Gailen David is a writer, satirist and advocate for passengers and crew alike, guided by a lifelong enthusiasm for the airline industry, twenty-four years in the aisle, and care for the people who keep the planes flying.
Four pieces of work, all grown from the same 24 years of galley coffee and jump-seat conversations: how travel should feel, how the industry's choices land on the people in its cabins, who stands up for the crew, and the history worth keeping.
Travel Kindly.
The reference for how we treat each other in transit, since 2006: rules for every stage of a trip, and a column answering readers' questions. The hope is simple: a kinder trip for everyone on board, passengers and crew alike.
The Queen of the Airline Industry
A fictional executive born during American's 2011 bankruptcy to satirize corporate spin. She is headquarters in her own words, and she goes after fee schedules, scheduling software and earnings-call language, never the person at the gate. Her early videos cost her creator his airline career and drew a lawsuit, later withdrawn. She now presides over "Airlines for Airlines" at 100 Deregulation Drive, issuing HDQ memos, Jetiquette Judge rulings, and the series "As The Carousel Turns."
Written and performed by Gailen, and produced with his team at Parodactive Studios in Miami.
Vintage Airline Goods & Aviation History
Vintage airline goods, grown from the Pan Am exhibit and emporium he and Stephen Licata ran at CocoWalk for seven years. The full exhibit is on hiatus while the collection waits for a permanent public home, and a share of every sale supports that work.
VisitThe First Flight Out department at Palm Produce Resortwear, 3439 Main Highway, in the heart of Coconut Grove, surrounded by historic photography from Pan Am's years in the Grove.
Its not-for-profit arm, the Air History Project, is dedicated to public education in aviation history, centered on the Pan American Airways story in Coconut Grove, and to a permanent public home for the collection.
Mobilization Coordinator
AFA is the union that speaks for flight attendants across the country, and its fights over rest, staffing and cabin safety make flying safer for crew and passengers alike. Gailen helps flight attendants at AFA carriers stand together through contract talks and beyond, from the picket line to the member survey.
Twenty-four years in the uniform taught him what a good contract protects. This is where that lesson goes to work.
Gailen David spent 24 years with American Airlines, most of them as an International Purser out of Miami, and spent much of that time on one question: how travel could treat people better. He began writing and speaking about it as Jetiquette in 2006, put it in a book, Jetiquette...The Customer Experience and You, and helped train fellow crews. In 2012, during American's bankruptcy, his costumed videos and his blog called out the gap between what executives said and what they did. They cost him the job. He kept the character, and the fuller story is in the timeline.
Home is Coconut Grove, five minutes from the seaplane terminal where Pan American first connected Miami to the world. From there he looks after three things he cares about: a travel-etiquette guide called Jetiquette, a satirical airline executive called the Aluminum Lady, and The First Flight Out, a vintage-airline brand whose not-for-profit arm, the Air History Project, keeps the Pan Am story alive in the Grove. Alongside all three, he works with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA for the crews he flew beside. Most days start with writing, the part of the work he enjoys most.
"It's more important than ever for people to be considerate of each other."
Gailen David, DC Modern Luxury, 2016
A short reading list for anyone meeting Gailen for the first time, from his 2008 guide to service to this year's columns.
A guide to customer service, drawn from his years as a flight attendant.
On Amazon 2011Satirical videos made during American Airlines' 2011 bankruptcy.
Watch 2013The First Flight Out at CocoWalk, with the Miami Herald's story of January 24, 2013.
See it below 2015Talking with NPR's Rachel Martin about the trials of flight attendants, April 26, 2015.
Listen 2026A reader's question answered in the Ask Jetiquette column.
Read TodaySatire on airline decisions, issued by a fictional airline executive.
ReadAirline history, a career in the aisle, and what came after.
At age 10, Gailen runs an amateur travel agency for his neighbors, with encouragement from Eastern Airlines, and begins collecting airline memorabilia, Pan Am's among the first. While his friends had paper routes, he collected timetables to help neighbors plan their trips.
He joins American Airlines as a flight attendant, eventually flying as an International Purser out of Miami. He trains fellow pursers along the way.
He starts speaking about travel manners under a name of his own, Jetiquette. USA Today profiles him as an "ambassador of civilized travel" the following November; the Sky Steward persona and the book follow, and in 2008 the Jetiquette program receives Travel Weekly's Magellan Award.
During American's Chapter 11 bankruptcy, he creates a fictional airline executive to satirize corporate spin. The videos go viral among airline crews.
While American asks employees to take pay cuts and customers to accept cutbacks, his blog reveals executives having paying first-class passengers moved to economy to make room for themselves, often with family. American fires him in March and sues in April. The airline drops the suit when he agrees not to share any further flight information about its executives; his union grievance ends in a settlement, and he keeps the character.
He and Stephen Licata open a Pan Am exhibit and emporium on CocoWalk's second floor: cased artifacts, a history wall, a walk-in 747 cabin with uniformed hosts, no admission charge. It runs seven years.
"Take Off! with the Savvy Stews" premieres, and a Savvy Stews segment wins a Telly Award. Two flight attendants bring working airline experience to television.
He co-creates and executive-produces television's first travel-themed talk show, syndicated nationally. He co-hosts through 2019.
CocoWalk closes for redevelopment and the exhibit comes down, its donated collection intact. He and Stephen Licata form a nonprofit to give Miami's Pan Am story a permanent public home.
The First Flight Out returns as a department within Palm Produce Resortwear, the chain of clothing stores his partner started in 1984, with a focus on vintage airline-themed merchandise. The Coconut Grove store is filled with historic photography from the 1930s and 40s, when Pan Am's international operations were based in the Grove. BarWair, Gailen's own line of aviation-inspired cocktail accessories, launches the same year, while the full exhibit stays on hiatus until the collection has a permanent home.
Parodactive Studios relaunches the Aluminum Lady with an expanded portfolio: airline management, plus union-busting wherever it turns up, from Amazon to Starbucks.
He writes about travel, guides Jetiquette, works with AFA-CWA for flight attendants, and keeps the Pan Am story alive in Coconut Grove, with the Aluminum Lady still issuing memos from HDQ.
Jetiquette...The Customer Experience and You (2008), and the Miami Herald's story on the CocoWalk opening in January 2013.
Jetiquette...The Customer Experience and You turns his years in the aisle into a guide to service: how to treat the people in front of you well, in a cabin or anywhere else.
Find it on Amazon"Exhibit brings Pan Am back to life," by Tom Falco of the Coconut Grove Grapevine, in the Miami Herald.
Read the clippingReporters have checked in now and then, usually about how people behave on planes. A favorite: explaining to NPR's All Things Considered what happens when a diplomat lights a cigarette in a lavatory at 30,000 feet.
As featured in
Travel Weekly, 1977, on the ten-year-old running a travel agency for his neighbors
Read 2007USA Today, by Kitty Bean Yancey, Nov 15, 2007
Read 2010NPR, All Things Considered, Apr 8, 2010
Transcript 2012TIME, Mar 18, 2012
Read 2012NBC News, Apr 2012
Read 2015NPR, Weekend Edition, Apr 26, 2015
Listen 2016DC Modern Luxury, 2016, on the new travel talk show and bringing back the Golden Age of travel.
ReadThe subjects closest to his heart, in or out of character.
Seat disputes, boarding, and what Jetiquette asks of travelers and airlines alike.
How the Aluminum Lady uses humor to question decisions made at the top, in or out of character.
Fair contracts, standing together, and the view from the jump seat, informed by 24 years wearing the uniform.
Pan Am, Eastern, Dinner Key, and the case for giving Miami's aviation past a permanent home.
One email or the form below reaches him directly.
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High-resolution photo at Miami City Hall. Download JPG
Who he is, what Jetiquette is, and why American fired him.
A former flight attendant and International Purser who flew 24 years with American Airlines (1988 to 2012). Today he guides Jetiquette, the travel-etiquette project he started in 2006, plays the satirical airline executive the Aluminum Lady, and co-founded The First Flight Out and its not-for-profit arm, the Air History Project, in Coconut Grove, Miami. He also works with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, helping flight attendants organize and mobilize.
Gailen's guide to how we treat each other in transit, started in 2006, with rules for every stage of a trip and a column answering readers' questions. The full guide lives at Jetiquette.org.
A fictional airline executive Gailen created in 2011, during American's bankruptcy, to satirize corporate spin. She presides over Airlines for Airlines and the series As The Carousel Turns at AluminumLady.com.
In March 2012, over the Aluminum Lady videos and his blog, which revealed that executives who asked employees to take pay cuts were having paying first-class passengers moved to economy to make room for themselves, often with family. American sued the following month, then dropped the case when he agreed not to share any further flight information about its executives; his union grievance ended in a settlement, and he kept the character.
The First Flight Out is a retail brand devoted to vintage airline-themed goods, grown from the Pan Am exhibit and emporium Gailen and Stephen Licata ran at CocoWalk for seven years. That exhibit is on hiatus; until the collection has a permanent home, The First Flight Out is a department inside Palm Produce at 3439 Main Highway in Coconut Grove. The Air History Project is its not-for-profit arm, dedicated to public education in aviation history, centered on the Pan American Airways story in Coconut Grove, and working toward a permanent public home for its collection.
Email gailen@gailendavid.com or use the contact form on this page; both go straight to him.
A question, a story from your travels, or simply hello: write any time, and he reads every note himself.
gailen@gailendavid.comCoconut Grove, Miami, Florida
