Posted by Seth on January 27, 2010 under News, Trip Reports, frequent flyer, media coverage | 
Back in November when me and 220 other aerophiles were jetting around in a chartered Boeing 757-300 there were a couple reporters along for the ride. They each focused on different aspects of why all all of us were there and what motivates us to travel as much as we do. Some of them got it and some of them most certainly did not. But none of them managed to relay the story quite as eloquently as Greg Lindsay, writing in the February 2010 issue of Condé Nast Traveler magazine.
His article, Triumph of the Air Warriors captures the spirit of that specific trip as well as the joy that many frequent flyers find in hunting down deals, identifying loopholes and otherwise fighting back just a little bit against a system that is decidedly stacked against the customer.
"I call it Airworld," Bingham says in the novel by Walter Kirn on which [Up in the Air] is based. "The scene, the place, the style. . . . Airworld is a nation within a nation, with its own language, architecture, mood, and even its own currency—the token economy of airline bonus miles that I’ve come to value more than dollars. Inflation doesn’t degrade them. They’re not taxed. They’re private property in its purest form."
For you, Airworld is the nowhere you pass through on your way to a meeting or a vacation. It’s the series of tubes from security to your gate, and to the rental car lots, chain hotels, and fast-casual restaurants. At every stop, if you’re savvy, you earn precious miles. American Airlines launched the first frequent-flier program almost 30 years ago on a lark; United followed suit a week later. Therein lies the tale—and many free trips to Hawaii. These led to real-life Clooneys endlessly chasing miles—and who knows what else.
And that’s what it is for me. The chase of the miles. The hunt for bargains. The chase for new cities, airlines, aircraft or just random trips that I’m just crazy enough to take. Lindsay spoke with a couple dozen “Air Warriors” – residents of AirWorld – about their adventures. And the stories we tell are full of frivolity, challenges and conquests. From one guy’s tale of his earliest memory – falling down the stairs of a 747 as a three year old – to a story of a mass revolution against an airline’s declining product quality, the stories are great reads.
Plus, I’m quoted a few times in the article; I’m sure that contributes to my appreciation of it.
You can read it here (http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/502250) or pick up a copy on the newsstands. The print version has a pretty awesome photo, too.
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Posted by Seth on January 26, 2010 under News |
There has been quite a bit of reporting on the new Air New Zealand economy product that will be offered on their Boeing 777-300s and 787 Dreamliner planes that they will be taking delivery of starting later in 2010. The idea makes a lot of sense. Lie-flat seating is great but most folks cannot afford the cost of a business or first class seat. Buying (or hoping to get) multiple coach seats has often worked but even still the experience wasn’t incredibly comfortable. Air New Zealand is looking to both monetize that demand and also improve the quality of the experience.
The SkyCouch will work by having a leg-rest that rises up to a fully horizontal surface, effectively extending the seat cushion to completely fill the space between the seat-backs
In addition, they’ve designed the seats so that the armrests retract fully up into the seats rather than jutting out a bit like most current models do. Overall it should be a rather comfortable option.
As long as you aren’t all that tall.
With the layout of the cabin Air New Zealand cannot make the seats particularly wide. They will almost certainly be about the same width as the current 777 seats and possibly even narrower for the 787 seats. That means the average length of the couch is going to be about 66 inches. And figure about 30 inchs wide on the “couch” based on an average seat pitch of 32 inches and needing to account for the thickness of the seat back. That is bigger than many business class seats – definitely wider – but it also has some serious limits. There is a wall on one side and the aisle on the other. Folks who don’t curl up will end up with their legs sticking out into the aisle. And getting two people into a 30” wide bed is a lot more cozy than I recall of my experiences in a single bed (39” x 75”) freshman year in college.
Looking at the photo from the ANZ marketing group I have to wonder how tall those models are and just how much his neck would hurt after sleeping for any extended period of time in that position.
Don’t get me wrong – lie-flat coach is great. I got to experience it last night on a Seattle – Newark flight and I slept like a baby and was mostly functional upon arrival this morning. I’m just not sure that the premium that ANZ will be charging – estimated at an extra 50% for the extra space – is really going to make sense. Especially when folks keep sticking their legs out into the aisle and getting awakened as the carts or other passengers pass by.
Some additional coverage of the new product can be found here:
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Posted by Seth on January 24, 2010 under Trip Reports |
Standing underneath the wing of a 747-800F on the assembly line is an incredibly humbling experience. The plane is simply enormous in a way that being inside it or seeing it from the terminal simply doesn’t convey. But there we were, a group of about 20 aerophiles and a couple of Boeing employees, wandering across the factory floor of the wide-body assembly plant in Everett, Washington. It was phenomenal!
I was quite fortunate to be invited along on this behind-the-scenes event. We spent a full day touring the main assembly lines in the Seattle area, both the narrow-body facility in Renton and the wide-body facility in Everett. We were accompanied by engineers from Boeing rather than regular tour guides and we were able to ask random nitty-gritty detail questions. Oh, and were close enough to touch the planes in some cases.
Our morning consisted of a tour of the 737 assembly line in Renton, Washington. The line isn’t open to regular tours so getting inside was a special treat. We got to see planes at various stages of the 11-day final assembly cycle, from fuselage arrival to wing joining to interior fitting to rolling out the door for painting and first flight. The fuselages arrive on rail cars and are transferred into the assembly building. Two weeks later they roll out the other end as fully assembled airplanes.
Every plane in the factory is marked with its registration number – N1786B – so that it is ready to fly when it is completed. But they are all the same registration, something that is rather unusual. Boeing can do this because the planes fly only once with that registration number. The destination of that first flight is the paint shop a few miles away where the fuselage is repainted into the customer’s livery and the new registration number is applied.
A number of mementos from the history of the assembly facility are on display throughout the factory. It has a rather impressive history – over 60 years of assembly across a number of product lines – and the stories relayed by the memorabilia are wonderful. My favorite was the737 wingtip on the wall. It was a segment of wing about 18 inches long painted in the familiar colors of the Southwest livery and it sticks off the wall with a plaque underneath:
Dear Boeing:
Thanks for the new winglets. We don’t need this anymore.
Love,
Southwest Airlines
A cool souvenir celebrating the end of their winglet conversion project.
The second half of the day was spent on the ground in Everett, site of the wide-body assembly plant that Boeing operates. They build the 747s, 767s, 777s and 787s in Everett and the assembly lines are running around the clock these days on all the lines. Obviously much of the focus is on the Dreamliner but the 777 line is still cranking out new deliveries and the 747-800 line is working quickly towards having the first production aircraft ready for delivery. Our tour was very different than the one given to the public (that I took back in March). Rather than looking down on the assembly line from a platform six floor up we were down on the ground, walking amongst the planes so close that we could reach out and touch them. It was awesome.
The size of the planes is hard to appreciate when in them. I’m sitting in a 737-900ER as I type this and I have some concept of how big it is. But seeing it from the ground changes the perspective immensely. Even the two engines of one wing of the 747-8, two engines that are exactly the same, look to be much different sizes because of the perspective from which they are viewed on the ground. In reality they are both enormous.
Our tour included things like watching the wings be riveted together and sealed, landing gear tests of the 777 (they put the plane on jacks and drop the floor out from under it so the gear can swing) and a deployed ram air turbine (RAT) engine. The RAT is an emergency generator that deploys when the aircraft loses engine power. It is basically fan that generates power from the air rushing by as the plane glides. It can provide enough poser to keep the avionics and other critical cockpit systems operating while the pilots get the engines running again. Just seeing it is one thing. Getting to hear the stories of the design and testing of the system from the engineer who worked the certification flight was top-notch. It takes a special amount of faith in your design, engineering and manufacturing group to be willing to get in an airplane, climb to altitude and then cut the engine and hope that the backup system kicks in. But this guy did it and had a great story to tell.
We say about 30 different wide-body aircraft for a dozen different carriers in various stages of assembly – all in the same building. It isn’t surprising that bicycles are the preferred means of conveyance in the factory; the spaces to cover are too great for walking all the time.
Of course, like any good tour, we finished up in the gift shop. No complaints there, however, as they have all sorts of cool aero-geek toys to play with.
A special thanks to the guys who organized the event and invited me along; I hope I made the cut to be asked back for next year.
Posted by Seth on January 6, 2010 under Trip Reports |
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| Happy New Years from Barcelona! |
I’m a bit late in getting to my year-end summary of travel this year because, well, I was traveling. No sense wasting part of a wonderful vacation in Barcelona trying to figure out the details of my year in review when there was so much delicious food to be had and beautiful sights to be seen. But I’m back now and finally had a chance to update my records with the flights from last year and take a look at just how much I did. The numbers are pretty astounding to me.
My travels in 2009 were, by far, the most extensive I’ve ever had. There was more of just about everything. And it was a ton of fun. I visited more countries – 20 – than I’ve ever visited in a year. I actually doubled my previous high of 10. Even more exciting for me is that of the 20, 12 were new to me.
I flew on 25 different airlines (more if you count the various express operators out there), from the largest in the world to some of the smallest.
I flew on 34 different aircraft types, ranging in size from 6 seats to 350ish. I got on every jet type that Boeing currently has flying (I think – 717, 737 Classic, 737 NG, 747, 757, 767, 777) and most of the Airbus (A300, A318, A319, A320, A321, A330, A340) and Embrear (E140, E145, E170, E190) options, too. There were other aircraft, including random props and a few flights on a Gulfstream G IV.
I flew a total of 180,752 miles, give or take a few. I spent almost 17 days in the air and flew about three quarters of the way to the moon or just over seven times around the earth. That bests my previous annual high by over 50%.
Most amazing to me, however, was the number of new (to me) routes I flew this past year. I flew 126 flights in the year. Of those, 70 of them were on routes I had not previously flown. A full 55% of my flights were on new routes. Considering that I managed to make it home from every trip that seems rather amazing to me.
I also redeemed more miles than ever last year – over 500,000 in total. That covered a number of trips, many in the pointy end of the plane and all of them across oceans. Some of my accounts are looking a bit anemic right now but I’ve got plans to solve that problem pretty quickly.
The best part is that I’ve already started to count up for 2010. A couple countries, several new routes and a bunch of miles have already been logged. Plus, I’ve got trips booked through April so far covering lots more routes and miles.
Posted by Seth on December 15, 2009 under 1232, 1522, News |
Sweet. Really, really awesome. That was really beautiful to watch.
Not much else to add – there is plenty to still be done before the Dreamliner enters into commercial service – but it is always fun to see the technology of flight advance.
Posted by Seth on December 8, 2009 under News |
Wrapping up a six-month long RFP process, United Airlines announced this morning firm orders for 50 new wide-body aircraft and options on 100 additional planes. The order is split right down the middle between Airbus and Boeing, with the initial selection of the A350-900 and the B787-8 types. While it seems that such an order might be a function of inability to decide which single type is better for the carrier, United sees it a smart compromise, being able to choose the right-sized aircraft for the particular destination at hand and that the numbers from taking that approach are better than a single aircraft type.
Right-sizing the fleet
The most striking number from the new order appears to be the average plane size. Specifically, these planes are a lot smaller than the ones they are replacing. Even if United keeps the same frequencies on all of their current routes they will be drawing down passenger capacity by about 19% as these planes are smaller than the ones they are replacing. And there will be similar cargo reductions as well. Cargo capacity on a route-specific basis is a significant contributor to profitability so that all has an impact. The executives answering questions this morning suggest that such limitations will be overcome by offering direct flights to more destinations rather than connecting passengers and cargo through hubs and stops along the way, though no specific destinations or routes were discussed. The executives also suggested that they are planning for “capacity discipline” (an oft-repeated term) for the down cycles in the industry rather than the upswings.
Is this a short-sighted move? Certainly having an airline planning for max capacity at the highest peak makes no sense. After all, the industry rarely spends extended amounts of time in that position. But planning to build an airline that is right sized at the bottom of the market seems to lack a bit of foresight and optimism. It certainly doesn’t seem like a growth strategy.
Delivery Dates
United expects to take delivery of the initial order of planes starting in 2016 and extending through 2019. The 2016 date is an interesting one. The 50 new planes are expected to come online over a four year period starting seven years from now. Why commit now to such an order so far out? Apparently because Boeing and Airbus were willing to make some deals during the downturn in the economy. United felt that the time was right to negotiate on these deals and to commit to them. The actual cash outlay numbers are pretty low – only $60MM over the next 3 years and $152MM over the next 5 – so the initial commitment isn’t all that significant. And they were also able to negotiate “significant deferral flexibility and substitution rights” on the orders so there does seem to be some upside to the move today. It also commits them to actually making the move, something that is good for the company in the long run. With the minimal initial cash outlay and the backstop financing that they received from both carriers they should be on reasonably solid ground in that regard.
Costs and Savings
One of the more interesting numbers shared in the conference call was $400MM. That is the amount that United estimates they would save annually on fuel if they flew the existing 767 and 747 routes with 787s and A350s. That is a lot of money to save and demonstrates just how significant the efficiencies of the newer aircraft are. But it also belies the fact that the newer planes will carry 19% fewer passengers. The cost savings are nice but there are going to be some inherent revenue losses as well so that does not necessarily translate over directly to the bottom line.
From a pilot contract perspective the new fleet-types are covered under the existing contract through a clause that mathematically figures the new rates for those pilots. That being said, the deliveries are not going to start until 2016 so there is plenty of time for future negotiations to happen.
One significant open question is how the planes will be configured. Currently there are a number of 767s and 777s (which these new planes are also eventually going to replace) configured for domestic service. They are mostly used between the hubs and for service to Hawaii. There is no real indication as to whether some of the new birds will also be pressed into domestic service and as of now the folks in the PR office don’t have an answer to that question.
In the mean time, it seems reasonable to express cautious optimism when looking at United’s plans. New planes are good and having more of them (potentially 150 versus ~90 wide bodies today) is also good. Of course, they are smaller and the airline seems to be planning in a retrenchment mode rather than a growth mode which seems to belie the mantra of longer, thinner routes so who knows.
Posted by Seth on December 8, 2009 under News |
Back when Delta acquired Northwest Airlines one of the interesting discussions was about their fleet. Specifically they had very little fleet commonality. On the plus side, such an arrangement allowed them to integrate their pilots pretty easily since no one was too much at risk of losing a job to someone from the other side. On the down side, however, it raised all sorts of questions about the future of the fleet, which planes would be retired and which new planes would be joining the fleet.
Northwest was to be the North American launch customer for the 787 Dreamliner. I even saw one on the assembly line back in March with the Northwest logo on the bit of the tail that was already painted. And officially they still are such. But since the acquisition closed earlier this summer those plans have been put into a bit of limbo.
That was magnified this week when the carrier’s CFO, Hank Halter, suggested that the carrier is not interested in adding any more new aircraft orders to their fleet plans. That might not be huge news or even count the 18 pending 787 deliveries out, but there are some other bits that suggest the Dreamliner may not fly anytime soon with a widget on the tail.
In a recent regulatory filing Delta didn’t include the 787s in their fleet plan through 2012. Even the most pessimistic folks I know don’t think that the 787 delays will stretch that long. Executives have also repeatedly stated that the current 777 fleet can meet the carrier’s needs and also that they have not allocated capital for the acquisition of the Dreamliners previously ordered by Northwest.
Those orders supposedly can be converted to 777 orders so maybe that’s the way Delta will go. With all the delays and then the consolidation it isn’t too surprising that Delta is willing to walk away from those aircraft right now. What will Boeing do with the delivery slots? Hard to say. I’m sure there are some customers who are quite anxious to get a few now planes in their fleet sooner than not so they’ll most likely find a home. But not with Delta. At least that doesn’t seem likely right now.
Posted by Seth on December 1, 2009 under News |
Following a month in the shop at Hong Kong, Continental’s first Boeing 777-200 to be painted in the Star Alliance livery scheme arrived in Newark today, completing its first revenue flight in the new colors. This is the second plane to be done up in the new livery, following on the heels of a 757-200 that was painted in advance of the party celebrating Continental joining the alliance at the end of October.
The somewhat disappointing news for Continental passengers is that the plane, N78017 aka Ship #17, did not also receive the new lie-flat seats in its BusinessFirst cabin while in for the paint job. It apparently has to do with needing a delay in final certification of the first plane flying around with the seats before the others can be converted. The good news is that another plane, Ship #15, rolled into the maintenance hangar and is being fitted with the new seats now.
Speaking of the new seats and 757s, word is that the first 757-200 to receive the lie-flat BusinessFirst seats is also being worked on right now, with a hopeful return-to-service date of prior to Christmas. It is Ship #133, aka N17133, and it is currently undergoing the refit in Houston.
Good stuff!
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Posted by Seth on November 10, 2009 under Trip Reports |
As part of the Star Alliance Mega Do event last week just over 200 of us chartered a 757-300 to fly around Europe for the day. One of the stops was a visit to the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France. Yup, we showed up at Airbus in a Boeing. It was all we could get our hands on that would have enough seats and be at the right price.
And what an arrival it was. Rather than just show up and land like most folks would, our cabin crew decided to buzz the tower. Call it a missed approach, a fly-by or whatever else you want. We were 20 feet off the ground for the full length of runway 32L – several thousand feet. The atmosphere in the cabin was downright euphoric. Hoots and hollers of excitement.
And the view from the cockpit was amazing. Fortunately a friend was sitting there and had the foresight to take a video of the pass. It is awesome!
Posted by Seth on November 2, 2009 under Trip Reports |
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| GoJet CRJ-700 N153GJ operating as United Express, my ride to Chicago, with a Continental 737 in the background |
When the concept of the “Star Alliance Mega Do” was first proposed I was immediately enamored with it. I also thought that there was no way the organizers were going to be able to pull it off. Private tours for 200+ people with behind the scenes access to airlines, airplane manufacturers and airports seem pretty ridiculous to arrange. Add into the mix a privately chartered Boeing 757-300 and traversing six different airports over 4 days and the whole thing seemed like a pipe dream. Yet here I am, flying to Chicago to meet up with many of those 200 to start this week long event. It is really happening.
The itinerary is somewhat crazy. Day one includes a tour with United Airlines at O’Hare in the morning followed by a flight to Newark to meet up with Continental and more tours. Then a bus ride to JFK and more celebrating before approximately 100 folks climb aboard Lufthansa’s flight 405 with service to Frankfurt. Day two is a tour of Lufthansa facilities for many and a select few – including me!! – get to participate in some of the training activities that the Lufthansa flight attendants go through. Oh, and dinner with executives from Star Alliance and Lufthansa. Day three has the whole group flying on the chartered 757-300 to Oslo to meet with SAS and pick up more aerophiles joining the fun. Then onward to Toulouse for the main event: a tour of the Airbus facilities where the A380 is manufactured. Day four is more tours of Lufthansa in Frankfurt.
It is exhausting just describing the schedule.
There were two different contests held to give away seats on the flights, generating over 100,000 entries. Yeah, people are really excited by this event. And I cannot blame them at all. Flying on specially chartered planes with custom catering, special themes and access to facilities and people that normally don’t open their doors up to some crazy guy who loves flying, much less me AND 200 of my friends. This is going to be one crazy week.
I’ll be posting more about it here throughout the week as well as on my Twitter @WanderngAramean. You can also follow along at www.StarMegaDo.com or at twitter.com/StarMegaDo to share in the experience.
Posted by Seth on October 13, 2009 under Internet |
After a lot of speculation over the past couple weeks, Lufthansa has made it official: they’re bringing in-flight internet connectivity back to their long-haul fleet. And this isn’t just the old Connexion service pressed back into service. It is going to be bigger and better than that.
The new service will offer a 1 megabit internet connection to be shared by the passengers (slower than that provided by Aircell’s gogo service). It will also provide access to GSM/GRPS data streams, facilitating SMS and MMS messaging as well as internet browsing on mobile phones. From the announcement:
FlyNet is impressively user-friendly. Passengers with a WLAN or GSM/GPRS-compatible device can log on from any point in the aircraft cabin, just like at any public hotspot. Depending on the device they are using (i.e. a laptop, mobile phone or a smart phone), passengers can choose to be billed via a mobile service provider or pay by credit card. Various different price models are planned – ranging from a rate by the hour to a monthly flat rate. Passengers should also be able to redeem Miles & More award miles for the use of WLAN Internet connections. The exact price for specific products will be announced at a later date. The service will gradually become available on all Lufthansa’s long-haul flights worldwide.
So it’ll be the middle of next year before it is readily available, but the service is definitely coming. Now it just remains to be seen if they can offer it at a price point that allows it to survive. The terrestrial services seem to be suffering there and it isn’t clear that the satellite services are going to fare any better. But we can hope.
