 "'Stewardess' Richard Branson fired by AirAsia chief")
Wearing heavy make-up, the 62-year-old newsmaker was serving passengers as part of a Grand Prix bet with AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes set two years ago. The billionaire entrepreneur and owner of Virgin Atlantic Airlines also shaved his legs as promised, but insisted on keeping his beard, which made a startling contrast to the lipstick he had slicked on, The Australian reported.
Branson and Fernandes had bet on which one of their Formula One racing teams would finish ahead of each other in their debut season of the 2010 Formula One Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. The terms of the bet was that the loser would serve as a female flight attendant on board the winner's airline.
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Fernandes' Team Lotus finished two spots above Branson's Marussia Virgin Racing team in the final rankings.
"Yeah, it's true. We both had Grand Prix teams and I was absolutely certain that I was going to win," Branson said. "Something went wrong. Of course, the drivers of that race are no longer with us. I went to extreme lengths to avoid being here, but knew that one day I had to get it over with," he said.
However, Branson made sure he got his revenge on Fernandes by purposely tipping a tray full of orange juice over the AirAsia boss. Fernandes declared after the nearly six-hour flight that Branson's skills as an attendant were "rubbish" and that he was being immediately fired.
Fernandes, who described the Virgin boss as his mentor, used to work for Branson before setting up his own budget airline. But no sooner had Sir Richard made good with his pledge than Fernandes came good on his own promise, announcing he would become one of Virgin Galactic's first commercial space tourists.
"It's something I never, ever dreamed of doing," the AirAsia chief said. "What he doesn't realise is once I go to space, there'll be a low-cost version - AirAsia Galactica, about 10 per cent of the price he's charging," Fernandes warned.
The special flight's fare was Australian $399 ($398.44), with A$100 from each seat to be donated by AirAsia X to the Starlight Children's Foundation in Australia.