Personally, I'm glad that they didn't send a "regular crew" on this trip, what with the high profile of the cargo, the visibility by the press, etc, etc. Let the senior managers bask in the limelight, while we peons go about the business of earning our daily bread.
Furthermore, can you envision four "regular crewmembers" posing on the tarmac, with the jet in the background, wearing our usual conglomeration of "uniforms" and "footware." I can see it now: the fat guy on the left (as it's not only management who has some seriously fat guys) is wearing his hospital scrubs, the ones with the food stains from 2 years of not having been washed, while the guy to his immediate left is wearing his gym shorts and italian tee shirt, with flip-flops. The guy next to him is wearing jeans and a filthy uniform top with a Christmas tie (poetic license), even though it's the middle of July, while the other seriously overweight guy is wearing those psychodelic pants, you know, the ones he bought in Malaysia for $3, along with a Tommy Bahama shirt knockoff bought in china, and his copy-watch from Singapore. Yeah, I can see it now. That's exactly what we need.
