Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images
Two Hooters Girls, recruited from local Hooters restaurants, were on every flight.
- Hooters, the restaurant chain known for its hot wings and tank top-wearing servers, operated an airline in the early 2000s.
- You might not have known about it because it didn't last long - about three years in fact.
- Here's how Hooters Air became a successful airline before turning into a $40 million failure.
You might not remember it, but Hooters once had an airline.
The restaurant chain launched an air service in 2003, and onboard every flight were two Hooters servers that helped tend to passengers.
Three years after it launched, however, Hooters Air shut down, but not before the iconic "breastaurant" enjoyed a short period of success in the sky.
We talked to people who worked for Hooters Air - flight attendants and one pilot (who asked to remain anonymous) - as well as a few industry experts to find out what happened. They told us what it was really like to work for the airline, dispelled some common misperceptions about what it was like to fly it, and explained the airline's rapid downfall.