In addition to aftershocks, to death, injury, and missing friends and relatives, the country now has to contend with nuclear fallout, frigid temperatures, blackouts, and a dearth of food and gasoline. The pictures are ubiquitous and haunting – workers in radiation-proof suits, cracked and damaged cities, cargo containers that normally fit on the backs’ of semi trucks scattered like pieces of Lego – speaking powerfully of a continuing ruin, and desperate need.

If you have the means, please consider donating to an aid/relief organization, or charity. It’s not a demand, an order, or even a request, and I will never say one has to donate – but merely a consideration.

As travelers, Japan has been so good to many of us – a place of wonderful, rich culture, art, delectable food, searing sensory experiences of electronic-light matched with  and consistent kindness – a country where I had been walked to a hotel by kindly bystanders sensing my need for directions, and where in Shinjuku, looking at a posted city map that someone had originally marred with graffiti, someone else had come by afterward with a Sharpie, and redrawn the city map over the splotches. the For me, personally, Tokyo is my second favorite city on Earth.

I want to see the country return to a place where citizens and visitors feel safe again.

Moreover, Japan has been generous with its aid donations – to the US during Hurricane Katrina, to Haiti, and to New Zealand, during the recent Christchurch earthquake.

There exist a plethora of charities/organizations to donate that are in-line with various personal belief systems and aims. Salon.com has published a fantastic and inclusive list - that includes an eclectic array of options from The Red Cross to Lady Gaga. The always-innovative and good-hearted Tampa Bay Rays bullpen-hopeful Dirk Hayhurst will even give you a call via Skype to chat for a donation of 50 dollars or more to The Mercy Corp.

Whatever your preference, whatever your persuasion, there’s an island nation that is in need. Please consider helping if you can.

And, yes – this post is the first, and most likely last, piece of celebrity gossip on WAAP. Thank goodness.

Oh, and yes – it involves British Airways. That bit is much too funny, as well.

His e-mail:

So I was reading, as I typically do most mornings accompanied by my trusty basset hound, monocle, and smoking jacket, the daily chronicle of the New York Times when I noticed this classic tidbit about Prince William and his new bride: [Find the article here. -Ed].

“By contrast, Miss Middleton, who grew up in Bucklebury, Berkshire, is considered solidly middle class by British standards.

Her father is a former British Airways officer and her mother a former flight attendant; together, they run a successful mail-order business that sells paraphernalia for children’s parties.

…

Mrs. Middleton was said to have blatantly chewed gum and used unaristocratic words like “toilet” and “pardon” in front of the queen, and some of William’s friends were said to mutter, “doors to manual” when Miss Middleton came into the room, a reference to her mother’s prior career.”

Doors to manual! Now there is some snooty, stiff upper lip British humor for ya! I had to send this to you because I found an airline-related anecdote in a ridiculous story about a royal engagement, figured it might be blog-worthy. I mean, if the future Queen of England is the daughter of a flight attendant, one would think they would at least get some more respect on FlyerTalk?

ENDIT

Ha!

Well, we still don’t have an answer to that one. But – in an e-mail, this morning, United has provided a few answers about the world of Mileage Plus top-tier elite status in the post-merger world, with some benefits kicking of in just a few months, in 2011.

In the months and months of interminable speculation and questions worthy of a Greek philosophy text that have been omnipresent on FlyerTalk and, high-mileage flyers of both airlines have wondered most about how United and Continental would reconcile their own top-tier elite statuses, 1K, and Platinum, respectively, that have differing mileage levels for qualification (100,000 and 75,000 respectively). Flyers posited that the new United might create a new elite status tier, or normalize top-tier elite qualification to the 75,000 mile level, leaving many current 1K members grumbling that their extra 25,000 miles of flying was suddenly for naught.

And, again – there does not exist too much explicit information in those specific areas, but like morning mist beginning to clear on a verdant mountain terrain, United has outlined some specifics, in another major area of anxiety for flyers: upgrade procedure and priority, and specific upgrade instrument earning.

Here’s the rundown:

In 2011, fly and earn unlimited Regional Upgrades
Earn two Regional Upgrades at 75,000 EQM or 90 EQS, and two more at every 25,000 EQM/30 EQS after that – with no limit to how many you can earn throughout the year. This replaces today’s system of earning Regional Upgrades each quarter, which was capped at eight per year.

My Take: Ehhhhhhhhh . . . a trifle misleading. United already caused a bit of a kerfuffle earlier this year, upon introducing its Unlimited Domestic Upgrades, and temporarily removing confirmed regional upgrades (CR-1) as a possible upgrade instrument, which 1Ks earned with every 10,000 miles of flying, capped, as stated above at two CR-1s per quarter of the year. Now, suddenly, we’ve gone to “unlimited” with a major asterisk, and fine print akin to car advertisements, that one needs to log 75K of flying before garnering the two little precious upgrade instruments, and another 75K to grab six more, to match the eight CR-1s that United delivered for a mere 80,000 miles of flying over the year. Now, one needs to fly 150,000 miles just for the eight total upgrades – and, golly gee, with every other 25K after that, can earn two more.

But – according to the above website, it seems that anyone can earn these regional upgrades, now – not just 1Ks, for whom they had been previously reserved. Now, even a Premier member, who is working to log many miles, at least has extra incentive

Bottom line – it’s a lot of flying for regional upgrades now. It’s one of those devious/sneaky/pretty smart marketing moves – sure . . . annnnnnny elite member can earn regional upgrades, but they ain’t just handing ‘em out to elites, now – United’s going to make flyers really go for it, and fly a minimum of 75,000 miles just for the privilege. I guess it’s a true reward for loyalty. Plus, the website mentions p.s. flights, which means that p.s. isn’t going anywhere, at least, I’m guessing, for the next two years.

In 2011, changes to 1K® qualification
The number of EQS needed to qualify for 2012 1K status will be increased to 120; the number of EQM will remain at 100,000. However, you will receive your six Systemwide Upgrades as soon as you reach the 100,000 EQM or 120 EQS threshold, rather than having to wait until the beginning of the next year.

My Take: Ouch, for those who made 1K on segments, that hurts. The systemwide upgrades stay, with United giving flyers a bit more flexibility to use the upgrades earlier (and thus, get rid of them earlier, make them expire earlier, and perhaps boost some higher-fare class purchasing to use the systemwides). In the past, United has offered an early deposit option for systemwide upgrades for those who have already requalified for 1K, and want to throw their upgrades at a future trip pronto.

In 2012, a new upgrade priority
Members at 75,000 EQM or 90 EQS can look forward to upgrade priority over lower-earning members.

My Take: We advance to some point way in the future, here, where United offers its first hint of how the differing 100K/75K levels might play when the two airlines are fully operating as one. If one takes a peek at the website for more description, it becomes clear that United is referring to Premier Executive members who earned 75,000+ miles in the previous year (2011), and essentially, creating a new level of upgrade priority for mid-tier elites. Now, before 1Ks have smoke billow out their ears, United also states that 1Ks, will still retain the highest upgrade priority (pretty obvious, but when frequent flying is so attached to fragile egos, it’s good to have a reminder).

Moreover, I wonder, with the focus on this 75K level, and a new upgrade priority (which further divides Premier Executive members, who flew fewer than 75K miles with those who flew more, but fewer than 100K), means that Continental’s prior 75K level of top-tier status will soon be abolished, and United will fully focus on top-tier elite status at 100,000 miles. This 75K bonus, is, perhaps, a way of placating those who were previous Continental top-tiers, but who have not reached the United level, an attempt at less-painful integration of the prior Platinum level. Moreover, frequent flyers, too, had been worried about upgrade priority of 100K vs. 75K flyers, and in 2012, there emerges an answer. But, man, I do not look forward to the further divisiveness of Premier Executive, and those jockying for superiority because one flew 80,000 miles versus just 55,000. Just another thing about which to brag on FlyerTalk, I guess.

Overall, some significant changes – but, I do want to know about my 4,100 miles. I just hope Continental doesn’t nationalize their mileage plan, or something, and sell my miles to Chase, only to be told their useless, and “they’re Chase’s miles, now.”

Airlines TACA (formally, Avianca-TACA) and Copa are joining the Star Alliance, beginning sometime in mid-2012.

The move makes sense, and strongly bolsters the Star Alliance’s presence in Latin America and the Caribbean, where, prior to the announcement of Continental Airlines, an airline with a stalwart Central and South America presence,  joining Star, people had grumbled the airline alliance had been weak in this area.

Continental, since departing SkyTeam, and joining Star, had a traditi0nally stalwart Latin American presence, something United and the other major carriers of the Star Alliance lacked, except for major cities. Now, TACA, based in San Salvador, and Copa, based in Panama City, expand the Central, South America, and Caribbean markets dramatically, and, with all the benefits, mileage, and redemption opportunities that come from joining the Star Alliance, also allow nonstop flights from Latin America to Europe. Continental, the newest active Star Alliance member, as well, used to have a stake in Copa, but currently, only maintains a codeshare and mileage partnership with Continental, who no longer has any remaining ownership interest in Copa, something a basic Wikipedia and Google search demonstrates, and a fact Gary Leff gets wrong in his post at View From the Wing, who claims Continental still has a 10% stake in Copa. I was unable to confirm this information anywhere.

Star Alliance now gussies up its Latin American and Caribbean presence. Moreover, with the somewhat odd unfoldings of the will-we/won’t we hybrid airline of Lan Chile and TAM, LATAM, a meld of a the Chilean and Brazillian powerhouse international airlines, as to whether they would join the Oneworld or Star Alliance, welllllllllll, it seems as if we’re not going to see LATAM in the Star Alliance, although Live and Let Fly seems to think that TAM might stick around.

I love when new airlines join alliances – especially Star Alliance, where I have most of my miles. More options for crazy trips using frequent flyer miles is never a bad thing. Props to Avianca and Taca.

OpenSkies, the all-business-class airline, subsidiary of British Airways, that flies between Washington, Dulles (IAD) and Paris, Orly (ORY), has adjusted their evening Dulles departure time to 7.30pm, based on a recent passenger survey, according to this press release.

Previously, the five weekday departures for Orly left Dulles at 5.45pm, arriving the next day in Paris at 7.40am. The later departures will now roll up to the gate at 8.10am. The new departure time becomes effective October 31.

What a fantastic move by OpenSkies.

Mostly, it’s simply odd to see an airline listen to passengers about something so significant as a departure time. Most changes to departure times changes occur because of airline operational needs: flight consolidation, removing an airplane to use for another route, a better connection time, or financial constraints. You never, ever hear of an airline saying they actually changed a departure time because of a passenger survey. And, why not? I’m sure many passengers had a legitimate beef with the 5.45pm departure. Having been privy to some fun stretches of traffic on the DC Beltway, especially during commute times, I’m sure passengers had to leave the office around 2.30pm, or so, at times, to make the 5.45pm flight, significantly cutting work time.

And, sure, while the flying cynics/skeptics might dismiss the announcement as nothing more than press fluff, and try to ruin the good cheer by finding some other odd “actual” reason why OpenSkies actually departs later, only couched as “being customer friendly,” remember – OpenSkies only has one flight per day, and, especially at Orly, ain’t lookin’ to improve connection times or make any connections, for that matter. In fact, with an experience geared completely toward the business traveler, I can only see a passenger  grumbling at the time change if the 8.10am arrival time  causes the work day in Paris to begin a bit later, thought 8.10am, is only 30 minutes later than the original 7.40am arrival time.

Moreover, OpenSkies, truly understands the constraints of today’s economy, and the perilous existence of the all-business class airline family. In recent months, too, OpenSkies has hammered strong point that they are truly invested in a good experience, offering a satisfaction guarantee with a full refund on flights, and now, making a change based on a passenger survey. Existence has been tenuous and/or ephemeral for these all-biz class airlines, in recent years. The model of a discount-type business class carrier, with more reasonable fares and similar ground services and in-flight amenities to the “traditional” business class experience, while Most of the all business class airlines, including L’Avion, Silverjet, Eos, and MAXjet, have either folded because of financial concerns, or become absorbed into another all biz-class airlines.  OpenSkies has managed to survive (perhaps their subsidiary relationship with British Airways has helped bolster their livelihood), though the airline, itself, has cut service from New York JFK and Amsterdam. OpenSkies, however, seems to understand and anticipate changes they can make to solidify their position, and make their service model even more attractive and friendly to current and potential passengers.

Overall, it seems a really good change for passengers, essentially made, by passengers.

Many thanks to Dan Webb of “Things in the Sky” for Tweeting the good news.

Essentially, Tokyo, a vast, vast city of millions and millions of people, has two airports. The first is the somewhat ominously named “Tokyo-Narita” – ominously, because new travelers to the Japanese megatropolis often wonder just why there is the “Narita” so conspicuously attached to the name of the city they intend to visit. The airport, in actuality, exists in the city of Narita, in the Chiba prefecture, some 40 miles, or so, away from the eastern side of Tokyo. Narita is famous for its rugged inconvenience to the actual city – why there exist numerous train lines connecting the airport to the city, a traveler plays the inversely-proportional odds of convenience versus price, with the Narita Express train clocking in at about an hour from Shinjuku Station (on the western edge of the city) from the airport, and 30 bucks apiece, or the Keisei liner, which, remains more reasonably priced at about 10 dollars, but makes about 5,000 stops on its way to Tokyo for a total travel time of about an hour and 40 minutes. With the Keisei liner, the caveat exists that the 1 hour 40 minutes is the travel time to Ueno station – on the East side of the city, and can easily take another hour, or so, to head to the opposite side via another train for the popular Shinjuku area, making your travel time truly Homeric in nature. Of course, you can always take a cab to the city, which, will take about two hours, with traffic, and cost upwards of, oh, 200 dollars (no, really).

But – business travelers, casual travelers, and locals have all endured. In fact, it almost feels akin to a right of passage upon arrival in Japan to muscle your luggage on to your shoulder, form a grimace of solidarity, and with a determine shake of your head, head through the fare gates, and make the trip from Narita.

The second airport is Haneda – which, until just a few weeks ago, served mostly domestic air traffic, some international routes, and charter routes. Haneda is eons closer to the central Tokyo than Narita – just about nine miles, or so, from the southeastern side of the city. For years, the Japanese Ministry of Transport did not allow many international flights to serve Haneda, notably, flights from the US and Europe, preferring to filter almost all international traffic to Narita.

A few months ago, however, the Ministry relaxed the slot restrictions on the airport, opening a few slots for a lucky few airlines to operate US – Haneda (from Detroit, New York-JFK, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Honolulu). European service kicks off at the end of October, with Japan Airlines starting service from Paris, British Airways, from London, and unspecified slots/airlines from the Netherlands and Germany (I’d imagine Lufthansa and KLM are salivating over the potential routes). Air Canada begins service from Vancouver in early 2011.

The plethora of new routes and airlines chalking their tires at Haneda will bring a true change to Tokyo air travel. Yes, Narita will still be pinnacle of international flight traffic in Tokyo, but Haneda now offers options for those who want them. And, I bet, simply based on the convenience factor alone, many biz travelers will be switching over to the Haneda hype, and understandably so.

Haneda has even opened a new international terminal, just a few days ago, a resounded symbol of surging forward into a new era of Japanese air travel. Jaunted covered the opening of the new terminal – and, I must say, it looks spectacular, well-designed, and best of all, friendly to the public (there’s a planetarium before security, for goodness’ sake). Check out all the pictures and info, here.

The new routes are young yet, and at WAAP, we’ll keep checking into the new Haneda service as the months pass.

According to this press release, menu option numero uno includes:

“[A] quiche entree, a fresh fruit plate, a cheese plate with dried fruit, a croissant with jam, salmon over cucumber dill salad and sparkling wine. The second includes a tomato and mozzarella sandwich entree, shrimp cocktail, a cheese plate with dried fruit, Israeli couscous salad, Ghirardelli chocolate and sparkling wine.”

Here’s the pièce de résistance: both menu options sell for the low, low, price of $24.99.

United used to offer complimentary meals in Economy on p.s. flights, in attempts to gussy up the specialized transcon economy seating. Of course, as we we all well know, United no longer offers complimentary meals in p.s. Economy, leaving the only “premium” element in the back of the airplane as a 120-volt power adapter buried under the middle seat, that’s almost completely inaccessible unless you’re a Cirque du Soleil contortionist, that you can spend the six hour JFK – SFO flight fighting with your seatmates over who gets to use it when.

But – these new menus pose a few intriguing questions and a chance for musing.

First, I, and I don’t think anyone, for that matter, would pay $24.99 for the privilege of eating a meal on a United Airlines airplane. Now, I concede that I make these judgments without any photos, taste tests, or nutritional information, but based on plenty of experience with United’s attempt at catering, I think we can make a few logical assumptions.

At this point, the two options sound more appetizing, and more healthful, than the options available in Business and First class on p.s. flights. Having traveled extensively on p.s. for the last few years, the breakfast options in First and Biz never change – the asbestos omelet made from reconstituted egg-mix, or bleached-flour pancakes dipped into a maple syrup-type sludge, fortified with high fructose corn syrup. First class receives an extra starter, of sorts, yogurt with canned peaches (unless there’s a nuclear war, we should never, ever, ever, eat canned fruit – why, why, why, would one eat fruit, full of natural sugar, that’s been swimming in a sugar syrup – why do we add more sugar? Does that sound healthful at all? But, that’s neither here nor there). Props to United for trying to add some flair to economy class food for purchase. These options sound like an attempt to add some less processed, less nitrated, and less mechanically-separated items into United’s food repertoire.

Of course, one can make a rather sad commentary on the current state of airline affairs when the meals for purchase in lo-price Economy are of better quality than first and biz, where the meals are supposedly supposed to correlate positively with the premium one pays for the higher-quality cabin (well, if anyone actually does pay, and doesn’t upgrade), but that’s a subject for another post.

But – again, knowing United’s catering, we have to think critically about what actually (probably) will end up in these fancier meal options. What are the croissants? Are they actual croissants, or are they the pieces of wall insulation stamped in the shapes of croissants that United serves in First and Biz, that taste like a reheated legal pad? Is the shrimp local and reputable, or plucked from the Bering Sea where they feed on toxic waste? Is the jam real fruit preserves, or the peel-the-foil-back individual serves of jam that can be used to grout tile?

It may sound censorious, but if I’m paying freakin’ $24.99 for a meal in Economy, I don’t want hepatitis-A-laden shrimp and Smuckers jam.

And, sparkling wine? Ha. For $24.99, I’m sure UA could throw in a glass of champagne. Like, really. Come on. Wine with gas just won’t cut it.

Still, overall, especially with New York flights, I find a brunch menu quite fitting. I had never really used the word “brunch” very much, until I came to live in New York, where brunch places with a drink-’til-you-vomit deal were as ubiquitous as a sullen hipster with compression-stocking like jeans. But, even in overpriced NYC, those all-you-can drink brunch deals went for about $24.99. But – it might, might, might just be a bad idea to have an all-you-can drink promotion on an airplane.

Plus, there are logistical issues – you have to purchase 72 hours out, which, in today’s world, is quite a bit of time. What if you are waiting for an upgrade, and it clears after the 72-hour limit, and you have already order this fancy-pants brunch? Will there be an option to eat the brunch in biz class? I think that option might be a fine idea. Upgrades, however, are less of an issue with p.s. flights, because these flights are exempt from Unlimited Domestic Upgrades, and pax must use regional upgrades, only issued to 1K elite members, to upgrade p.s. flights.

There has been no official announcement from United, yet, besides the press release, that has appeared on their website. Once the change to the website goes live, we might have some more info, and perhaps, some pictures of the actual brunch options. Until then, I’m a bit hesitant -  especially, for $24.99.

Many frequent flyers have opposed this merger. Many have speculated on its outcome. Some have invested in “Save the United Logo” campaigns. Now, we’re seeing calls to “stand together” in the name of some sort of unity, borne of, uh, two airlines merging? I just don’t understand. Some displays of solidarity are just ridiculous, in my opinion. Like – it’s an airline - I appreciate the feel good values and the call to reduce squabbling among frequent flyers of both airlines, but – perhaps we should work on applying those community values on something that can actually be changed for the better, because, there’s really not a lot anyone can do about this merger.

Because – what’s really happening today? Nothing.

Well, almost nothing.

A half-hearted letter from United’s new CEO, Jeff Smisek, ornate with corporate speak and marketing dreck, was e-mailed out this morning with the details, many of which are, nothing’s changing right now.

Basically, in the grist of the letter he said, if you fly United, deal with United, and if you’re flying Continental, deal with Continental. There are really few actual changes that will come to fruition until 12 – 18 months from now.

Yet, people insist on clanging a gong and running around screaming the end is nigh, and that we all must repent. I say we take a clamer, almost, nonchalant approach – because, honestly, is the merging of two mega-corporations really going to be a nice, pretty event? Let’s just see what happens. Because, though the merger is official today, not much changes right now. Let’s save the worry until something actually happens.

So, uh, What’s Actually Happened Today?

-The airline has a new, cement-headed slogan: “The World’s Leading Airline.” I’d love to see how they came up with that one. It’s like the worst game of Mad-Libs ever: “The World’s . . .  (adj.) Airline.” The best they could come up with was “Leading?” They could’ve had much more fun: “The World’s Coolest Airline” (preserving a pun on Continental’s IATA code with the “Co” in “Cool”); “The World’s Omnipotent Airline;” “The World’s Unscrupulous Airline;” “The World’s Apocraphyl Airline” – come on, New United – add some swagger to your stuffy and resistant image!

-Free booze in the Red Carpet Clubs – United decided, after having its fingers in its ears and yelling, “la la la la la!!!” on the issue of complimetary hooch in the RCCs, aligns more with Continental’s President’s Clubs by letting the suds and liquor flow freely. Of course, knowing United, who loves to sell “Premium” liquor and wines in its RCCs, the free stuff is going to be a handle of Popov and a 30-rack of warm Natty Lite.

-Free wifi for all in the RCC – United, in typical fashion, was lethargic in giving complimentary wifi internet access to even its own lounge members, and only parsimoniously handed out T-Mobile comped internet access vouchers to passengers using the RCC flying in First or Biz on United itself (In the erstwhile Frankfurt RCC, the situation was even worse – they scrounged up 30 minue internet vouchers with the eight euro pricetag still attached). Now, United is deciding to treat others a bit better (in terms of internet), and handing out wifi access to those able to enter the lounge with Star Alliance Gold status from another airline.

-A New Safety Video Intro: Continental had a theme in its safety videos, where its current CEO, sitting as looking as stiff and brittle as someone posing for a Civil War-era dagguerotype, would mumble a few words of adulation about the employees of the airline with the charisma of an air purifier. Now United’s got Smisek yammering along about the merger. But – perhaps I’m not too enthused because I’m not really too high on airline safety videos in general – except for Virgin America’s brilliant piece of artwork, and as about which I wrote over a year ago, I’m reallllllly not a fan of merger videos. They creep me out.

New Airplanes: Well, paintjobs. Continental has touched up a 737, and United, a 757, in the insipid new livery. Check it out here.

Overall Assessment? Not bad at all – in terms of the RCC. United is loosening up on pieces of the RCC that it held under cash register hostage, when other airlines had already begun offering booze and internet (American was the penultimate major airline to fold). The other bits – eh – corporate mishmash and formalities. Not my thang.

We’ll Have to Wait For:

Everything else. Reciprical upgrades, merged frequent flyer programs, common customer service, boarding passes, websites, uh – and, an actual, merged airline – will all come later.

My Only Questions:

-Starnet blocking: Does this ignominious practice so unabashedly sanctioned by United stay with Continental? Many have speculated, and no one has a true, convincing answer or argument – but, golly gee, I hope Starnet blocking leaves with Smisek’s reign.

-OnePass Miles – When do those fold into Mileage Plus? By golly, I’ve got 4600 OnePass miles that have been sitting around, and I would love to add ‘em to my Mileage Plus stash.

So, again – let’s not panic, folks, or wildly speculate, or drop to our knees, wailing and keening, that we’ve lost some beloved airline and part of our hearts. Because, as of right now, they’re still very much to separate airlines.

For all the ballyhoo, Southwest doesn’t really seem to be going all Times-Square on the website with a loud, obvious announcement – I had to dig a bit to find that press release (yes, I just pushed “Press Room” on the Southwest site). But – Southwest.com does have a picture of an adorable pelican on their homepage, however.

Many bloggers have already covered the most important and pressing issues – such as expediently creating renderings of how a 717 in Southwest colors will appear, and whether this purchase will interrupt WiFi installation on Southwest airplanes (whew, thankfully, it won’t! My heart rate can return to normal). I have, but two questions: 1) Will Southwest, for the first time, adopt redeye flights from AirTran? AirTran flies a number of redeyes from the West Coast to their hub in Atlanta – I’d love to see some Southwest redeyes induce some incontinence in United with SFO/LAX – Boston redeyes; and 2) How on earth did a specialized Twitter hashtag (#SWAT – ostensibly, “Southwest – AirTran”) proliferate for this very announcement in just about five minutes? Literally, seconds, after this deal was announced, people were obnoxiously stamping Twitter posts with #SWAT this, and #SWAT that. Malcom Gladwell is probably scrambling to write a book about how this idea metastasized and now became an aviation-blogger Twitter meme.

Most of all, however, this mega-purchase should inspire us to think critically. I actually had a snippet of this post already sitting in the “Drafts” section of the blog interface – but never posted it. Now, the ideas become relevant again. Already, looking at a comments on various blogs, are the cries of people with doomsday further, announcing that if this purchase is approved, Southwest will never again get any business because all they are is a flying Greyhound bus! I think these specific comments come from current AirTran flyers – but, the problem is much more widespread, as is evident on FlyerTalk, in the legacy carrier forums. There is a demographic that thinks that Southwest is some uncivilized flying tube, and by become bigger with the AirTran acquisition, there will be a spread of disorder and some uncontrollable expansion of airline entropy that the deregulated airline world will never, ever be the same.

Sigh.

Somewhat ironically (at least with the recent announcement), it was AirTran, who, several months ago, released this commercial featuring a bunch of cows stampeding down the gangway toward the waiting airplane, after milling about, as cows do, behind the Southwest boarding zone signs, as a direct stab at Airlines, who, for years, has been trammeled by the hackneyed, astringent, and frankly, horribly inaccurate phrase, “cattle call,” to describe their boarding process, because, uh, they do not assign seats. Somehow, their boarding process has been so exaggerated and blown out of proportion by flyers of legacy carriers, in the United world, especially, that it’s de rigeur to despise Southwest.

Flyers of legacy carriers, as especially evident by some glib posts on FlyerTalk, seem to carry around, in addition to the overused “cattle call” and “flying bus” cable-news-intellect-caliber-soundbytes, this idea that, “I don’t fly Southwest because I don’t want to make 12 stops between Lubbock and Kansas City!”

Let’s clear a few things up, in the name of critical thinking.

1) Boarding: Southwest’s boarding is, actually, probably the most orderly boarding process of any airline. Based the letter (A, B, C) on your boarding pass, and number, based on the order in which you check in, either online, or at the airport, all passengers form a line. Southwest then boards the airplane in numerical order. There are clearly delineated letter/number categories on a number of stanchions. Truthfully, it really couldn’t be simpler. Sure, sometimes there a are a few snarls from people when you stand a few numbers out of order because it can be hard, at all times, to find your exact numerical spot among others, but it’s really orderly and clean. It gets those airplanes boarded fast.

To all the detractors – have you ever seen a United Air Lines boarding process, on an airline that, supposedly, preserves a modicum of order to the people who believe the dreck AirTran perpetrated about a “Cattle Call?” Boarding a United flight is a cross between Pamplona and a soccer riot – first, 30 minutes before flight, the boarding lanes are clogged with supercilious 1Ks and Global Service passengers, who mill about in their astonishingly unstylish business attire, with a Bluetooth headset, staring comatosely into space. Then, once actual boarding begins, the scrum moves towards the lane, a vague line of 1Ks/First Class/GS forms, somehow, in the fray, boards, then, the gate is bumrushed by Premier Executives, and hordes of non-elite flyers because no one understands United’s cryptic boarding system, no matter how many rude/condescending/brusque messages the gate agent delivers. Then, as if trying to win some sort of logistics race, the gate agent starts scanning so many boarding passes that the gangway clogs with passengers, sometimes to the point where I debate trying to move the line out the door onto the stairs of the gate where it’d be a more comfortable wait. Hey, but at least the overworked/underpaid gate agent got all 200 passengers’ boarding passes scanned in five minutes! Efficiency personified.

I think we get the idea. Cattle call. Uh, yes.

2) Number of Stops - Uh, what era of aviation are you in? This isn’t 1919, where a nonstop from Idywild to the San Francisco Bay took three months with 49 stops. Southwest has airplanes, uh, capable of flying across the country, nonstop, so this idea that you’ll make 12 stops from LaGuardia to Portland is simply ludicrous. (As a corollary, the dude on FlyerTalk who made the statement about the number of stops, when corrected by another poster, admitted he hadn’t flown Southwest in 15 years. Yep, nothing like current information to really invigorate the discussion).

3) Biz traveler – Again, because Southwest doesn’t genuflect to passengers (gee, the treat everyone more or less equally – respectfully, and kindly) as opposed to United, who, at times fawns over the 1K on the L -fare with the free upgrade, and spits on the one-time-a-year flyer with the L-fare in economy, there is this perception that Southwest cannot cater to the needs of the biz traveler. Sure. Many, many biz people take Southwest. If you want a chance to pick a better seat, uh, check in earlier (why, does Southwest become denigrated over not assigning seats, when a little personal responsibility and checking in earlier would guarantee someone a better spot? Oh, because it’s personal responsibility), or purchase a Business Select fare, which guarantees early boarding, and some free booze. Hey – it’s like the United folks always say, when someone’s upgrade doesn’t clear on FlyerTalk – if you want first class, pay for first class. Same argument applies here – if you want to fly Southwest, and guarantee a good seat, buy Biz Select. Many people seem to want the better seat, if possible, but aren’t willing to expend the extra effort or capital. With Southwest and United, alike, it’s possible, with effort.

Overall, they’re a great little airline. I’ve loved flying with them the last few years. Sadly, however, their fares ain’t so traditionally low any more (for LGA – SFO flights, sometimes, much more expensive), and they do not offer a frequent flyer program for international award redemptions, which, truthfully, is why United owns me. They allow me to collect miles.

Personally, I think people whine, because Southwest has always been irreverent and innovative, as compared to the tired, stodgy act of the legacy carriers. Thus, Southwest’s actions are misinterpreted as being “out-there,” which scares a lot of people who are used to rigidity, routine, and obsequiousness of the flight experience provided by loyalty programs. It’s the same reason legacy apologists fear Virgin America, and the same attitude of people who feared Elvis’ whirling pelvis in the 1950s. Let’s get with the times, folks. Legacies compete on some shred of tired reputation. Lower-cost carriers compete with ingenuity, kindness, and panache. I’ve said before – Southwest, Virgin, and JetBlue are the three best airlines this country has – if only they’d get around to offering StarAlliance miles – somehow.  If they did, I’d be flying them all the time.

Let’s move forward in our perception of Southwest, modernize, and move away from the nonsense perpetrated by AirTran.

Well, I guess it really won’t matter, because AirTran really won’t be around for much longer anyway.

Gee, I hate to make my first real post back a somewhat somber/sad one, but I feel this issue deserves a bit of mention.

Matthew Klint, blogger at Upgrd.com, wrote a post on September 11, calling for more Americans to shed their political misconceptions and xenophobia by actually making an effort to travel, as well as a imploring more Americans to engage in public service to their community or country. “I maintain that national service and world travel offer tremendous returns for the investment required,” Matthew says, “and may be the best way we can triumph over those who wish to harm us.”

It’s a well-reasoned, rational post with a good message, but after reading it  few times, I felt a little sad, because I knew Matthew’s post would not resonate with many people in this miles-and-points blogosphere.

I was not yet back to blogging on September 11 (chuggin’ on those med school apps), but looked forward to seeing how the major travel blogs and travel sites would discuss perhaps the most divisive and catalytic political event of my life, thus far, that threw this country into war, foamed the anger of millions, and from which the country has not really recovered, economically, politically, or emotionally. 9/11 was the first event that really allowed me to experience the Vietnam-war like turmoil of a country talked about my parents, questioning of the government, and actually consider the definition of patriotism.

What did we get?

Well, nothing, really. Of all the travel blogs I generally read, and on FlyerTalk, there were only two posts pertaining to September 11 – Matthew’s post, and one on One Mile at a Time calling for donations to the Jason Dahl Scholarship fund. A few blogs posted nothing on 9/11. And mostly, September 11th was  saddingly buttressed with posts of shocking calls of greed, narcissism, and self absorption, on the days before and after, the sad and shameful antithesis of Matthew’s noble call of service and donation of time.

Instead, what did we have? On September 11, we had a number of FlyerTalkers on the Mileage Run Deals page discussing a mileage run from San Francisco to Tampa – fine – but the discussion quickly veers to a veritable groping for superiority of the number of vouchers, bumps, Skykits, compensation e-mails, and freebies the group could wrest out of United on the mileage run, and how each member’s haul was better than the other’s. One Mile at Time’s donation post notwithstanding, featured respective posts on September 10 on asking for a free upgrade on Continental with the sketchy United/Continental upgrade reciprocity apparently coming to fruition, and on September 12, narcissistic, bragging pap of how trying to figure out how to spend two million frequent flyer miles with a Hallmark card-quality faux-urgency title of “Too Many Miles, not Enough Time!” Damian, not a major blogger by any means, on Upgrd.com, wrote on September 12 about how he scored a free upgrade during a United flight, and again, how many Skykits he could score. And finally, the King of Excess Himself, His Holiness Gary Leff of View From the Wing, writes on September 12 with a speculation of whether a double elite qualifying mile promo may occur. Just a few days before, he got in one of his trite cracks at unions, one of American industry’s main checks on corporate greed.

Most every post concerned collecting, hording, and gorging, all in the name of acquiring more, and ways to squeeze more out of the system.

Now, let’s be clear – this post is not an attack on wealth, racking up miles, or comfortable living – either in travel or in, well, real life. We’re not going all Chris Elliot, here. Financial/mileage security is all well and good. I, one day, hope to experience what it’s like to be financially secure, and to provide for my family. I hope to take vacations, and someday, own a method of transport besides a bus pass. It’s about knowing when enough is enough – when too much, is too much. It’s perfectly acceptable to be comfortable, liquid, solvent – whatever the economist types want to call it – but, there comes a point where greed metastasizes, and makes monsters of people who want to Sherman’s March their way through the system.

I’m saying actually think about Matthew’s message.

How can we give back? Sure – grab enough frequent flyer miles for a fantastic trip (I do). Grab a voucher if United really screws you over – but, the active, desperate clamoring for more goods is saddening, especially on 9/11. It’s the insatiable lust for more, and not knowing when to stop, that gets people in trouble – from the high school kid looking to get hepped up on Goldschlagger before the school dance, to the bankers selling subprime mortgages. They all did not know when to stop, and the ultimate lesson came hard, and with disastrous ramifications. Know when enough is enough.

Like, do you really need two million miles?

No. No one needs two million miles. Donate 100,000 miles – five percent – FIVE percent overall, and fly a family of four (25,000 miles a pop) to the Mayo clinic so their son can get his cancer treatment. Do you really need 1200 dollars in vouchers from United? No. Offer them on Coupon Connection for people who perhaps face an exorbitant fare because of a funeral or family emergency. Think about SHEDDING some of the excess – keep enough for yourself, but help some out who don’t have as much as you. Some bloggers regularly champion helping others out – the avuncular Rick Ingersoll, of Frugal Travel Guy, regularly suggests, your views on the Iraq war aside, donating miles, upgrades, and seats to returning troops. And, many of the better CEOs follow this very same idea – Jim Sinegal, president and CEO of Costco, one of the most creatively-run and kindest companies in this country (where, ironically, Ben of One Mile purchases Hyatt gift cards), takes a reasonable salary – reasonable for CEO’s compensation, but knows when too much is too much, and decides he does not need more.

But, and this is worrisome enough, is where the calls of “socialist” (uh) often start to fly. I’m not saying give up miles – you don’t have to, if you don’t want to. THis is  where people often hide behind the idea that “I earned these miles – they’re mine, and that dang socialist/commie/pink-O Gray Roberge ain’t taken’ ‘em!” And, of course, yes. These are your miles. You earned them, and it’s your right to do with them what you want. No government/blogger/liberal newscaster is going to take them away. It’s up to you to heed Matthew’s message.

I just wish we could’ve gotten away from excess for one day, and thought about 9/11 in a constructive fashion, and like Matthew says, think about what we can do for our communities. I’m not saying we need to shed our clothes, go live in the woods, wear hairshirts, whip ourselves, and subsist on roots and grubs for penance for the rest of our lives, but, let’s take a look at our country post-9/11: The economy is still sunk, people are still jobless, people in the New York Area are afflicted with PTSD, lung diseases from the dust, and flyers are engaging in a pissing contest over who was able to bilk United out of a few hundred bucks because someone hadn’t tightened the bolt on the footrest. For shame. That’s a true way to honor the memories of all those who perished – go out and think about yourself.

There’s a certain irony in all of it – the calls of repairing the economy and investing in America are now being answered by people trying to get the most for free out of the world. The airlines that were devastated and faced such scrutiny and rash responses to security by the government (cough, cough, TSA, cough),  and whose workers faced such paycuts, are now being supported by people exploiting their flaws and trying to simply amass more.  What happened to bonding together for strength? It’s greed at its finest, and ugliest.

Think about what you can do for the world. Think about what you need, and what you do not.

Enough is enough.