I was going to write this yesterday, but really – we all know the score.

Unite has balloted its BASSA members if they wish to strike, and they have done. Whilst we can look at the numbers, it seems Unite is once again hell bent on industrial action rather than negotiate.

BA meanwhile is trying to bring an end to this, but needs to sort out the issues with both sides. 

And it’s sad – because in the end it will the passenger who suffers.

Unite has 27 days from today to announce the next round of strikes 

So my line as usual to Unite, BASSA and BA is simple – GROW UP AND SORT IT!

It’s Sunday again, so it must be time for some more airplane p0rn (and it’s late as I’m on GMT still)

This week it’s a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 climbing out of Frankfurt airport.

More next week!

It’s Saturday once again, and near enough as it is to the end of the month, so it’s a safety video from the archives – and it’s Hawaiian Air demonstraing the safety features of their DC-10′s when they had them.

Nowdays, of course, they prefer to wizz around in A330′s with Hawaii Five-O in the opening credits…

More next week!

Continited/Uninental/”The Combined United” (I’ll come up with a name that might make sense one year) have updated the progress on their fleet refits:

CO: 757-200 Fleet – all 41 now have BusinessFirst Seats installed.
CO: 777-200 Fleet – 22 aircraft have BusinessFirst Seats installed.
UA: 767-300ER Fleet – Complete Flat bed in Business installed (in 2009!)
UA: 747-400 Fleet – Complete Flat bed in Business installed (a shame they couldn’t be bothered to do anything to economy.. also in 2009)
UA: 777-200 Fleet – Up to a grand total of 10 aircraft by April 2010. Although in a 2 x 4 x 2 in BUSINESS Class, this is more akin to the flying Dormitory rather than business class (and don’t get me started on Economy class…)

As stated by the combined entity, Economy Plus will be rolling out onto the CO fleet in 2012, but expect this to take serious amounts of time before you get unity. Suffice to say, seating could be a crapshoot for some time if you’re flying CO when they begin the refurbishment…

Well the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has delivered his budget to the nation.

Rather than concentrate on the everything else that will make British Citizen’s life more of a living hell, lets concenrate on the big news for travellers. And it is good – as Air Passenger Duty (APD) has been FROZEN at the current rates.

The bad news however, is that APD will go up, but it will be delayed for a year.

Taxation by per plane, rather than per passenger, would be illegal under international law according to the Chancellor, therefore that pricing model is out of the window.

What will be new is that APD will now be enforced on Private Jet flights – so there’s no escaping that now.

For those unfamiliar, these are the current APD rates from flight departing from the United Kingdom, and is levied from the depature airport to the arrival airport, and zoned to the nationals capital from London to be complex. This is levived after any fuel surcharge, security or tax fees.

So yes, it’s a mess, and as I’ve written about a few times, there are ways to get out of paying masses of APD… it requires time however and planning. Have a look at my previous writings on the matter.

And of course, it goes without saying this is yet another taxation exercise by the government, as I haven’t seen any evidence of this tax being used for “Green” Projects.

Hello again faithful reader.

Things will be a lot more quieter than normal for the next couple of days as my iMac has taken a running jump and the power supply unit has brought the farm.

As a result, GhettoIFE.com towers will be dedicated to getting my data safely off the blown up computer and disassembling iMacs as advised by iFixit.com. That’s before the shoot I have booked to do, and of course an upcoming trip.

Yes, you read that right. Another trip! This is as gooder place to open up a tag, so I present… ORDX

Yes, X – the 10th Chicago Stopping Trip! More about it when I have 10 minutes not cursing at the repair job that’s ahead of me….

So, I’m sorry for the lack of news, spots or anything for a day or two. But I need to retrieve my iTunes collection somehow or other….

Alitalia, that seemingly wonderful Skyteam airline is in the process of fleet renewals, and working with Embraer, they have agreed to lease 20 regional jets.

This will be broken down into 15 E-175′s (the shorter twin isle jet capable up to 86 seats) and 5 E-190′s (the longer 106 seater jet), with deliveries due to begin in Q3 2011 – a very “quick” turnaround for these frames.

Alitalia will be operating this fleet, basing it through it’s main bases, to run routes on Italian Domestic Services, as well as European routes.

As flyers will know, if an E-175/E-190 is configured correctly, it’s one heck of a little aircraft with 2 x 2 seating, reasonable seat-pitch and a habit of mis-aligning the windows.

A good sign that Alitalia are slowly renewing and improving themselves.

If you ever wonder what happens when an emergency is declared like an earthquake, and an airport closes, here’s a very interesting account from a Delta Captain who was in the air when it hit – and how he got his plane on the ground.

Highly recommended reading

http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/g7ksg/written_by_a_delta_pilot_on_approach_to_tokyo/

It’s Sunday again, and it’s time for some more airplane p0rn.

This week, it’s one of the “Combined” United Airlines Boeing 737-800WL (Ex Continental Airlines) taxing in the winter sun at Washington Dulles International

More of course next week!

Yes, it’s Saturday, so it’s time to put your seat back in the upright position as China Airlines give their safety demonstration

It’s the end of the month next week, so it’s another classic. Stay tuned!