Walking into the media entrance at Farnborough 2012.
This story is unfortunately delayed, since I wrote the complete series and then lost it. So, I get to start over and hopefully I remember mostly what I originally talked about. Oh right, I flew to London and saw some planes… I think there might be a few more details than that.
I’ve been to plenty of airshows in my day, but not THE airshow. Every other year, the big airshow of the year takes turns at Farnborough (outside of London) or Paris. This year, was Farnborough’s turn and I decided it was time to take the plunge.
Monday through Friday, the airshow is only open to vendors, media and invited guests, where Saturday and Sunday is a public airshow. I was curious to check what was offered during weekday since the show is quite different over the weekend.
To get to London, I took Air New Zealand’s flight from LAX.
Before I did anything, I had to brave an application process for authorization to attend the show as media. After a few hurdles, I was approved and could move forward with getting my airline tickets and hotel.
While most of my international trips are planned out for me by a public relations contact; this time I was entirely on my own. First I dealt with the question: How do I get there? What airline would provide a unique journey? Air New Zealand, of course. AvGeeks know the power of riding a carrier’s uncommon route and the Air New Zealand Los Angeles (LAX) to London (LHR) takes the cake. I was set to fly their Premium Economy over to London and their Business Premiere back. Now that my flights were set, time to find my hotel.
There was quite a bit of walking to get to Farnborough, but the views were too bad. This is just outside of the Farnborough North train station.
I had never been to London before and wasn’t really sure how things worked. I probably should have asked for some assistance, but decided to figure things out on my own — I kind of messed up. You see, I was late in getting my hotel room and my budget was pretty much non-existent for this trip. I knew I was probably going to have to find a place to stay outside of Farnborough and certainly not in London due to costs. I found a town less than 15 miles away from the Farnborough Airport called Bracknell and both locations had a train station. DEAL!
Here’s the problem; Bracknell is located north of Farnborough, but most of the trains run east to west, not north to south. Every morning, I would get up, walk a mile to the train station, take one train transfer, and walk another mile to another train station to catch a bus to get to the airshow. The 15 mile commute took me two and a half hours in the morning and about two hours to get back at night. Lesson surely learned.
The pain was quite worth it. Each morning my adventure would begin at the Farnborough Airport by being dropped off by a double-decker bus.
Just some of the Chalets located up the hill at Farnborough.
It’s very difficult being a single media person and knowing what the heck is going on at the airshow. First of all, there aren’t many preplanned press conferences or events and those that are, changed daily. Most days I would show up with little planned, but my schedule would become packed as the day evolved. By the last day I still wasn’t able to take a check out all the static display aircraft. It killed me, one of the primary reasons I went was to check out the planes.
The other issue was internet connection. You have about 110,000 people located in a small area, which means that cell reception was almost impossible to get. The airshow had a special media facility that offered free Wi-Fi, but it was not much better. Luckily, many other companies had their own media facilities (called chalets) and Boeing and Airbus both had free Wi-Fi that I accessed (sorry Airbus, but Boeing’s was a bit better).
My second home while in London; Boeing’s Media Chalet at Farnborough.
Because of the internet issues, it was more likely that someone sitting at home, reading about what is going on at the airshow was more informed than a media person on-location (aka me) in a complex sea of information without solid web access. Eh, I was okay being uninformed and enjoying myself — I had no real agenda.
Larger media organizations like Aviation Week and Flight Global had huge staffs, their own chalets and obviously quite a few resources to cover the airshow from top to bottom. I went to the airshow without any real game plans except hoping to get on the Malaysian Airbus A380, the Qatar Airways 787, see as many airplanes, meet new people and have fun — mission accomplished.
In PART 2, I will talk in more detail about what it was like being at the airshow and what I hope to have accomplished next year (if I am able to go). Until then, enjoy the photos…
This is probably the worst livery I have ever designed. I am betting you can do better.
How rad would it be to design a custom livery and see it on a real plane? Your wish is All Nippon Airway’s (ANA) command. From now until September 30, 2012, you can submit a unique design for a livery on a Boeing 767 and if your design is chosen, it will be painted onto a real-life Boeing 767-300. You will also get free tickets to see the aircraft unveiled in Tokyo.
Do not worry if you have no Photoshop skills; you can download the entry form, color with crayons and mail it to Tokyo.
The contest is being held to celebrate the 60th anniversary of ANA, so use that as your creative starting point… or maybe not, since that is what I did.
LAN’s first Boeing 787 sits next to the Future of Flight at Paine Field.
LAN Airlines first Boeing 787 has successfully been delivered to Santiago Chile. I have many photos to go through and things to write up, but for now, you can enjoy this little preview of the adventure.
We had a nice little circle flight over western Washington after take off. Image from FlightAware.com.
We took off a bit before 6pm PST from Paine Field and headed west. Anyone watching our flight route (seen above) might have been confused on what was going on. Turns out we had a chase plane film the 787 before heading south for the rest of our adventure (check this out).
Above is a video that was showing during the delivery ceremony that highlights the production of LAN’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Not going to lie; it gave me goose bumps watching all the LAN employees viewing the video before being shown their aircraft for the first time.
Before landing we did a fly-by Comodoro Arturo Merino Benàtez International Airport (SCL). This is us heading back to land.
It was quite the experience, with a few surprises and I cannot wait to share them. It is never easy being in economy for 12.5 hours on any aircraft, but that was the easiest economy experience for me to date. Do not worry — much more is to come — but for now, it is time to check out Santiago.
Airplanes, airports and smiles. How could you not like Airport 24/7: Miami? This is Albert Cordeschi, who is the “ramp ringleader” in the show.
When my good buddy Chris Sloan (who runs the website Airchive.com) asked me to check out a new airport show he created and is the Executive Producer of — how could I say no? The new series on the Travel Channel, Airport 24/7: Miami, is about airplanes and airports, so I had a feeling I might like what I see. The show gives a unique, behind-the-scenes look at Miami International Airport (MIA).
With the airport seeing about 40 million passengers per year, there are plenty of opportunities for shenanigans. The show is unapologetic talking about the risk of a terrorist threat or calling out passengers for not being the brightest by having a gun in their carry-on bag. It is refreshing since many reality TV shows (and I do not watch TV often) seem watered down and poorly acted.
The show does a well-rounded job highlighting what airport operations is all about. In the first episode, Lufthansa tries to turn around their Airbus A380 from Frankfurt in 140 minutes, which is not much time for the world’s largest airliner. It becomes more challenging when Customs and Border Protection randomly decides to take 50 minutes to search the aircraft, causing delays. Of course, it is the airline that has to communicate the delay to the upset passengers.
The cast of the Travel Channel’s new show… Airport 24/7: Miami.
I very much enjoyed the show and cannot wait to see more episodes. I did had a few questions for Chris after viewing the show and I want to share our conversation:
AirlineReporter (AR): Wasn’t there another show like this previous?
Chris Sloan (CS): There was a BBC show called ’œAirport’ that ran from 1996-2004. It was a tremendous hit, a top 20 show in the UK. Some airport and airline officials even became national stars. There was a recent show that followed Southwest Airlines on TLC as well, but it was focused on 1 airline’s ground and terminal staff at different airports around the Southwest system. I love that show, but our show ’œAirport 24/7: Miami’ is very different. There have been other 1 off documentaries behind the scenes of an airport, but ours is very different as we lived there for 6 months and are as focused on the human drama and key members of the airport team from many areas: security, airlines, cargo, ground ops, police, fire, terminal ops, even the Deputy Director of the Airport. We go much, much more behind the scenes than other shows.
AR: Why MIA?
CS: I love Miami International Airport and grew up here. I chose it for a number of reasons. First, it is the #2 international airport in the U.S. #2 in international freight. Over 100,000 passengers pass through here daily. Second, it is incredibly diverse in terms of the types of stories that can be told here as it is a major domestic and international hub for tourists and businesses alike ’“ it’s the Gateway to Latin America. Third, MIA had a reputation up until recently as a difficult, outdated, and challenging airport that people went out of their way to avoid.
There was a perception that it was a third world airport in terms of facilities and operations. Though not your standard, domestic airport, MIA really is a totally different place and I wanted to tell that story. It has magnificent new physical terminals, it was TSA’s Airport of the Year, there is outstanding customer service by the staff (they are very focused on this) – it is a very different and improved airport from the MIA of the 1990s.
It also helped that I had existing relationships with the airport. They knew I loved commercial aviation via my site, Airchive.com, and was out to produce a fair, authentic show ’“ not a hatchet job.
One of the times where Chris and my world’s collided: Lufthansa’s inaugural A380 flight to MIA. Photo by Chris Sloan.
AR: How receptive were airlines (I mostly saw Lufthansa in the pilot episodes) in participating in the show?
CS: Frankly and understandably, not every airline was receptive. Many airlines in this day and age are press shy or want to take a wait and see approach. That said, Lufthansa, Air Canada, Cayman, LAN, and a number of others cooperated. Other airlines have come to us wanting to participate if Travel Channel orders season 2.
AR: What was the biggest challenge for getting the show made?
CS: It’s the toughest show I have ever produced. MIA is very extensive in scope, size, and operations. Anything, and I mean anything can and does happen at anytime. We had 14 crew covering the airport 7 days a week nearly 24/7. Still, with all of the access and communications, getting to an individual event can be challenging to cover it. We also have to coordinate with many agencies and companies in an airport. We have incredible access, but we have to be sensitive to not giving away anything that could constitute a compromise in security or procedures. Many agencies had to review what we produced and edited, however none sought editorial control which was refreshing. We had an incredible crew, producing team, and support most importantly from the airport and aforementioned agencies which made this possible.
AR: What can viewers expect to see in future episodes?
CS: People won’t believe stories we have coming up: The Airport’s Fuel farm explosion and consequently disrupted operations for weeks, a near riotous reaction to an airline’s mechanical problems stranding passengers for days, a very unusual airplane scrapping operation that occurred when an airline doesn’t pay its bills, unusual things left in lost and found (and I do mean unusual), the airport’s response to a potential terrorist event, how the airport deals with the inaugural flight of a new airline while dealing with the simultaneous arrival of Air Force One, behind-the-scenes of the very unique Cuban flights, plus some really quirky funny stories that can only happen in Miami.
Be sure to mark your calendar, grab your popcorn (or airline peanuts) and catch the premier on Tuesday, October 2nd at 9pm (ET/PT) on the Travel Channel and then at the same time at the next six Tuesdays. Also, if a TV-movie is ever made about me (uh huh), I will be sure that Chris is producing the movie — I just hope it doesn’t end up being on the Lifetime Channel.
The new series for the Travel Channel show, Airport 24/7: Miami, is about airplanes and airports, so I had a feeling I might like what I see. The show gives a unique, behind-the-scenes look at Miami International Airport (MIA).
Are you going to be in the Seattle area over the weekend? Then make sure you head to Paine Field to check out the Vintage Aircraft Weekend!
Historic Flight Foundation is hosting the Fifth Annual Vintage Aircraft Weekend going on August 31 ’“ September 1st, 2012. Together with other Paine Field Partners and the Snohomish County Tourism Promotion Area, ’œVAW’ is a great event for the aviation enthusiasts and families.
The festival begins on Friday with the arrival of aircraft throughout the day. At 6 pm, 250 lucky patrons will attend a “Big Band Dinner Dance” featuring the fifteen-piece, tuxedo-clad “Kings of Swing”.
The main event begins Saturday morning, at 9 am. VAW features a first-class Speakers Bureau, live music, two flying sessions of vintage aircraft, vintage automobiles and military vehicles, fine food, vintage bicycles, vintage clothing and uniforms, and a host of opportunities for kids and parents to interact with displays and vendors. The final flight will conclude at 5 pm.
