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On February 17, 1970, Playboy took flight. The day marked the inaugural flight of Big Bunny, Playboy‘s custom DC-9-32, a 119.3 foot, $5.5 million aircraft that shuttled magazine founder Hugh Hefner and his famous guests across the country and the world. Jet black and marked with the iconic bunny head logo, Big Bunny was unmistakeable in the skies during its five-year run. But as thrilling as it might be to see those rabbit ears tearing through the atmosphere, it was much more thrilling to be on board the swinging aircraft. In honor of National Aviation Week, let’s take a look back at Big Bunny’s best years.
Big Bunny was essentially the Playboy Mansion of the sky. Bought in 1969, it was equipped with an elliptical-shaped bed (complete with a seat belt), a discotheque, multiple video consoles, showers, and of course, a bar. A 2010 Playboy feature on the plane called it the Studio 54 of the skies, documenting meals of lobster and roast beef prepared in the three ovens on board. It had the guest list to earn the plane that nickname: “Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Connie Stevens, Raquel Welch, James Caan — there were always celebrities on board,” former Jet Bunny Katharina Leventhal told The Hollywood Reporter.
At the time it was built, Big Bunny featured the largest powder room ever to grace an airliner, Playboy wrote in 1971, complete with a full-length mirror, lighted button controls for water temperature, and a hair curler and drier (perfect for the plane’s many female guests). Hefner also had his own bathroom, plus a private plane entrance and an office, where he could edit proofs of Playboy.
No doubt a big difference from the average passenger’s aircraft experience today, the plane’s features weren’t its only selling point. It also had a cadre of Jet Bunnies that made the in-flight experience that much better. Jet Bunnies were Playboy‘s very own, fully-accredited cabin crew, who trained with Continental Airlines stewardesses. Being Playboy Bunnies, though, the Jet Bunnies didn’t wear any old in-flight uniform. They wore slick black dresses and knee-high boots, punctuated by accessories like a white scarf and yellow belt adorned with the rabbit head. “They looked like they had just stepped out of a James Bond movie,” Hefner once said.
But more interesting than any of its specs are Big Bunny’s exploits. Naturally, the plane saw all stripes of gorgeous people under Playboy‘s purview, but it was also rented out to stars in need of transport. Playboy lended the plane to both Elvis and Sonny and Cher to fly them to cross country tour stops. In a more humanitarian effort, Big Bunny was also used to transport orphans from Vietnam to new homes in the States. And in a signature Playboy amorous effort, Big Bunny once carried a male gorilla on a cross-country love-making trip. The primate travelled to the Phoenix Zoo to meet his intended.
Big Bunny’s Playboy years came to an end in 1975, when the magazine sold it to Venezuela Airlines. The plane was officially retired from service in 2004. But, in 2021, the aircraft enjoyed a brief return to form when Playboy revived it with a new interior that recalled the plane’s original retro vibe.
