The Associated Press reports a travel agency that specializes in clothing-optional vacations has chartered a 172-seat Boeing 727 for a flight in May from Miami to Cancun. Once the plane reaches its cruising altitude, passengers will be invited to disrobe.

Castaways Travel of Spring, Texas, is touting the trip as the world's first flight for nude passengers. The crew will be clad, and the temperature inside the plane's cabin will be regulated to accommodate the nudists, Castaways co-owner Jim Bailey told the AP.

"People are looking for stress relief," Bailey said. "In a nudist environment, everyone is the same."

Vacationers will stay at a nudist resort for a week. Rooms start at $910 weekly, plus $499 for the flight, the report said.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said in the report there are no regulations specifically banning nudity aboard an aircraft. "It's not a safety issue," she said.

Some safety issues are being addressed, however, as no hot drinks or hot food will be served to nude passengers. And all nude travelers will be asked to keep a towel between themselves and the plane seat.

Boeing Frontiers honored

Boeing Frontiers magazine won 16 awards, including five gold awards, at the Mercury Awards ceremony Jan. 30 in New York City.

The annual international competition, sponsored by MerComm, Inc., recognizes excellence in corporate communications, media relations, public affairs and publicity. Almost 1,200 companies entered the competition.

The monthly magazine won a gold award in the corporate magazine category for its July 2002 issue and another in the magazine design category for its September 2002 issue.

Frontiers staff writer Maureen Jenkins won three gold awards: "From Adversity, Strength," which chronicled families of three Boeing employees killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, on the anniversary of the tragedy; "Getting Lean," which discussed The Boeing Company's Lean practices; and "Tennesee Titan," which profiled then-retiring Boeing Vice Chairman Harry Stonecipher.