Airlines From the Inside Out
June 13
This past Friday a Lufthansa A380 made its inaugural flight from Frankfurt to Miami (D-AIMD). The crowds were huge and sprawling along Runway 9. The street turned into a parking lot and active railroad tracks a standing gallery. A DC-3 and DC-7 preceded the A380′s landing. In case you missed it, here is the inside of a Lufthansa A380 (D-AIMA) . Here are the photos from the event.
There are also a few other random sightings while waiting for the A380.
Delta Airlines recently launched a service that allows passengers to track their checked luggage via Delta.com
I’m a lot confused and maybe even a little mis-informed. Why, in the name of all things lost luggage, would I want/need to track my checked luggage? Shouldn’t getting my bags to where I’m going be expected… maybe even a given?
For the sake of discussion, lets just say, Mrs. Double Secret Airline Status gets to the airport for he flight to St. Somewhere, checks in, and checks in a suitcase. When she is seated on the plane, she whips out her I-Pad and checks to see where her bag is and finds out it is right underneath her… where its supposed to be!
Of course, there are other plausible scenarios. Like, her suitcase is not on the plane:
A) but on its way to Breezy Point
B) still sitting in the airport
C) or on an earlier flight to her final destination where it will sit and wait to get stolen before she arrives
If any of these 3 scenarios occur, what is her immediate recourse? Pitch a fit with a flight attendant? Threaten to get off the plane? Ask that the plane is delayed to wait for her luggage? I mean, what can she do about it? If her luggage simply does not show up, she still has to go see an agent.
In other words, I just don’t see a passengers options being any different when they can track their luggage VS. if they could not track their own luggage. If anything it could make the flight experience worse: your bag ain’t on the plane and all you can do is stew about about it and include the flight crew in your misery for the entire flight. Delta is really just giving the passengers the same technology that the baggage handlers have, setting itself up for some fierce confrontations between passengers and airport staff. I suppose if you are trying to ease the work load of your ground staff, letting passengers do it themselves would be an option, but even then its probably less expensive to hire more employees than invest in this tracking system.
Ah, yes, how could I forget that big brother is about implement a rule that would require airlines to refund bag fees for lost or severely delayed luggage. Maybe this was what Delta had on its mind when they launched this tracking service.
So is your bag “lost” if you know where it is, but its not where it is supposed to be?
March 15
Aircraft manufacturer, ATR, just delivered an ATR 72 to Brazil’s Azul Linhas Aéreas. The purpose of the plane’s pink color scheme is to promote the awareness of breast cancer. ATR, Azul have formed a partnership with FEMAMA, a Brazilian non-profit organization dedicated to fighting breast cancer. The FEMAMA logo can be seen on the plane’s fuselage. In the plane’s 1st week of service, FEMAMA volunteers will conduct breast cancer screenings at the airports where the Pink ATR lands. Great work by all 3 organizations! Here is the complete press release. Pictures courtesy of Michael Green at Xenophon Strategies.
January 24
Like many people who find themselves wandering the corridors of airports around the globe (and those who just plain care about mankind in general) I was disturbed to learn about today’s suicide bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport. Let’s keep the victims and their families in our thoughts.
Oddly, there has not been major mainstream media coverage in the United States. More than likely because the suspected perpetrators are of the “domestic” breed vs. those spineless al qaeda types we are used to hearing about.
Lately, there has been much outcry about airport security and its ability to intrude on personal privacy. I have heard (and do not believe) that some travellers have opted not to attend an event rather than subject themselves to airport security. Some folks are horrified when they see security personnel brandishing machine guns. I don’t understand why.
The next time you become annoyed with airport security and their methods, remember days like today. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Is airport security a perfect system? No! But they are attempting to make your world safer, not theirs. The world is a dangerous place, but it always has been; only the delivery methods and places of terror change.
August 10
While announced awhile back, the following 2 Delta Airlines Promotions are approaching their “book by/travel by” dates.
The first is Triple MQM’s (Medallion Qualification Miles) on Delta “shuttle” flights between New York LaGuardia (LGA) and Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD) and Washington DC (DCA).
Why is this promotion significant?
MQM’s are the miles that count towards Elite Status. The most frequent airline mileage promotions consumers see only count towards “regular” redeemable mileage balances, although passengers will earn triple regular miles as well with this shuttle promotion. With this promo, one can earn almost the same number of MQM’s on a round-trip LGA-ORD flight as a round-trip LGA-LAX flight! Register, book and fly by August 31, 2010! Click to view all promotion details.
The second Delta Promotion includes no MQM’s, but does offer triple redeemable mileage (regular miles) on Delta’s new international routes such as Detroit to Hong Kong. In order to earn triple miles, flyers need to book a business class fare, otherwise they will receive double miles. For example: Normally, a non-elite Delta flyer would earn 15,700 miles round-trip from DTW-HKG. Register for the promo, fly on a coach fare (saw a mid Sept. fare for $981) by September 30 and that flight will net you over 31,000 miles. There is a lot of fine print HERE, but it all makes complete sense. There are also a lot more city pairs listed. Again, book and fly by September 30, 2010.
May 10
I was watching planes one day near SFO and a guy rode up on his bike and took a seat on one of the benches next to me. After a few pleasantries, he began to recite the schedule of each international arrival and departure that afternoon. I thought:
“Wow, this guy is as cool as I am”
In discussing our aviation addictions, I was surprised to learn that he had never heard of Flightaware, a site I knew he would enjoy. I just thought all aviation geeks visited all the same web sites. Not the case and that is why I am sharing this list.
Thanks, dude I met watching planes at SFO!
FlyerTalk
While I have poked fun at Flyertalk in the past, it remains a tremendous resource for even the occasional frequent flyer. From the most basic questions: how to book an award ticket… to the most trivial of topics: how many stalls are in the Kenya Airways Business Class Lounge bathroom.
Flightaware
Although the site has been very slow as of late, it is entertaining to look at what paths flight take, what equipment is being used and who flies where at what time of day. You can sort results by aircraft, airport or airlines. When I can’t fall back asleep in the middle of the night, I like to pull up Flightaware and look at West Coast departures bound for Asia. More practically (debatable), Flightaware tells me when I need to leave to pick up Mrs. Planereality at the airport.
Airliners.net
This one is particularly enjoyable as so many users are from so many parts of the globe. They share their opinion and experiences on an endless number of airlines. Up to the minute aviation news can be found in the Civil Aviation Forum. The Trip Report section will give you a good idea of what each airline is like. And oh so many incredible photographs.
Boarding Area
Call it shameless self promotion, but truth be told, some of the best airline deals, news, interviews and insights can be found under one roof at Boarding Area.com. BoardingArea is a collection of travel bloggers who all write about slightly different topics pertaining to travel. Most of the contributors are pretty witty and you may even get a laugh out of their prose.
Orbitz
While I am confident they do not need any more advertising, especially from me, this is where I continually find myself researching good airfares, both domestic and international. Yes, the choices are overwhelming when it comes to booking engines, but I prefer the way Orbitz displays flight search results and thoroughness of those results.
February 15
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.
February 2
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.
