Flying with Fish recently had a very interesting article on airport codes. He shared some very interesting airport codes from CIA to SUX. Airport codes fascinate me. I even made a joke about them in my post – 10 signs you know you fly too much. How many of you reading this article refer to cities by their airport codes rather than their names, especially in conversations not related to travel? I have found that I have stopped writing city names when I write. New York is NYC, London is …

A few months ago I was at Washington Dulles (IAD) airport and took this picture of an Air India 777. Air India made a big deal of extending their New Delhi (DEL) to New York (JFK) flight to Washington, DC (IAD). This was exciting for me as this was the first single aircraft route from Washington DC area to India, a trip I make at least once a year. With Air India planning to join Star Alliance, I was even more excited, as we could now earn and redeem my …

During a series of trips I made up and down the west coast over the last two weeks, I ended up mostly in small, I mean very small Regional Jets. … For an airline, especially a regional airline like Mesa flying short thin routes (as opposed to long, thin routes), regional jets are an appropriate vehicle.

The Federal Government has decided to regulate how much time an airline can have a airplane full of passengers wait on the tarmac. In all the years I have flown, the worst tarmac wait I have had has been around an hour. But, we have all heard of the ridiculously long waits some passengers have had to endure. What is it? 6 hours with no food or air conditioning on a JetBlue plane in New York. I am sure the government will do an absolutely fabulous job at regulating tarmac …

The ‘Chosen One’ has chosen his mode of air travel. He is partnering with Sir Branson and his airline – Virgin Atlantic. Did Harry Potter finally decide to hang up his dusty broom in favor of jet travel? Is Sir Branson not afraid of getting in the bad books of ‘He-who-must-not-be-named’?
I think having the new Harry Potter theme park logo on Virgin Atlantic’s 747 livery is way cool. Here are some photos form Virgin Atlantic’s Facebook page. More photos can be found here on Flickr.

The Harry Potter theme park – …

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to fly in a United 767-300, International Configuration. It was a short domestic flight, but it was serviced by a 3-class International Configuration aircraft. The final destination after the domestic hop, I understand, was Zurich. I have travelled in large United twin-aisle planes domestically before. But they have always been 777s, with the old configuration or domestic 2-class 767s. This was a first for me. Another first for me was sitting in a rear facing seat. I have been in International Business class …

Different airline have given their aircraft interesting livery for different reasons. They may add unique livery to:

Advertise – the Alliance they are a part of.
Promote – such as Alaska Airlines promoting Wildlife in Alaska or Continental promoting New York City a few years ago.
Advertise – like Southwest and the plane for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue
Show support for a home town – like US Airways has a Carolina Panthers aircraft
or just be unique.

There are many instances of airline painting their aircraft in unique schemes. Southwest has a plane painted up …

This is a question I am often asked:

Are Airline Miles taxable?
It is a legitimate question. Airline Miles are an asset. They do have value. You can redeem them for something else of value. You can even split them up in a divorce. The question of taxation of airline miles as Income becomes even more concerning if you are earning miles for trips pain for by your employer. After all, you are then earning the miles on your employers dime (and time) and are earning them while performing your duties towards …