Virgin Australia ruthlessly mocked over translucent 'shower curtain' used to divide economy and business class
Virgin Australia has come under fire after it replaced perspex dividers between business and economy class on its Boeing 737 planes with what passengers have described as a 'shower curtain'.
The airline is investing $110million into improving the fleet, with part of the upgrades including extra rows of seats on the planes.
It meant the perspex dividers that usually separate economy and business class have been replaced with a translucent curtain.
The temporary measure was quickly mocked by Aussies online.
'It seriously looks like someone has ducked down to Spotlight and bought something off the specials table for 99 cents a metre,' one said.
'Why was the first thing that came to my mind was "shower curtain"?' another wrote.
But Virgin Australia has defended the move, saying the dividers were temporary.
'Virgin Australia is currently rolling out new cabin dividers as part of the refurbishment of our Boeing 737 interiors,' a spokesperson said.
'The first of which includes the installation of a cross-aisle curtain between business and economy class to help manage guest flow.
'From early next year, divider panels will be mounted underneath the overhead bins on either side of the curtain, providing a more defined partition between cabins.'
The new type of divider is used by many airlines with narrow-body aircraft and helps for more effective use of the floor space in the economy cabin.
Virgin customers asked why the airline just simply wait to do the perspex upgrade.
Some speculated that the purpose of the curtain was to prevent economy passengers from using the toilet at the front of the plane for business class passengers.
'Could have waited until the perspex was finished and installed altogether next year,' one person said.
Another didn't have much sympathy for those living it up in business class.
'God help the business customers if they had to share a toilet with the great unwashed,' they said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Major blow for Australia just days before Anthony Albanese meets Donald Trump
The Trump administration has launched a review into the AUKUS security deal with Australia and the UK. The review, which was announced overnight on Thursday, will be led by vocal sceptic Elbridge Colby, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy who has called the pact 'crazy'. A defence official told The Daily Telegraph the Pentagon was looking at the deal to ensure 'this initiative of the previous Administration is aligned with the President's America First agenda'. 'As (Defence) Secretary (Pete) Hegseth has made clear, this means ensuring the highest readiness of our service members, that allies step up fully to do their part for collective defence, and that the defence industrial base is meeting our needs. It comes almost two weeks after it was revealed Hegseth urged Australian counterpart Richard Marles to increase military spending. Australia's total defence spend in 2024-25 was about $53.94billion, or 2 per cent of GDP. This is set to increase to 2.33 per cent by 2033-34 - but the US wants the number to be at least 3 per cent. Head of the US Seapower Subcommittee, Congressman Joe Courtney has spoken up to encourage his government not to abandon the pact. 'The new administration certainly has the right to review the trilateral AUKUS mission,' he said. 'But as the recent UK government's defence review determined, this is a defence alliance that is overwhelmingly in the best interest of all three AUKUS nations, as well as the Indo-Pacific region as a whole. 'To abandon AUKUS – which is already well underway – would cause lasting harm to our nation's standing with close allies and certainly be met with great rejoicing in Beijing.' Under the pact, Australia will spend up to $368billion eight nuclear-powered submarines and purchasing more from the United States. It marks the biggest defence investment in Australian history with the annual cost amounting to 0.15 per cent of GDP until the mid-2050s. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be attending the G7 Summit next week in Canada, during which he is expected to meet with Donald Trump.
The Guardian
40 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Australia news live: productivity commissioner warns of job cuts coming from AI; aged care provider to close
Update: Date: 2025-06-11T20:32:16.000Z Title: Welcome Content: Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser to take you through the day. The new industry and science minister, Tim Ayres, warns today that Australia must 'lean in hard' to the benefits of artificial intelligence or else risk ending up 'on the end of somebody else's supply chain'. His comments follow an appearance by Australia's productivity commissioner on 7.30 last night in which she said AI could cost jobs. More coming up. We'll bring you news soon of a big aged care provider which is closing next month. And parties in Tasmania will be gearing up for another election campaign today after the state's governor said she had been left with no choice but to call a poll to resolve the Apple Isle's political crisis. We'll have the latest.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Regional airline closes up shop and plans ‘to sell everything' as flyers are left grounded
Silver Airways, an airline operating out of Florida, is selling all of its assets to an investment firm and shutting down its operation. The airline filed for bankruptcy in late 2024 due to its growing debts. Local broadcaster WLRN reports that Wexford Capital — the only party interested in buying the airline at a recent auction — will take control of the company. "In an attempt to restructure in bankruptcy, Silver entered into a transaction to sell its assets to another airline holding company, who unfortunately has determined to not continue Silver's flight operations in Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean," the airline wrote on Tuesday night. The company requested that customers looking for ticket refunds do so through the website and not at the airport. "All credit card purchases should be refunded through your credit card company or your travel agency," the company said. Silver was already dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars of debt when the company lost another $1 million around Memorial Day due to flight cancellations related to mechanical issues, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The airline maintained its headquarters in Fort Lauderdale and operated a second hub in Tampa, though by the end of its run the company only was flying eight turboprop planes. A few months earlier, it had double the number of planes, but in early March some of its fleet was repossessed. That too caused flight cancellations. The company almost lost its headquarters in April 2023 when the Broward County Commission considered terminating their lease at the airport over unpaid bills, according to One Mile At a Time. Silver primarily served Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. Its locations included Tampa, Key West, Tallahassee, Pensacola and Fort Lauderdale in Florida, Georgetown, North Eluthera, Governor's Harbour, Bimini, Marsh Harbour, Nassau, and Freeport in the Bahamas, and St. Kitts, Tortola, Dominica, St. Maarten, St. Croix, San Juan and St. Thomas in the Caribbean.
