This Week's "SNL" Addressed Alaska Airlines' Recent Challenges

It’s been a challenging couple of months for Alaska Airlines. Between an off-duty pilot attempting to crash a plane after taking psychedelics to the whole “giant hole opening in the cabin” event, the airline’s communications department is likely experiencing a few headaches of their own. This week, in the show’s first episode of 2024, Saturday Night Live asked: what if Alaska Airlines embraced its recent troubles?

That was the premise of a sketch that took the form of a commercial for the airline in question. “You’ve got to admit — it looked pretty cool: a plane flying around with no door,” said a flight attendant played by SNL vet Kenan Thompson.

“On other airlines, you watch movies,” said another Alaska employee, this one played by SNL host Jacob Elordi. “But on Alaska, you’re in the movie.”

Adam Driver Played a Baby on His First Flight on This Week’s “SNL”

It was every bit as weird as you’d hope

It wasn’t SNL‘s first time riffing on air travel in recent memory; just last month, Adam Driver memorably played a terrifying baby flying for the first time. But in an era where airline amenities are in a constant state of flux, it’s not too hard to imagine an airline (Alaska, in this case) treating chaos as part of the experience — and something that can be priced into the cost of your airfare.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…