Flashing lights, warning alarms and that shrieking voice saying “pull up.” There are a lot of emergency indicators in the cockpit of an airliner and Boeing is looking at adding another. The warnings already hit two senses: sight and hearing… it’s time to add touch. Boeing submitted a patent application to make the pilot’s seat vibrate in a number of different situations, but not only in emergencies. Can this help keep pilot’s awake during flight? It sure can’t hurt.
Holy cow, that is one slick taxi-way. Found this beauty on NYC Aviation’s website of an SAS Boeing 737 having a little trouble on the ice-covered pavement. I am not sure what the woman is saying in the video, but kind of hoping it has to do with how awesome seeing a 737 slide around like that looks like. I am would imagine it is not as awesome if you are inside.
Model of an Allegiant Boeing 757 located behind Allegiant CEO's cubicle at their headquarters in Las Vegas.
Dan Webb on his blog, Things in the Sky, wrote up a story about Allegiant looking to possibly offer a new type of fare that changes with the cost of fuel.
In a filing to the Department of Transportation, Allegiant wants to have the option of offering a fare that could fluctuate based on the price of oil. This would mean you could buy a ticket for uber cheap now and then possibly have to pay more later if the price of oil goes up. This fare option would be in addition to their regular fares.
Is this crazy? Maybe, but again maybe not. Determining the price of fuel is a huge part of running an airline. Passengers will purchase tickets months in advance (especially leisure fliers, that Allegiant caters to) and there is no telling what the price of fuel will be when the flight actually happens. If airlines charge too little for tickets, they could end up losing money for that flight.
This new fare options, allows passengers to gamble on their airfare, which makes sense for the Las Vegas based airline. The big problem is, are most passengers savvy enough to understand the fuel-fare? And who would regulate that Allegiant would be raising fares properly based on fuel costs?
This could be taking the ala cart airline fees to the next level. Brett Snyder via BNET recently took a look how the traditional low cost carriers are growing and becoming more traditional. This leaves room for airlines like Allegiant to come up with creative ideas on how to add additional fees and revenue. People complained loudly when Spirit announced carry-on fees, but their low fares and fees have been very successful for them. Passengers seem to complain, but when faced with the option, they love the low fares and fees.
Even when I flew Allegiant, I got a bit overwhelmed by all the fees, but I flew for much cheaper than on any other airline — by quite a bit. Could fuel price-sharing be the future of ultra low cost carriers? Who knows, but Allegiant wants to be prepared if it is.
A Boeing 777-200 (JA0090) sits in the hangar with the Boeing 767 (JA654J)
Tail of Boeing 767-300ER with crane livery
Japan Air Line’s new livery on a Boeing 767-300ER. Photo from JAL.
Cabin crew check out the new Boeing 767 with crane livery.
Japan Air Lines (JAL) has officially unveiled their new crane livery on a Boeing 767-300ER (JA654J) in Tokyo. The plane was flown, unpainted, from Paine Field to JAL’s maintenance center in Tokyo where it was painted in the new livery. The resurrection of the crane is to match the airline’s, “new philosophy and corporate policy which underscore the company’s re-commitment to provide the highest levels of service to customers and to raise its corporate value in order to contribute to the advancement of society.”
The new aircraft will start flying between Haneda and Beijing on March 2, 2011. Before then, it will be flown on a domestic flight between Haneda and Kushiro where Japanese red crowned cranes hang out during the winter.
When I first got a glimpse of the computer generated livery I thought it looked much too plain. In photos I think it looks much better, clean and classy, which I think they are going for. In a time where airline liveries are getting more and more complicated, the simplicity of JALs new crane livery is a nice change. However, I think it is missing something. A swooping cheat-line would really make this livery look complete. What do you think?
Big changes have been brewing over the past few weeks. Recently, Reuters Travel started a syndication of my blog. It is still “in-progress” and links and images aren’t coming over yet, but that should soon change. Already, this has increased the reach of the blog. I have been very grateful to be syndicated with the Seattle PI and this is an added bonus. Both syndications just take my blogs content and copies it on their their respective websites — they isn’t any original content stories.
Another big piece of news is I have started to write for AOL Travel News. As of now I only have one story posted, but there will be many more to come. I write very opinionated pieces on the blog and I look forward to honing in my “just the facts,” style of reporting. Unlike the two syndications, all the stories on AOL Travel News will be original content and I will be sharing and linking to them from time to time on the blog.
I am excited for this new chapter and can’t wait to see what happens next. Thanks to everyone for all your support!
