I don’t know what’s scarier, JetBlue rogue flight attendant Steve Slater’s reckless behavior this week or the fact that he just started following me on twitter.  None-the-less, I find it very ironic that in an industry which is bashed by the media more than any other for it’s treatment of consumers, especially for its rude employees, this one is set to write the newest version of JetBlue’s Code of Conduct.

Here are some of the most recent headlines:

“Steven Slater: From JetBlue Quitter to Latest American Folk Hero?”

“JetBlue Flight Attendant Gains Hero Status”

“An apology to JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater”

“Stupid passengers take the blame for wild flight attendant”

All of a sudden, this week, its not the airline’s fault, but the passengers.  Bravo! 

Why the flip-flop?

In case you have not noticed, JetBlue and Virgin America are the darlings of the media as far as airlines go.  I can only imagine the headlines had this incident taken place on a United, Delta or American flight.  If this were the case, I believe the headlines would be in line with the historical level of scrutinization:

“Sue them, fine them, how could they!”

According to media reports 2 of Mexicana Airlines aircraft were seized in Canada and prevented from departure.  This was due to rumors and/or actual indications of financial trouble for Mexicana.  Specifically, Mexicana may have had trouble paying the leases on these 2 planes.  Some time ago I wrote about Mexicana and whether it was a good fit for the One World Alliance.  I based my observation on the product, not the balance sheet.  I assumed, in that post, that OneWorld dissected Mexicana’s balance sheet before bringing them into the alliance.

Apparently someone at OneWorld didn’t do their homework.  Mexicana just joined OneWorld in November of 2009, less than 1 year ago.  How could their financial viability deteriorate that quickly and dramatically?

I attended a funeral for a family member this week.  The deceased was also a member of the Greatest Generation.  I have been in somewhat of a fog since.

I often hear “older people” (passengers and airline employees) comment that flying is not like it used to be. When I hear or read comments such as this, my initial thought is: obviously you have not flown internationally recently.   One typical gripe is that passengers don’t dress up to fly as they once did.  My experience on the way to the funeral is one example of why people don’t or shouldn’t get dressed up to fly.

After we boarded the plane (ATL-EWR), the captain announced that we were ready to push back, but that he was waiting for our final numbers (weight & fuel) which he expected receive any moment.  After 30 minutes of sitting at the gate, sweating, the pilot said the ground crew was now adding more fuel:

“First they said we were too heavy, now they are adding more fuel”

After another 20 minutes, we were pushed back from the gate where we sat for another ten minutes.  It was at this point I realized something was not right.  Finally, we began to taxi under the plane’s power towards the runway.  We taxied to a remote location when the pilot came on and told us that we had missed our wheels up time and our next opportunity to depart would be in 1 hour.  In addition, he had to shut the engines down because if he ran the engines we would not have enough fuel to make it to Newark.

No engines means no air conditioning.  It was 94 degrees in Atlanta that day, so I could only imagine what the temperature on the plane was.  Bottom line, it became real hot real fast.  I wasn’t judging just by myself because I sweat in the shower during an Atlanta summer.  Other passengers were sweating and I sensed some panic.  The FA’s made several trips down the aisle with ice water.  I was quite happy to be sporting sandals, shorts and a t-shit.

The captain had the audacity to come on and say:

“I know its hot back there, but I can can guarantee you it’s at least 10 to 20 degrees hotter in the cockpit”

Uh… last time I checked captain, captains get paid to be in the cockpit, passengers pay to be on the plane.

After 45 minutes, the captain came on and said we had to go back to the gate.  Because of storm in EWR, we were given a crazy routing over Indiana and we didn’t have enough fuel to get to EWR with that routing.  I have to believe this is why we took on more fuel in the first place.  As soon as we pulled up to the gate and the seat-belt sign chime rang, the pilot came on said the flight had been cancelled.  Passengers moaned and mumbled obscenities under their breath.

The Aftermath

As passengers deplaned a few made snide remarks to the captain and flight attendants.  One flight attendant shouted back.  It was an embarrassing scene.  I was just happy to get off that hot plane.  I waited 30 minutes at the re-issue desk before the agents processed any passengers, despite 5 to 7 agents being behind the desk at any given time.

An experience like this may not have happened during the “good old days” of air travel, but every industry evolves.  Consumers need to adjust their expectations and behavior in accordingly.  In this case, the way the dress.

Top of the morning to you from the Four Points Sheraton at SFO.  I’m at it again.  This time with some some trepidation.  All Nippon Airways (ANA) was scheduled to launch their “Inspiration of Japan” product on 2/20 from Tokyo to JFK and on 2/22 from JFK-Tokyo.  The Inspiration of Japan features brand new products in all 4 cabins-First, Business, Premium Economy & Eco.  I only wanted to fly ANA one way and return on a different airline, just because that is what I do.  I don’t live in Asia so naturally, I first priced the JFK-Tokyo route.  Let’s just say it would have cost a small fortune.  The Tokyo-JFK route (with a few tweaks) was much more reasonable so I booked it.  Pretty standard for me, determine what airline I am trying to get on, find a good fare anywhere in the world and work backwards from there.

Well, about a week ago, I recievd an email from ANA informing me that the initial launch of Inspiration of Japan was postponed 2 months due to a seat manufacturer delay.  What a bummer!  The flight I booked still goes, minus the new cabins.  I have all the flights and hotels booked so I couldn’t possible cancel the whole trip, right? Right!  So the itinerary starts today from San Francisco and will include Cathay Pacific Airways, Singapore Airlines and, of course, All Nippon Airways.

I thought I would take it upon myself to translate a few “tweets” I have read recently—tweets from airlines of course.  It amazes me that with all the grief the airline industry takes from the media that sometimes airlines convey a condescending message via twitter-the same message that can be found at the airport and in the planes at times.  Some airlines don’t use twitter to their advantage.  Their tweets are very re-active vs. pro-active.  Most companies that actively communicate to their customers using twitter try to be positive & insightful and if they are successful, they add value.  Twitter would seem to be a public relations slam dunk for airlines, but not based on some tweets I have read recently.  Here are some tweets from an airline followed by my translation in red.

1) Booked w/an online agency (eg expedia, orbitz) & flt cancelled for weather? You can rebook w/agency by phone.

Don’t bother us.  You’re not really our customer (even though we are providing the service you bought) unless you bought your ticket on our web site; and maybe not even then

2) Long hold times, disconnects: call volume high due to snow, addressing disconnects w/IT

It’s not our problem it’s IT’s—a.k.a our problem

3) Snow delays/cancels. Info avail online & since you’re using a computer right now

We want to apologize but don’t want to admit any shortcoming

4) Need flt status? Don’t tweet the request-love to help but status chgs as weather does

Please don’t trouble us with your insignificant plans

5) Why cancel flt BEFORE snow reaches destination? B/c stranding plane in snow inconveniences 100s more. Not smart.

You customers are not very bright. Good thing we are able to come up with these sophisticated strategies

6) Until Scotty can beam us from A to B, we fly planes. During snow, we cancel for safety.

Not only are we smart, we are funny too.

Are Moving Maps A Thing of the Past?

I was on a flight from Asia to the Middle East recently and was surprised to see that the in-flight moving map was unavailable.  I asked the flight attnednat if there was a technical problem with the map as all the other entertainment was working properly.  The FA tinkered with the monitor to no avail and she told me she would ask another flight attendant.  The purser came to my seat and let me know that there was a new security directive in the United States that said moving maps  were not allowed to be showed.  She said this rule only applies to flights to the US and the aircraft we were on mainly flies to the United States.  She said it is either too large of a burden or too costly to turn the map on and off dependent upon what country the aircraft is in.

This is dissapointing if you really enjoy flying.  The map lets you know where you are, what route you are taking and the overall progress of the flight.  Is this an effective security measure? Let’s hope.  Is it enforced consitently? Hardly. 

I guess US authorities (and maybe others) don’t want the scum of the earth to know the most opportune time to blow up a plane filled with innocent civilians, representing numerous creeds, hailing from countries across the globe.  Let me know how hell is boys.

Has anyone else experinced “map absence?”

As one would expect, all security measures and procedures are being scrutinized after the Christmas Day attempt to blow up a flight from Europe to the United States.  Unfortunately, the world needs scares like this to continually review and evaluate existing airline security procedures.  Clearly it is not enough to have lists of people who should no be allowed anywhere near an airport; one has to actually do something with these lists.

I saw an interesting string of events on a November flight from London Heathrow to JFK Airport in New York.  At the boarding gate, all passengers were subject to an additional security check including pat down and carry on inspection…standard procedure overseas.  A man who looked like he had just walked off the battle field in Afghanistan (and I don’t mean a U.S. Marine) was given a lengthy security screening for at least 15 minutes.  Two men in suites with walkie talkies appeared, stood behind the gate agent’s desk and observed the man being screened, while periodically speaking into their radios.  I happened to be on the phone with a friend while this was taking place.  I commented to my frined that I thought there was no chance this man would make it through U.S. Customs based on his appearance.  After the extra thorough screening, the guy was let into the boarding area and took a seat, looking highly annoyed.   We boarded the plane and flew across the Atlantic without incident.

Upon arrival at the gate, passengers stood up to collect their bags and deplane.  At that time, a flight attendant came on the P.A. and asked that all passengers have their passports ready as two TSA (Transportation Security Administration) agents would be in the jet way inspecting passports.  Passengers proceeded to the line for US customs.  While standing in the customs line, I watched all the passengers from my flight walk down the stairs to US Customs, and after several minutes never saw the man that was was subjected to heavy additional screening in London.  Finally, the man appeared, flanked by the two TSA agents.  The agents escorted him past the customs line, proceeded down a hallway and disappeared.

Did this person do something or act a certain way on the plane to cause suspicion?

Why was he a threat in the US and not in London?

Did the men in suits call US Customs and warn them about this person?

Could nothing be done about this person under UK law?

Many questions remain, but I think this illustrates that while sophisticated anti-terror security measures are in place, the one that may still work the best is opening our eyes.  The security focus must be on preventing potential threats from borading a plane.  Obviously, once a plane is airborne, risks are greatly magnified.  Putting rules in place based on past events (i.e. no liquids and remain in your seat prior to landing) is important, but the measures that will actually prevent the next cowardly act of terrorism not only have to be forward looking but acted upon ahead of time.

10 Ridiculous Behaviors by People Traveling on Airplanes

1) While boarding and trying to locate their seat, confused by rows in numerical order from the front to the back of the plane
2) Using every single aisle seat for support when walking through the aisle, rocking each person to and fro in the process
3) Standing in line to “check in” at the gate, even though they have their boarding pass in hand
4) Setting up all of their work materials on the seat next to them as soon as they sit down because they looked at a seat map the night before and that seat was empty; then looking so annoyed when the person sitting there shows up
5) Ordering mixed non-alcoholic drinks: “May I have a Sprite with a splash of cranberry and a twist of lime…” Order a drink if you want one…
6) Using the seat in front of them (your seat) to get up from their seat, pulling you backwards and then flinging you forwards
7) Thinking for more than 3 seconds about whether they want peanuts or pretzels. How long ago did you know you were going to need to make this decision?
Forcefully jabbing the seat in front of them (your seat) to work the entertainment system, making you feel like you’re in a boxing ring; it’s called a “touch screen”, not a punch screen
9) Taking their shoes off and crossing their legs so their dirty feet are in your leg room. …dude!
10) How did you get to the airport if you can’t lift that carry-on?