Margot

I saw Paul Prudhomme (the chef) in New Orleans International. He was riding his scooter up to the ticket desk. No, I didn't approach him, or wave, but I did smile and nod my head at him, and he did the same back to me.

caribtraveler

L.T. (Lawrence Taylor) at DFW last year. He had the sniffles and kept rubbing his nose. I'm kidding about that last part.

Rachel

Rudy from Survivor-my kids were impressed and he was nice enuf to pose with them for a picture.

Vanilla Ice-I dont really know who he is, but he has a ton of tatoos on his arms (sleeves, my kids call them) and that's why I noticed him. My teens informed me he was a famous rap singer. My response was if he's so famous, why is he flying Southwest.

My favorite, the entire Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team, minus star Mario Lemiux, who was recovering from hodgkins disease at the time. the players took all the end seats and were playing poker. My older son, (probably @7 at the time), who was quite a hockey fan and motor mouth at the time, kept talking about the fellow's cards next to him, ruining his game. He promised my son everyones autograph (including Mario's) if he kept quite. Well, we have a page of scribble paper with all of the autographs now. I dont know who signed Mario's name, but someone did, and my kids were young enough to believe they could get it even if he wasnt on the plane. The players and coaches were really nice. My kids are still playing hockey at 19 and 16.

kamahinaohoku

Hedda Nusbaum...obviously wanting to be left alone...

seasweetie

The Rev. Al Sharpton and entourage in the Philly airport.

vaca03

Chris Noth from sex in the city was on one of my flights.

thit_cho

I shared business class with Nicolas Gage on a LA-NY flight. Also, shared coach with Alan Arkin. Fought with Dyan Cannon for a seat in the AA lounge in LAX. Also, saw Phil Simms in Newark. And was clearing customs in Montreal at the same time as the NY Mets were in the VIP line (back when Montreal has a baseball team).

thit_cho

Oh, and Magic Johnson in Atlanta.

dsquared

thit-cho,
<Fought with Dyan Cannon for a seat in the AA lounge in LAX.> So....who won?

Giovanna

Rosie Greer in Phoenix airport; Sidney Poitier in New Orleans. Spoke to both, but no fuss.

John Madden was a neighbor of my sister-in-law and present at several occasions at her house (you're not apt to see him in an airport!).

Saw former Connecticut Senator Lowell Weicker while viewing the Last Supper in Milan. My husband and I talked to him a bit, mostly about the Last Supper. He was surprised I recognized him.

missypie

If you fly Southwest from Dallas or Houston on a Friday afternoon, you're likely to see a celebrity, local or otherwise. EVERYONE flies Southwest and it seems like everyone has a Friday afternoon flight; sooner or later you'll see famous people.

jd_denver

Joe Montana dropping off his wife at LAX back in 1995. My husband saw Trista and Ryan from the show The bachelorette at DEN, they had a very early flight in from Vail and looked like they just got out of bed.

Carmelo Anthony (NBA nuggets) - just saw him a the vet a few weeks ago.

P_M

I forgot about my most recent airport celeb encounter--Major Applewhite. Any Longhorn fan will know who that is. He very graciously gave me an autograph to take home to DH, and made a point of asking how to spell DH's name.

Hook 'em Horns!!

mykidssherpa

I looked up from my book and up and up and up. Manute Bol was in front of me. I didn't want to bother him and I don't do the "autograph" thing.

This wasn't the airport but my sister and I (in our single days) were walking down a street in New Orleans and saw Paul Pruhomme waiting for someone/something. I said delightly "Paul!" and he said "hello girls!" We exchanged pleasantries and took a photo - although he was in a wheelchair, he pulled us in both by the waists and we got a great picture.

beneteau

Mick Jagger, boarding the BA flight before mine. How does he still score those models??

nytraveler

Yes -

Have seen many celebs while traveling - and no would never ask for an autograph - this just isn;t done (at least by New Yorkers). If you catch someone in their public personna - coming out of the theater or at an opening or an athlete after a game it's fine - but celebs have a right to a private life and IMHO approaching them then is just too gauche.

That said - flew JFK to London in the row behind Cher - still looks great close up with minimal make-up. Have also flown on planes with various TV actors (reco'd faces and some names - including Willaim Shatner - BAD wig) and ridden on the subway with Mel Brooks/Anne Bancroft (techically this is traveling).

But in NYC you see so many celebs (used to see Woody Allen in the market every couple of weeks and nearly killed Alec Baldwin with my car) that it's no big deal. I don;t bother looking anymore.

beth48

Richard Simmons at LAX - complete with shorts and sneakers! Whoohoo!

traveldawg

We were getting boarding passes for a flight from Paris to Venice in 1996. My wife was looking at the nice bag and shoes of the lady in front of us in line. I pointed out that she was Candace Bergen. She was traveling with her doughter to Venice and sat in the row in front of us. We saw them a few times in Venice, but no one was bothering them.

seattlescuba

in regards to your post rachel,.when is the last time anyone has bought a vanilla ice album? well, thats he why is flying on southwest.

thereadbaron

On a flight from Florida, an ATF agent got on the plane asking if Victoria Gotti was on the flight. She wasn't. Until about 10 minutes later we realized why we were taking off late - she showed up - long blong locks hidden under a baseball cap, and grumbled about sitting in coach.

Saw Ron Howard give his wife a big kiss in the terminal of JFK.

John Popper from Blues Traveler - pre weight loss - being hauled away on a motorized cart to another terminal - playing his harmonica...