As a Mets fan, I am disappointed that Delta is also the official airline of that “other team.” (Especially after that horrid subway series!) 
Archive for the 'Random' Category
I love Microsoft PowerToys, as they add nice little features for free, and I just stumbled upon one that I think is very useful for airplane and travel geeks. I’ve encountered loads of pictures of aircraft, airports, and beautiful destinations that make for excellent desktop backgrounds. To be honest, it’s kind of hard to pick one!
Luckily, I found the Wallpaper Changer PowerToy yesterday, and it’s very easy to use. Fill up a folder with pictures you want to use as backgrounds, set how often you want it to change, and you’re all set. Right now I have 11 backgrounds set up, and the wallpaper will change every 15 minutes.
You can find it here.
Found this one via my friend Chris. This offer comes from the Renaissance Concourse in Atlanta:
Discover how thrilling the hobby of airplane watching really is at the nation’s busiest airport with the “Just ‘Plane’ Fun” aviator weekend getaway. The Renaissance Concourse Hotel, located at Hartsfield Jackson Airport is now offering an amazing package for those who enjoy airplane watching.
This offer includes:
• Deluxe guest room with balcony overlooking the runways
• Signature appetizer and soft drinks for two in the Concorde Lounge
• Aviator Academy “Flight Kit” which includes a runway map and airplane specification guide
Well, it’s a unique offer, but I love the idea! More details here.
What a great trip. Really relaxing! I’ll have more details up later this week, but here are some random thoughts:
- My noise canceling headphones (just bought a second pair to replace the broken first), the Sennheiser PXC-250s, provide a great bang for the buck, in my opinion. But while very effective at dealing with engine noise, they seem ineffective at the wails of screaming children.
- PVD’s recent renovations are fantastic.
- 757 jet blast can hurt.
- The TSA can be annoying.
- Based on the check-in line in FLL, Southwest is either attracting passengers who don’t want to pay bag fees, or is kissing away lots of revenue by not charging bag fees.
I was reading Michael Boyd’s weekly column yesterday, and it announced that the Boyd Group was launching AirportSnapshot.com, which uses the same data as company’s Airports:USA product, but just has fewer capabilities since it is a complimentary service. Even though it is limited, the site has a lot of great stuff, especially when one considers that it’s free. Very interesting to play around with, for sure. Registration is required.
Well earlier today I finished my last final exam, and my freshman year is officially over! It’s great to finally see summer here, and I hope that it can open up some more time for blogging. But I think this summer will have some cool things to write about. I’ll be going on vacation in a little less than two weeks, and will have a full trip report, and I’ll be going to a few conferences.
Anyway, it feels great to be done!
Usually, I am a very unlucky person when it comes to games of chance. I think the last time I won some kind of contest was about ten years ago, when I won a copy of a Carmen Sandiego game (a great series, that may have very well contributed to my interest in travel).
But, today my luck changed, as I was the first winner in Simpliflying’s “Tweepitition,” and I won an autographed copy of Flying High in a Competitive Industry: Secrets of the World’s Leading Airline, which is about Singapore Airlines. I can’t wait to read it! (I do have a list of things I want to read this summer, and hopefully will have some reviews to post here.)
So, many thanks to Shashank Nigam of Simpliflying for putting this on. The contest is still going on, and there are more books and an iPod shuffle to be won! Click the graphic below to learn more.
(Thanks to Shashank for making the graphic.)
…when looking at numbers from this year.
Maybe I’m the only one (please let me know if that’s the case ), but I think it’s important to distinguish between the troubles the industry has had this year and last year, as I think the two situations have some important differences.
Last year, the industry faced major cost pressures due to rising oil prices. As a result, the carriers pushed through a good number of fare increases. This year, oil is back down, but now the industry is facing revenue troubles due to weak demand.
Of course, both of these things have a negative effect on profits, but I think it might be something important to consider when comparing RASM from this year to 2008.
I have to thank my friend Kyle for sending this over to me. Every now and then, bloggers have just hilariously-written travel stories. In this case, the author was flying United, and the airline lost his bag. Now, the author did make the experience harder for himself as he left his car keys in said lost luggage, but some of the writing is just hilarious. For example:
…I wait hopelessly by the phone like a girl who puts out on the first date, for that call from United that will never come (traveler’s tip #438: when they try to take your roll-on bag at the ramp, go ahead and dump it in the trash can, because destroying the contents yourself at least preserves a modicum of dignity).
The author compares his experience to parenting, and notes that yelling at his children isn’t always effective, but providing incentives can work very well:
So how about this with the airlines. Instead of paying them the full amount right up front, we pay them 90 percent of the fare. The remaining 10 percent comes due once we have all our belongings in hand. I wonder if then it will occur to someone at United to start using those little sticky bar codes to track luggage, the way UPS tracks boxes. Or give ground crews bonuses based on luggage successfully delivered. Or, who knows, to simply start acting like they care when they lose a man’s luggage.
The idea about paying part of the fare, while unpractical, is both interesting and funny. But this story does make me think of bag fees. These have been added with no benefit to the customer. At all. My logic is that if the airline is going to charge $15 for the bag, it should get there on time. At least Alaska has added on “perk” to their fee by offering a voucher or miles if the bag doesn’t arrive promptly.
Here at Things In the Sky, we (okay, I), like to keep you informed with the most cutting-edge industry data, and here’s our (fine, my) latest valiant effort.
In all honesty, I hate the word synergy with a burning passion. Yes, it has its uses, but it has been completely overused, making it devoid of meaning. Personally, I think Delta has used this word way too often in regards to its merger with Northwest, so I decided to figure out how many times synergy and its forms (synergies, synergize, etc.) were used by executives, analysts, etc. in recent earnings calls (and there was one call dedicated to the merger itself). Thanks to SeekingAlpha.com transcripts, it was easy to figure it out.
Usage peaked during the second quarter call, at 37, though usage has increased (albeit slowly) of late.
There, now you all have some fresh random, useless knowledge. You’re welcome.
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