Sir Richard Branson and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking at San Fransisco Airport on Tuesday (I was told that the guy to Branson's back-right is someone famous, I don't know...)
The last few days I have been surrounded by all things Virgin America while celebrating their first international route from San Fransisco (SFO) and Los Angeles (LAX) to Toronto (YYZ). Tomorrow I will post about the fun stuff that happened, but first let’s talk about some interesting news Virgin America announced while at SFO on Tuesday: they are planning to fly into Mexico.
The send off in San Fransisco was quite the scene. There were decorations, food, pink champagne and a few security guards to protect the special guests.
Not only were many of Virgin America’s leadership there, including CEO David Cush, but also Virgin’s leader Sir Richard Branson, San Fransisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. They were all there to celebrate Virgin’s growth, new route to Toronto and creation of jobs in California and San Fransisco.
’œSan Francisco is proud to have Virgin America as its hometown airline,’ said Mayor Newsom. ’œOver the last few years, they’ve created hundred of new jobs, lowered fares and helped make SFO one of the nation’s few growing airports.’
Early on, Virgin America was excited to announce they are looking to fly into Mexico. The airline filed with the Department of Transportation on Tuesday to fly from SFO to Los Cabos and from LAX and SFO to Cancun. Virgin America hopes to start the flights this winter. The airline states after they get these flights up and running, they will concentrate more on creating more domestic routes.
“Today is a great day for airline competition, for our teammates and for travelers,” said Virgin America President and CEO David Cush. “When more airlines compete, consumers win with lower fares and better service. At a time when most airlines are contracting and consumers expect less and less, we’re proud to be growing, operating responsibly and offering travelers a very different kind of flight experience.”
Virgin America is still a relatively new airline, starting operations in 2007. Although the airline wears the “Virgin” name, and is the brain-child of Sir Richard Branson, he only has a 25% stake in the airline. By law, no more than 25% of a U.S. airline may be owned by foreign interests. They provide low fares, but amazing amenities. They have the best domestic in-flight entertainment system I have experienced and have a very fun, party-like atmosphere on board their planes.
A bit more:
* Rough video I streamed live from my iPhone
* Video of Branson and Schwarzenegger on the flight from LAX to SFO
British Airways Boeing 747-400
Making sure children flying under the care of an airline are not preyed upon is extremely important. So is making sure that a person’s individual rights are not taken away from them and made to feel like a criminal.
Recently, passenger Mirko Fischer took British Airways to court for forcing him to move seats because he was sitting next to a young child.
Fischer originally had the window seat, but switched with his pregnant wife, so she could see out the window (what a gentleman). This changed caused him to be sitting next to a young unaccompanied minor and the flight crew made him change his seat. The airline told him that they ban male passengers from sitting next to children they do not know.
The passenger did not feel this treatment was right and left him feeling, “embarrassed, humiliated and angry.” He took British Airways to court for “loss of damage and injury to his feelings.”
“This policy is branding all men as perverts for no reason,” Fischer said. “They accuse you of being some kind of child molester just because you are sitting next to someone.’
Fischer won his case and was paid $3712.00 in costs and $1288.00 in damages. He didn’t pocket the money however. He donated his payout and $3865.00 of his own money to two different child protection charities.
British Airways is currently reviewing the policy, but still states the rule is not discriminatory.
Parents put their children into care of an airline to make sure they are kept safe during their flight. But is it ok to keep all men away from children because of this? I say no.
If the flight crew has any reason to assume that a passenger is not acting appropriately, then yes, it is their duty to move the child. However, it is not ok to discriminate against a passenger just because of a fear of inappropriate behavior. Would it be ok to not sit a child next to someone of a particular race or religion because they are more likely to molest a child?
I have heard of other airlines having similar policies. The concept of these policies is to keep children safe, which is very important, but not at the expense of discriminating against other passengers.
Source: TheAustralian Image: Bentley Smith
Will the future cockpit have a Nintendo Wii?
With recent stories of pilots being distracted while flying, one might think a Nintendo Wii is a bad idea to have in the cockpit. However we aren’t talking about playing Mario, it is for the health of the pilots. Most airliners are designed for the comfort of the passengers, but don’t think of the pilots. Each year airlines lose productivity and money due to pilots taking time off the job from back injuries. Graduate student, Nicoline van der Vaart, took a look at what future cockpits might look like to increase pilot comfort and reduce airline costs.
The concept is not just about improved seats, but also improved habits of pilots. Some of the suggestions are:
* Have personal sitting instruction
* Reference book with information and exercises
* Let pilots know about fitness opportunities at destination hotel
* Have a back review for pilots every six months
Van der Vaart looks at the present, 2nd generation and possible 3rd generation of cockpit comfort. The next step is to provide pilots with a better seat and instructions given above. The 3rd generation gets into some pretty cool stuff (ie: Nintendo Wii). In the future they will have super comfortable seats that will be able to be customized. The cockpit will remind pilots to change position and Nintendo Wii-Fit programs will keep the pilots active during long flight.
So next time you think you are in a cramped seat for a few hour flight, think of the pilots who are up front all day long. Hopefully in the future, pilots will have more comfort, less injuries and airlines will have lower costs and happier employees.
I found this interesting story on Mary Kirby’s Runway Girl blog, check it out! To see Van der Vaart’s entire presentation go here.
I love plane spotting at the airport. Got 2 Delta A330's, 1 Korean B777, 1 Hainan Airlines A330, Tail of Air France A340, 2 Southwest B737's and a US Airways A321
I am currently at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for another adventure (I love their free Wi-Fi). Last weekend I was able to fly on a personal trip, but today’s trip is for the blog. Virgin America has recently announced new flights from San Francisco to Toronto, Canada.
The airline is having a special shin-dig early tomorrow morning and I am flying to San Francisco today, then on to Toronto early tomorrow morning. The flight to Toronto will have other invited guests, media peeps, CEO of Virgin America, David Cush, and the man himself Sir Richard Branson. That’s right. I will be locked in an airplane with daredevil, highly successful Sir Richard Branson…how cool is that?
You can join in on the fun by following my blog, Facebook and Twitter. If you normally use Twitter, be sure to follow the #VXToronto tag.
I have a few emails to get through before my flight boards, so I am off!
Avianova Airbus A320-200 (EI-ELE)
If you haven’t heard about Spirit Airline’s new (and “omg shocking”) advertisements, they are causing quite a stir. They are once again stealing right out of the Ryanair hand book on how to get a load of free publicity.
What do I think about their ads? Well any airline that gets me blogging about their ads are doing something right, and I will leave it at that. If Spirit’s new ad is too saucy for you? Well maybe you shouldn’t take a look at the Avianova ad found by Matt Molnar with NYCAviation.
Sure, advertising 101 teaches you that skin sells, but come on. Anything about routes? Amenities? Costs? Nope. Does this sort of advertising work? Well the airline industry has had a history of sexy advertising. This shouldn’t come as a surprise that both Spirit and Avianova have risky advertisements, they are both partly owned by the same company, Indigo Partners.
What are your thoughts? Are the ads going too far?