Drew Vane has written a few posts for AirlineReporter.com and his most recently one takes an inside look at FlightAware.com after speaking with their CEO Daniel Baker. Many aviation fans use this tool to follow planes flying around the United States. Here is his story in his own words:
As some of you fine aviation enthusiasts may be aware (pun fully intended), a handly little website called FlightAware.com has been quietly making headlines as a source for tracking flights real-time (well, almost real time). The site provides info on airport delays, weather, flight routes, and updated flight status.
If you have any interest in aircraft and air travel, this web site is for you. According to FlightAware CEO Daniel Baker, ’œFlightAware was founded with the goal of providing flight tracking to pilots of general aviation aircraft in the United States. It wasn’t long before that goal grew to include flight departments, dispatchers, airport operators, and private aircraft passengers. We’re now involved in worldwide airline operations, consumer flight tracking of airline flights, and more. FlightAware has over 3,000,000 monthly users of the free web site and over 2,500 commercial customers that use FlightAware in an operational or research capacity.’
South Ops in Charlotte: Just put your cursor on an aircraft and it will give you the flight number, aircraft type, flight level, speed and origin/destination.(Image used with permission).
How does a simple web site get all this info? According to the web site, ’œFlightAware compiles, aggregates, and processes data from a variety of government sources, airlines, commercial data providers, as well as FlightAware’s proprietary flight tracking network.’ In other words, its all public domain and some skilled web programmers have developed a system to let the common person see accurately where domestic (and now international) flights are headed within a 5-minute window.
Since its inception in 2005, FlightAware has added new features regularly including mobile apps. What started as a small business with a handful of executives has grown to 25 employees with offices in both Houston and New York City. FlightAware even has a company store and is giving something back to support Breast Cancer Research.
Although great, FlightAware is far from perfect. Recently, I tried to track my friends flight from O’Hare to Virginia Beach which was experiencing bad weather. After two go-arounds his flight diverted to Raleigh. Flightaware only showed a couple loops around the airport but did not show the flight continuing on. In addition, it showed his flight on the O’Hare departures list twice with one flight cancelled. Perhaps this is a programming hiccup since the original flight was not completed. The flight to Raleigh never did show up on the web site, but I wouldn’t depend on flightaware over a phone call to check on loved ones travelling.
Flightaware currently has over 1.2 million registered members and that number is growing at a rate of 30,000 to 50,000 new users per month. CEO Daniel Baker shared with me that, ’œthe rate of airline travelers adopting the site means that it’s our biggest growth area and certainly they’ll eclipse pilots in the long term. That said, we continue to focus on our roots and will be providing great service to the aircraft operators that use FlightAware operationally.’ With so much already to offer, and a price that’s hard to beat, I’m excited to see what this web site and business will share with us airline nerds in the future.
Here are some of my favorite links to follow of popular aircraft:
* Airbus A380’s
* Donald Trump’s New 757
* Michael Jordan’s Gulfstream IV
* Roush-Fenway Racing’s 727
* Boeing’s 787 Aircraft ZA001
* The new Honda-Jet
Estonian Air Boeing 737-500.
Estonian Air recently announced that they will start to reward customers for not only flying, but also promoting their brand via social media. The small, regional airline, is the first in the world to reward their passengers for completing tasks, like sharing reviews on Facebook or Tweeting on deals and promotions.
My good friends over at SimpliFlying are working with the airline to show the world that this is the future of customer engagement. ’œToday 88% of frequent flyers use Facebook and they are twice as active as ordinary Facebook users,” Shashank Nigam, CEO of SimpliFlying stated. “Over 70% of them would like to be part of a social loyalty programme too. Estonian Air’s pioneering effort in this field will intensify a pool of advocates for engaging with the airline online. The lessons learned from this can potentially change the course of airline loyalty programmes globally.’
Points are earned through Estonian’s Facebook App called AirScore. You can easily see how many points you have earned and the rewards you can redeem. Social media allows airlines to connect with their customers in ways that no other method can. It makes sense for an airline to reward customers to helping to promote their brand.
“Estonia is a small market and in order to provide good connections at reasonable price for Estonians, the airline needs to also attract connecting traffic from outside Estonia. Social Media is one of the most effective ways to market and promote brands across the borders,’ said Tero Taskila, the CEO of Estonian Air.
I think this is a great experiment and it will be interesting how it turns out. Do you think other airlines might participate in a reward system like this?
Image: Osdu
Can you see the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the corn? Photo by Boeing
Tomorrow is Halloween and to celebrate, here is a corn maze that looks like a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. From Boeing’s Flickr page:
Boone Hall , one of America’s oldest working plantations, unveiled an annual attraction at its sprawling grounds in South Carolina: a specially-themed corn maze. This year, the maze was meticulously cut to showcase a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Boeing, which began building the first 787 at its new South Carolina final-assembly facility this year, sponsored the maze. The attraction will be opened to the public through October 31st.
Computer rendering of what Transaero Airbus A380 will look like. Photo by Airbus.
Russia-based Transaero Airlines, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for four Airbus A380s this week. The airline will become the first A380 operator in Russia.
Transaero plans to configure their A380 in a three-class layout, which will seat 700 passengers. With so many seats, I would imagine that first and business class will be quite small.
“Transaero is experienced in operating long-range wide-body aircraft, and is now ready to offer the A380. I am sure that the operation of this high capacity aircraft will stimulate the development of Russia’s aviation sector, in particular airports infrastructure while passengers will benefit from a completely new experience.’ said Olga Pleshakova, Transaero Airlines CEO.
The airline launched its services in November 1991, and currently serves more than 130 routes around the world. It is Russia’s second largest airline, behind Aeroflot, and has an fleet of aircraft consisting of the Boeing 737, 767, 747, 777 and the Tupolev 214.
The Airbus A380 currently has 236 orders from 18 customers and 59 aircraft have been delivered to seven customers to date.
ANA's first 787 Dreamliner (JA801A) sits in the background at their second (JA802A) waits to take us for a ride.
When I first started this blog a little over three years ago, I never thought I would be one of the first people to ever fly on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This truly is a dream (liner) come true.
A nice little rainbow surprise when boarding the ANA 787 Dreamliner. This is not a standard lighting configuration, but it sure is groovy.
Over the years, I have closely followed the 787, through its many ups and downs and I was honored to be invited to Tokyo to take an excursion flight around Japan. The night before the flight I received little sleep and was up at 4 am, like a kid on Christmas.
JA802A is begging to go for a ride.
On Wednesday, October 27th, the 787 Dreamliner (JA801A) had its first revenue flight from Narita International Airport (NRT) to Hong Kong International Airport (HGK), but my experience was a bit different. Our flight was on JA802A, ANA’s second 787, which took off from NRT and experienced a 90 minute excursion, including flying over Mount Fuji — pretty rad.
We are on our way. Even though I did not have a window seat, I could see outside quite well. A Delta Air Lines Boeing 747-400 at Narita can be seen.
I had been on JA802A just a few weeks prior, while it sat at Paine Field, but this was much different. The energy being on JA802A with “real” passengers, when we are about ready to lift off was palatable. The flight contained some ANA VIP customers, representatives that ANA works closely with, the winners of ANA’s 787 photo contest and only four media representatives.
I was sitting in 9D, which is the inner aisle seat on the left side (SeatGuru.com already has its ANA 787 seating chart up), but I still had ample opportunity to look out the 787’s larger windows.
The plane was filled with a mixture of different people. I had seat 9D, which was the left side aisle seat.
“Please be seated, we are about to take off,” never sounded so good. After a short taxi, the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines started to spool up and what a glorious sound. Do not worry, it stayed very quiet in the cabin, but you could still enjoy the unique sound that the Dreamliner engines provide.
The 787’s take off was a smooth experience and I didn’t feel pinned to my seat, like on many other aircraft. The sound and ease of take off, felt very similar to the A380 (but the 787 was a bit quicker). As we lifted off, the passengers clapped and cheered — we were off!
This photo does not do the wing justice. The bend is MUCH more impressive in person.
I was really looking forward to seeing how the 787’s wing looked from inside the cabin while flying. The good news is it looked as cool as I was hoping; the bad news was the photo does not do it justice. The wing had an unbelievable bow, like I have never seen before. Airlines really should put a sign at the windows over the wings that state, “The wings are supposed to do that.” I can’t wait to see what they look like in turbulence.
I should have drunk more water before the flight so I could have tried out the bathroom with a window. Just took photos instead.
The flight was only 90 minutes and that didn’t leave a heck of a lot of time. I was up and down the aisles taking photos and videos, checking the views outside, the lavatory with a view and playing around with the in-flight entertainment system. I could have been on the plane for ten hours and still wanted more.
Mount Fuji as seen from ANA's second 787 Dreamliner (JA802A)
So, the big question is, “Was it what you thought it was going to be?” Yes — the Dreamliner is an incredible aircraft that will evolutionize air travel for many passengers. On paper, I think the Dreamliner will help to revolutionize airline transport due to a large leap in technology, efficiency and cabin comfort, but for most passengers they aren’t going to notice all the changes — but that is not a bad thing.
Check the AirlineReporter.com sticker on the Dreamliner! Don't worry ANA, I took it down.
For me and probably for most of you airline fans, the changes will easily be noticed. However, for the average passenger, they will feel the 787 just provided them with a great flight, but might not realize why. When airlines moved from props to jets, it was quite obvious of large change, but it is not as obvious with the 787 Dreamliner.
Haneda Airport, as seen from the 787 Dreamliner.
All that being said, I firmly believe the 787 Dreamliner will be the new standard in world travel. It is comfortable, quiet and beautiful. I feel that this aircraft will make many frequent fliers change their top airline choices based on the Dreamliner product.
My first flight on the Dreamliner was unreal, but I can’t wait to try one of a real, “normal,” scheduled flight to put it to the real test. It is great to think that in only a few short years, these Dreamliners will be flying all over the world — a world that I am excited to experience.
After landing back at Narita, I really did not want to get off the 787, but they made me.
SEE ALL 44 PHOTOS FROM MY FIRST BOEING 787 DREAMLINER FLIGHT
More Boeing 787 Dreamliner Stuff:
* Interior photo tour of JA802A while at Paine Field
* Jon Ostrower’s photos on his FlightBlogger site
* Photos and story from Ben M on USA Today
* Chris Sloan, Airchive.com/2C Media
* Video and photos from Guy Norris with Aviation Week
