Archive for August, 2005
August 18 2005
I will admit that I am as big a dork about this stuff as anyone, but how impressed am I that not one, but two people have taken the time to make mock drawings of what they think the new US Airways livery will look like (here and here). Those are people who take new livery announcements seriously. The new colors will be unveiled on August 23rd, but there have been some leaks as to what the color scheme might look like. Of course, 99.9% of the universe could not possibly care less about this. However, as a public service to freaks like me, I pass along those photos.
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August 18 2005
EasyCruise, a new cruiseline launched by the founder of EasyJet, is offering $2 per night cruises in the Caribbean. Really. $2. Keep in mind that the EasyCruise ships are not exactly the Love Boat, but rather gussied up ferries (gussied up? Is that even a word? Does someone even edit this thing?) But if you’re looking for a crazy cheap way to island hop a bit, how can you beat this?
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August 17 2005
For anyone who has backpacked through Asia, you may have walked down Koh Sahn Road considering signing up for an overland truck ride from Bangkok to Vietnam crammed in with a bunch of Australians. Consider that no more. Thai AirAsia will launch daily flights from Bangkok to Hanoi, making the grueling, camped overland journey obsolete. Good riddance.
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August 17 2005
A West Caribbean Airways MD-82 crashed in Venezuela yesterday, killing all 160. The plane, en route from Panama City to Martinique, was experiencing engine trouble when the accident occurred. This is the second fatal accident this year for the small Colombian carrier—8 were killed in a crash in March. This is the fourth major commercial aircraft crash in less than 3 weeks (though none of them have anything to do with the other.)
The MD-82 (it’s the plane that has two seats on one side, three on the other), passed inspection on Monday, though the airline has been penalized before for safety violations.
In a related story, the Helios Airways jet that crashed over the weekend had lost cabin pressure once before.
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August 16 2005
Good news for United flyers: The airline announced an improved regional jet service called explus (yes it’s all lowercase, and yes it makes me think of X-Lax) that will offer first class and economy plus seating on its larger regional jets. Even better, it will use these reconfigured aircraft on all Express flights longer than 2 1/2 hours. I know I’ve said this about 732,000 times, but a 3 hour regional jet flight is pure evil; first class and economy plus will definitely help alleviate that feeling.
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August 16 2005
Delta sold one of its regional carriers, ASA, to SkyWest for $425 million in a bid to raise cash for the struggling airline. The move, which has been widely expected, will definitely help Delta get through the next few months, but even the airline has noted that it still faces a cash crunch this year—the airline recently noted that it has $20 billion in debt and lease requirements. Yes, that’s $20 billion. $425 million is a drop in the bucket…
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August 16 2005
How bad is the economic situation in Zimbabwe? Officials at London Gatwick airport impounded an Air Zimbabwe 767 because the carrier was not able to pay landing fees. Worse, airport officials also impounded passengers’ luggage (which really isn’t fair, though what the hell is fair when it comes to Zimbabwe?) The troubled carrier has been forced to cancel flights because it can’t afford fuel, and I don’t even want to think about how or if it’s bothering with maintanance. I never, ever, ever say this, but I think in this case it’s probably best to stay away.
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August 15 2005
Possibly in response to the popularity of United’s P.S. service, American Airlines announced that it will introduce lie flat seats in business class on its 767-300 and 777 aircraft in 2006. The carrier will also extend its first class flagship suite to all of its 777s. This is great news if your company is actually paying for business class, as Northwest was previously the only US airline so offer lie flat seats in business class (and even those only reclined 170 degrees).
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August 15 2005
British Airways’ operations returned to normal on Sunday, with nearly all of the thousands of stranded passengers heading off to their intended destinations. A wildcat strike, prompted by the firing (aka, sacking) of foodservice workers, led to the shutdown of British Airways’ operations at London Heathrow. Because of the unresolved issues with Gate Gourmet, the foodservice company, BA flights presently do not have food available.
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August 15 2005
A Helios Airways 737 enroute from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Athens crashed in the mountains outside Athens on Sunday, killing all 121 on board. News organizations are reporting that the plane appears to have lost cabin pressure prior to the incident, as passengers were found still wearing oxygen masks. Greek F-16s followed the aircraft after it lost contact with air traffic control and noted that it appeared the co-pilot was unconscious and the pilot was not visible. Initial speculation focuses on the air conditioning system but as I always say when there’s an accident, it’ll be a year or so before we know what happened.
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Nerds Debate New US Airways Livery
