Juliette Binoche or Arnold Schwarzenneger? David Cronenberg or Steven Spielberg? Royal Tenenbaums or American Pie? Monsters Inc. or Monster's Ball? It's as easy to ask as "Chicken or Pasta?" and can go much further to improving the experience of the air traveller. Airlines have offered choices of films for many years, but none have taken it to the next logical step - which is, simply, to use this information to determine who will sit next to whom.

Taste reveals much about us - our philosophies, values and interests. There is no such thing as good or bad taste - only yours and mine and everyone else's. Responding to a series of aesthetic, cultural and sociological cues, we unwittingly expose a great deal of ourselves.

The excercise could be particularly interesting if they offer a wide range of international films to choose from - not just the usual, predictable Hollywood offerings. In fact, they could just as easily divide up passengers according to their choice of footwear, food selections or hair styles, but none of these is likely to be as rich and revealing an indicator of personality and interests as is taste in films.

When it comes to aesthetics and understanding customer experience, the airline industry is about as innovative as the hospital industry - with similarly depressing results. Something absolutely must be done to improve the dreary ordeal of air travel. A serious wake up is in order. One solution is to modify the highly successful associative marketing strategies of Amazon.com and Blockbuster Video - "if you like this, you'll like this". The difference in this case: the first "this" is an in-flight film and the second "this" is a human.

The idea came to me on a recent flight where I found myself beside a gruff, grouchy looking man in his 50s - wearing white runners, blue jeans and a sweatshirt prominently featuring a U.S. military regiment - presumably his own, past or present. Upon sitting down I made a mental note - in the unlikely event that he were to instigate a conversation, under no circumstances would I allow the discussion to stray to Iraq, "The War on Terror" - or whatever subjective, abstract concept is presently under attack - or fashion either for that matter. All I ask is for interesting conversations on planes - in our time.

I may have been jumping to conclusions, but I began to puzzle about my fate, in which for the next several hours, I would find myself awkwardly rubbing elbows with a man with whom I presumably have little or nothing in common - sometimes you can just tell.

On every flight there are presumably dozens of people who would make enjoyable company for people of similar interests - and maybe one or two who could actually become good friends given the right circumstances (say, for instance, several hours stuck in one place talking). If I'd been allowed to sit behind one of those creepy airport security two-way mirrors to select my travelling companion, I would not, in a million years, have picked him.

Not that I approach every airplane flight as an opportunity to make new friends. Typically I will exchange pleasantries and leave it at that. Unless there is a particular reason, or if the other person instigates, I prefer not to engage in small talk with a perfect stranger.

But my early assessments of this fellow traveller were starting to be confirmed. After several subtle gestures of friendliness and decency were met with gruff, borderline rude responses. Apart from sharing a dissatisfied grunt when presented with our food tray, it was obvious we were going to agree on little. I would venture a guess that in ideology, philosophy and almost any other measure, we are miles apart - so how is it we came to be seated two inches apart? He didn't choose me, I didn't choose him, but here we are, lovely.

But my early assessments of this fellow traveller were starting to be confirmed. After several subtle gestures of friendliness and decency were met with gruff, borderline rude responses. Apart from sharing a dissatisfied grunt when presented with our food tray, it was obvious we were going to agree on little. I would venture a guess that in ideology, philosophy and almost any other measure, we are miles apart - so how is it we came to be seated two inches apart? He didn't choose me, I didn't choose him, but here we are, lovely.

So, as refuge I turned to my weapons of mass distraction, the in-flight films. Not an inspiring list, but David Mamet's film Heist was there, so I decided to watch it for a second time. My new best friend, not surprisingly, chose Arnold Schwarzenneger's Terminator III. Fine, why should it matter to me? Clearly there are millions of people who find his movies entertaining - nothing I can do about it.

But I looked over at one point when my neighbour started to chortle at a scene depicting his machine gun toting hero mowing down a group of ineffectual gunmen - vaguely dark-skinned "bad guys". Oh, now you're having fun - delightful! I wanted to rap on his earphones and ask him just what exactly is so funny about that mass murder? The humour escapes me.

Then, getting up to stretch I noticed that almost every screen nearby was set to Terminator III! It was then that I realized I was sitting in "Schwarzenneger Class". It was like a scene from a "B" Horror flick where the protagonist suddenly realizes he's surrounded by zombies. I would have liked to say, "if you like this (film), you'll like this (man beside me)".

A word to the airlines: the simple strategy of sitting passengers among like-minded others amounts to the cheapest "value added" in the industry - cheaper even than that bag of peanuts you throw around. We understand flight attendants are busy and can only do so much to ensure that passengers are enjoying themselves. Some airlines' attempts to encourage jokey flight attendants or chatty pilots pointing out every mountain for hours on end - can be the opposite of entertaining. Put us to work engaging and amusing each other - we don't mind.

This is no guarantee of fun times for all. One need only listen to people in a movie theatre lineup to realize that not everyone choosing a film thinks alike - or will necessarily be fast friends. And this isn't some Nietchzian scheme to keep an uber-class isolated from the unwashed. The outside world affords endless opportunities to throw one in unpleasantly close contact with total strangers - elevators, cafes, supermarket lines, public transit are but a few examples. But if I'm going to be strapped into a tiny seat for several hours, I don't mind stacking the deck a little in terms of choosing with whom I'll be sharing an armrest.

The more ambitious airlines out there could decide to take this opportunity with their captive audiences to act as a kind of flying film festival. Film distribution is a byzantine business - often intelligent, deserving films haven't a hope of garnering the critical mass to achieve big screen release. Relationships should be fostered with local film festivals whereby the most highly regarded independent films of a given nation each year can be featured on board. How much more interesting is this than simply replaying the most widely seen 'blockbuster' films for bored customers who could readily find such films at any video store around the world.

Think of the service this provides to incoming visitors - affording them a privileged view of a rarely seen but carefully curated film selection - offering enlightening insights and a 'crash course' into the culture they are about to experience. A side benefit of this is that flag carrying airlines could operate as cultural ambassadors of a sort. Some try this - but it always feels forced and weakly supported.

On Air New Zealand recently I noted that they admirably offered the critically acclaimed 1989 film "Once Were Warriors". The harsh realities and ongoing difficulties of the Maori community exposed in the film could amount, for some, to a reason to avoid travelling there. Not the usual 'sunny side up' public relations driven tourism pap to be sure. Paradoxically the airline has since thrown in its lot with "The Lord Of The Rings" - a Hollywood production of an English author's work based on a fictional kingdom - which happens to be shot in New Zealand - even repainting its planes in L.O.R. theme. Clearly this has little to do with authentic cultural representation and everything to do with mass audience and p.r. fuelled tourism.

I'm flying to Thailand soon. If Thai Airways is awake at the controls it will be playing "Last Life in the Universe" one of the best new films of the year - and an excellent, beautifully shot, nuanced portrayal of some aspects of life in Bangkok and surrounding region. If I'm luckier still I will be sitting amongst people who have also chosen this magical film. Sitting in "Schwarzenneger Class" only made me feel as if I was the last life in the universe.