King.

“Our senses are over-engaged, the sense of smell is activated because we are forced so close together, and the gravity manufactured during flight – the reduced cabin pressure with low humidity – makes alcohol so much more effective,” she adds.

But being a culture expert, King posits another, more intriguing theory. She says people on planes might be subconsciously primed to adventurous behavior by the ‘journey motif.’

The cultural narrative of the adventurous traveler dates back to Homer and the Samurai folktales, and has, in fact, encouraged acts of daring throughout history.

So, simply put, what might be happening is that the bored passenger is subconsciously constructing a real-life story of rebellion and adventure.

The whole process of waiting at the airport, boarding the plane, and then waiting again with a group of strangers, creates a cold, business-like kind of indifference.

That indifference – along with its stiff, quietly asphyxiating formality – is, intuitively, quite irritating.

For some, that just might be enough to encourage an insubordinate desire to upend the situation.

Having illicit sex in an airplane full of passengers while moving at 600 miles per hour, 30,000 feet above the earth, is certainly one way to do it.

Of course, if the idea doesn’t sound adventurous enough for you, you can always take a very long walk.

What’s your story? Are you a fully fledged member or still a fledgling in waiting? Why not share your thoughts by reviewing this article below?