Posted by Seth on October 22, 2008 under Uncategorized | 
And what a great welcome it was this morning!
The new JetBlue flagship terminal at JFK Airport is absolutely amazing. I’d like to pretend that I could see it all coming together this well when we took a tour of the facility back in June, but I had no idea that it would be this nice. Sure, there are a couple little problems, like the door alarms going off unexpectedly directly over my head, but that really seems to be the worst of it. Suffice it to say that this T5 opening beats the pants off the Heathrow experience.
The first thing you notice walking in to the terminal is the hike in from the AirTrain station. It is about a half mile, and there were a lot of people commenting about it outside the check-in areas, including the TSA agents hanging out there. But once you make it over to the terminal it is immediately striking how open and spacious it is. There are scores of kiosks set up in the space to make the check-in process as easy as possible for everyone. My check-in to just a couple seconds for swiping my credit card and then it was on to the TSA checkpoint.
The TSA went all out on this new facility, including the largest single checkpoint in the nation, with 20 lanes built. Only about six of the lanes were open, but that was plenty of capacity for the number of folks passing through this morning. Even better, they bought a ton of brand new gray bins for the x-ray machines. They were still shiny.
Immediately past security is the marketplace. In addition to the concessions that surround the area there are some great seating areas. I saw a bunch of folks from JetBlue Corporate Communications set up on one of the elevated seating areas and went over to join them and talk about the opening. Plus they were sitting in one of the only areas that have outlets for my laptop. They were all having a great time, and a few of them remembered me from the tour bank in June, so we caught up and got to talk about the facility and how things are running so far. I also managed to get a post all about me on their blog.
After that it was off to meet a couple other crewmembers who were here today. One is a flight attendant passing through on a connection (coincidentally scheduled to work the flight I am not taking today) and the other was working as part of the huge “Ask Me” contingent that was out en force here. There are a ton of folks wandering the terminal helping passengers get acclimated to the new terminal and find their way around. I even got to help a deplaning couple find their way to the Dunkin’ Donuts for their morning coffee.
I also got to meet JetBlue CEO Dave Barger and talk to him about the facility. He’s been around all morning, sending the first departing flight off, talking to passengers and employees and generally speaking being a nice guy. We chatted for a few minutes about the airline in general, the TrueBlue program, the new terminal and a bunch of other stuff. I walked away with a business card, a photo and some insight into how things are running now and some potential future developments.
The one down-side I’ve seen thus far, other than that alarm going off right in my ear, was that the first boarding area I waited at while awaiting the inbound FA appeared very crowded. None of the other areas seem too bad thus far, but this one was pretty packed and that was without all the gates there in use. I hope that it isn’t always like this, but I do worry a bit.
A relatively crowded gate area
I’m off to hang out at the end of the terminal at perhaps the best plane-spotting facility in NYC now, and also to sample some of the concessions. I might even try the delivery to the gate option that they have.
Overall, this is an incredibly well run and smooth transition. Major kudos to JetBlue for pulling it off, under budget and ~6 months early!
Posted by Seth on October 20, 2008 under Uncategorized |
You know the one. The bag that you’ve had for years. The bag with hundreds of flights and hundreds of thousands of miles on it as a carry on. Not so much any more.
It seems that the airlines have gotten even more greedy than it seemed even they could manage to do. Rather than settle for bleeding their passengers $15-25 a pop for checking their bags, the airlines are now reducing the official size of permitted carry-on bags, from 51 linear inches to 45 linear inches (22”x9”x14”).
I’ve got the “normal 22” bag” from Travelpro. The official measurements are exactly what are spec’d above for the new, smaller size. I’ve never been able to get it into one of those size-wise devices. Ever. And it actually fits in the overhead just fine, wheels in on most flights I’m on. I guess I’m going to have to start carrying a tape measure now to show that it is the right size.
Yes, we’ve all seen people carry bags on that are grossly oversized. Or people carrying on too many bags. But the solution to the problem is not to reduce the allowed size. It is to enforce the rule as written.
I’m not opposed at all to enforcing the rules. And I’m not opposed to forcing people to check their extra or oversize bags. But this just looks bad. The airlines are charging at one end and cutting back at the other. The squeeze on the passengers is bad. I don’t pay the fees for the checked bags as an elite member, and I still think it sucks.
I’ve seen word of this new policy from Continental and US Air at least, and I’m sure there are others. I cannot imagine the others not piling on while they can.
Posted by Seth on October 20, 2008 under Internet |
Wanna save a ton of weight on your airplane? Perhaps getting rid of some of the hundreds of miles of wires running throughout the plane would be a good place to start. But what about all the things that those wires are used for, like in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems? Make ‘em all wireless.
Apparently Boeing had started working with vendors on a wireless IFE system for the 787 Dreamliner but bailed on it when it became clear that they weren’t going to be able to secure government approvals or sufficient quantities of the wireless chips in time to guarantee that the 787 would come off the line with the IFE functional. In the meantime, however, a company called Bluebox has put together a system that apparently works in the Boeing Business Jets well enough that Airbus wants to see how well it will fly on the A380. A test installation is scheduled for next week in Hamburg at the Airbus A380 demo facility. More on the test can be found here and here.
Apparently Bluebox has secured deals with major Hollywood studios to provide “first run” content on the systems, at least in the BBJ product. That means lots of content available and potentially weight savings from an installation of the product, all good things for both the airlines and the passengers. Of course, it still needs approval for commercial airplane operations and a customer to buy it. The test plans with Airbus suggest that the A350 might be the target for a green-field implementation, but Airbus is mum on that topic for now.
The other fun bit that I came across was an update on wireless in-flight internet connectivity. And I’m not even talking about the decisions by Delta and American to censor their in-flight internet offering. There’s another player in the in-flight broadband market, and they are claiming that they have so many customers that they don’t care about the commercial carriers. ViaSat plays in the satellite connectivity space rather than the terrestrial space, so they can provide global coverage. And they are currently doing so in conjunction with Lufthansa for private planes and maritime customers. It is always good to see more options for such connectivity, assuming they keep the prices reasonable.
Posted by Seth on October 19, 2008 under Uncategorized |
And my thoughts were confirmed yesterday.
OK, maybe I didn’t always think it, but it certainly isn’t a bad thought. And the performance we saw yesterday by Ballet Hispanico was rather amazing and benefitted from the cowbell during one of the three pieces they performed. I suppose that bit (Tito on Timbales) was more of a modern dance bit than a ballet. The music was written and originally performed by Tito Puente, and the revival was pretty impressive, both for the music and the dance. Plus the follow-on musical interlude, Descarga Para Tito, was a great example of the Latin Jazz style and also quite entertaining.
Also of note for me was that this was my first visit to the Joyce Theatre which I’ve lived three blocks from for eight years now. Far too long to be so close and not take advantage of it, but such is life, I suppose. If you happen to be in town check out their schedule. Lots of good options and the theatre is quite intimate which is nice.
Posted by Seth on October 17, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Apparently zeppelins are back.
Seventy-one years after the Hindenburg blew up over New Jersey, a zeppelin has taken flight over the United States. Launching in Beaumont, Texas and headed westward towards California, the Airship Ventures Zeppelin will be used to provide flight-seeing tours.
That’s one more form of transportation to add to my list of things to travel on.
Posted by Seth on October 17, 2008 under Uncategorized |
The roller coaster ride of fuel prices over the past 18 months has wreaked havoc on the airline industry, with many carriers going bankrupt, ceasing operations or just losing lots and lots of money. But in the background there has always been Southwest Airlines, steadily plodding along and profitable for 70 consecutive quarters.
Well that came to an end at Q3 2008, but it is debatable as to whether they really did lose or not. See their operational results showed a profit of $69MM. But they had to take a $247MM charge against the books based on charges associated with fuel hedging. Yup, fuel hedging. That has been one of the major keys to Southwest’s success for most of recent memory. But they finally got burned on it this quarter, with prices taking a tumble to less than $80/bbl recently after spiking at over $140 in the middle of the year.
Southwest isn’t the only airline suffering from hedging charges. Continental reported charges of ~$70MM and United reported ~$500MM in charges for similar hedge bets this quarter. Of course, the reported losses are, in many cases, just on paper. Since the hedges are options contracts and they aren’t all executed in the quarter it isn’t like the airlines necessarily paid out that cash to someone rather than just having the potential future value of the contracts decrease. Still, the accounting rules are what they are and the numbers have to be reported as such.
So there you have it. Once the commodity prices actually start fluctuating wildly the pros start to struggle with predicting the future value and they can lose just as easily as they can win. Makes me feel a bit better about my investing skills when I see that the pros can mess up, too.
Posted by Seth on October 16, 2008 under TSA |
Sure, I poke fun at them all the time, but I don’t write so good all the time. But this guy wrote a rather coherent and eloquent article about the sham that is the concept of “security” the TSA has been spouting pretty much since its inception.
Sure, he just forges a boarding pass, something that has been going on for years and something that online check-in has basically made a trivial task that anyone can do. He also has learned that an eight-ounce toothpaste tube fits quite well in the pocket of your pants, and that the a “Beerbelly,” a neoprene sling that holds a polyurethane bladder and drinking tube, is generally not detected by the TSA.
To be certain, some of the arguments made are pretty stupid. Why should a TSA agent care that he has a Hezbollah flag or an inflatable Yasser Arafat doll in his luggage? Those cannot actually do any harm, just like eight ounces of toothpaste cannot do any harm. And then there is this bit that made me laugh a bit:
Later, Schneier would carry two bottles labeled saline solution—24 ounces in total—through security. An officer asked him why he needed two bottles. “Two eyes,” he said. He was allowed to keep the bottles.
The article is definitely an entertaining read, even if the guy doesn’t get it all right.
And, yes, I meant to get the opening line wrong. Thanks.
Posted by Seth on October 16, 2008 under News |
Assuming that Boeing can ever figure out how to end the machinists strike that has shut down their assembly lines for the past 6 weeks, Boeing has another 100 787 Dreamliners to manufacture. American Airlines announced yesterday a firm order for 42 of the 787-900 aircraft and options for another 58, with deliveries expected to run from 2012 to 2020. The planes are expected to help American modernize their fleet and potentially retire some of their older long-haul planes or, should the economy get better, expand their service. These planes are in addition to the 76 new 737-800s that American is going to take delivery of in the next two years as they reduce their MD-80 fleet.
The investment is impressive for a few reasons. The most obvious one is that such actions require a lot of money, and that seems to be a scarcity in the airline industry these days. The other impressive thing about it is that American was able to get delivery slots so quickly. Boeing has been telling new customers that orders wouldn’t be fulfilled until the 2018ish time frame. Apparently they were holding back (a ton) of slots for their better customers and American finally bit.
At the same time, Continental announced today that they are deferring some of their new plane deliveries a year or so. For the big birds (777s and 787s) this may be a strike-related delay. For the smaller planes (16 737s delayed 2+ years) it seems to be more related to their need to reduce capacity on their routes. At the same time, however, they indicated that they are going to be picking up four new 757-300s leftover from ATA’s bankruptcy. With the focus on premium and international traffic it is somewhat surprising to see Continental backing down on the wide-body orders. Then again, they probably have some pretty good reasons, or at least accountants telling them to.
The machinists strike is likely to delay things still from the expected initial delivery dates. But I’m still happy to see that airlines continue to invest in their fleets. That new plane smell is hard to beat.
Posted by Seth on October 15, 2008 under News, TSA |
The Washington Times recently started a weekly travel column that seems to be stuff I’d write about. I’m actually a bit jealous that the guy gets paid to do it, but I guess that comes with him having the initiative to actually sell the column to an editor there while I’m busy trying to plan my next trip.
Anyways, this week’s column is a bit of a rant on “direct” flights. Direct flights make sense in some situations, like adding an extra city at the end of a long-haul run. But airlines soon realized that in the reservations systems that travel agents use the direct flights would show up just under non-stop flights. And if there were no non-stop flights the direct flights would be first, giving the airline operating the direct flight a theoretical benefit in attracting bookings. That’s great, but the airlines also seem to have decided to skip over the concept that the direct flight uses a single airplane to make the “direct” part of the effort work. Instead they have two different planes operating using a central point to have passengers move from one to the other. That is also known as a connection to most of the traveling world, but some airlines (Continental seems to be the biggest offender) continue to call these flights “direct.”
Why does it matter? For starters, you only collect points based on the end points of the trip rather than the actual flights you fly. That may not seem like a big deal – and it usually isn’t all that significant – but every little bit helps. A direct flight from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv (one route that Continental operates) will net 7574 points while a connection in Newark, where the passenger is going to connect anyways, will see a passenger collect 8146 points. San Antonio to Guam actually has a difference of over 15% in terms of distance when flown via Houston and Tokyo.
More important than the miles, however, is the very real chance that your plane will leave without you while you’re on your flight. So even though you are booked on flights number 90 from LA to Tel Aviv and are somewhere over Pennsylvania trying to get a landing slot at Newark, flight number 90 from Newark to Tel Aviv can depart without you. And it happens with some frequency thanks to the miserable delays that airlines experience these days.
JetBlue announced a new direct route this morning with a twist. They are now offering same-plane through service from New York to Bogota, scheduled to start at the end of January ‘09. I’m not sure if they have the same flight number or not, and the miles don’t really matter as JetBlue credits points based on the start and end points rather than intermediate segments for all their trips. The interesting part of this flight to me is the layover time at the connection point in Orlando. The flight is scheduled to stop for 1:45 on the southbound routing, which is a long time to wait in the Orlando airport. Even worse, however, is the 90 minute stop on the north-bound flight where passengers will have to pass through immigration, customs and TSA screenings while in Orlando. Passengers arriving in the USA from Colombia and connecting on to NYC have a pretty good chance of spending their 90 minutes in various lines and then spending some additional time in Orlando while they try to find seats on the next available flight to NYC. I wish them luck. They’re going to need it.
Posted by Seth on October 13, 2008 under Uncategorized |
After struggling to get their international routes launched (BLR-SFO) and profitable (BLR-LHR), and facing off with the Indian aviation authorities on the routes served, it looks like Kingfisher will now partner in some way with Jet Airways in order to survive.
Kingfisher recently balked on the purchase of the five Airbus 340-500 planes that they were going to use for their non-stop operations to the United States, so that’s off the table. And they’ve run in to trouble with the locals on operating less profitable, public service routes that Indian carriers are required to do. Plus, Jet and Kingfisher are also both still dealing with previous mergers within India.
There is no indication on what this will do to the current alliances that the carriers are working towards (Kingfisher seems to be moving towards SkyTeam and Jet Airways seems to partner with just about everyone). And there has been no equity exchange at this point between the two carriers.
More info here.
