Dr. Livingstone, I Presume?

One of the wittiest ads I've ever seen is an Air France full page advertisement that caught my eye a decade or so ago: a handsome business traveler sits on an airplane next to a drop dead gorgeous woman. They are smiling to each other as they clink their Champagne glasses. The caption: as there's virtually no chance this will ever happen to you, you’d be happy to learn we have increased the distance between seats in Business Class by a couple of inches. I'm quoting from memory, totally inaccurate but you get the gist: if you are traveling alone, don’t count on a miracle by which your next seat neighbor will be the person of your dreams.

As you might know, I can relate to the statement above...

Turns out there's a business opportunity here--one that AirTroduction seized.

Here's how USA Today describes their service:

The idea is to connect like-minded fliers--either in the personal or professional realms--who are traveling on the same flights. Here's how it works: Travelers join AirTroductions for free and post personal and/or business profiles. Then, before taking a flight, they enter their itineraries and are notified of other members booked on the same flight. They're given the option of sending anonymous e-mail through the site (at which point a $5 fee kicks in) to determine whether they want to meet at the airport, and, if mutually acceptable, get reassigned to adjoining seats.

But this quote from Newsday captures the idea best:

“It's 14 hours to Tokyo... would I pay $5.00 to sit next to someone who doesn't drool on me?”