Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are seen flying out of Los Angeles International Airport in June with their children (left to right) Pax, Maddox, Vivienne, Shiloh and Zahara Jolie-Pitt. (Photo: Vantage News/IPx)
We’ve all suffered through chatty, smelly, and armrest-hogging neighbors.
We’ve battled for overhead space, straddled strangers to get to the middle seat, and flown six hours without any movies. Yes. We know all too well what the average person suffers through when they fly economy, fantasizing all the while about the luxuries of first class.
That’s why Angelina Jolie-Pitt and Brad Pitt made headline news when they were snapped boarding an Air France planewith their brood on June 6. They, too, were seated in coach. The people were fascinated. Sure, the family was only flying from Paris to Nice, but the novelty of Hollywood’s royal family spending around 81 minutes just like everyone else was not lost on anyone.
It’s intriguing to imagine celebrities slumming it with the common folk in economy, let alone flying commercial. Can they really be just like us?
“Traveling economy is sometimes necessary for various reasons: cutting back, first class is sold out, or a flight simply doesn’t have first class,” explains Tracie Hovey, the CEO of Ovation PR and Advertising who regularly helps celebrity clients book their travel plans. (The Jolie-Pitts have not given their reason, but economy is the only class offered on Air France’s website for flights from Paris to Nice). “But it can also be a choice celebrities make because they are really just like everyone else.”
The Jolie-Pitts were probably headed to their 1,200-acre French property in Provence, Château Miraval, which is covered in vineyards and even has its own moat. Clearly, they are not like everyone else, and could have chartered a private plane.
“It makes them seem much more relatable,” says Hovey, of the impact such choices have on the public perception of a star. A decision to pass up traveling first class might actually improve a celebrity’s image — after all, “being relatable is an important part of your likability.”
Sometimes even royals, like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their son, George, fly economy. Not often… but sometimes. (Photo: AP)
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