Russia and Israel have recently had issues with authorizing flights between the two countries. On May 10th an Arkia Airlines flight with 260 Israeli passengers were not given authorization to take off from Moscow to return home to Israel.
The Arkia flight was ready to take off, when Russian clerks asked to see all the airline crew’s visas. The three pilots and six flight attendants were puzzled since Israel and Russia had signed an agreement over a year ago, stating visas were not needed. The Russian officials seemed un-phased and caused the plane to be grounded. The passengers, mostly senior citizens on a tour, had to spend the light at the Moscow airport, some with little to no money.
Arkia immediately employed the assistance of the Civil Aviation Authority and the Israeli Embassy in Moscow, but to no avail. “Although everyone agreed that it was a mistake, they just told us to come back at 8 am to solve the problem,” the airline’s deputy CEO, Nir Dagan, told Ynet. “It was unacceptable to us.”
Since normal negotiation methods were not working, the Airports Authority in Israel grounded a Trans Euro flight heading to Moscow until the Arkia flight was authorized to take off. Finally, around 4am the Russian officials gave authorization and both flights were allowed to leave.
An Israeli official said it was not the first time the Russian authorities had created difficulties for Israeli flights. “The Russians have a problem opening the Russia-Israel line for other companies as well, which hurts many Russian airlines.”
A senior airline official explained that although Russia and Israel had signed numerous bilateral agreements about the expansion of the flight options between the two countries, many Russian officials were unhappy with the large number of Israeli flights landing throughout the country because it harmed the Russian airlines.
Another roadblock is Israeli flights need to have a permit before each flight, which might not be granted until a few days beforehand. In a recent incident, an Israeli plane was forced to return to Russia after officials stated they did not have the necessary permits, but the flight did.
“We are familiar with the problem, but we don’t know whether it derives from Russian bureaucracy or whether a commercial consideration is behind it,” Tourism Ministry official Pini Shani said. “This instability is not good for tourism. We want as many Israeli and Russian airlines as possible flying between the countries. Every time there is a new flight agreement or one is expanded there are setbacks, but in the end the Russians always approve the flights at the last minute.”
Seems like a crazy political game, that is only hurting the citizens of both countries.
Ah, creative advertising. I love it. I also love ad-wars. This cleaver ad is brought to you by Germanwings and was filmed on a easyJet flight. At least easyJet made some money when the people paid for tickets!
Last week a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) worker at Miami International Airport ended up being arrested, after a co-worker teased him about his genitals.
Rolando Negrin was being scanned as a training exercise when a co-worker started to repeatedly harass him for the size of his “manhood.” Witnesses say Negrin lost it and started to hit his co-worker with a police baton. Negrin could be heard saying in Spanish, “get on your knees or I will kill you and you better apoligise [sic].”
The TSA has a zero-violence policy and stated, “we are investigating to determine whether other officers may have violated procedures in a training session with coworkers and committed professional misconduct.”
The TSA likes to note that this incident was internal and did not involve the general public. However, we have already seen the body scanners abused in public once and as they are used more, I am sure we will see them abused again.
When scanning passengers, the TSA says that a screener views the live image in a remote location and the images will be permanently deleted, never being stored. However, in a letter to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the TSA states they have 2,000 test images stored, using TSA personal, at its test facility. This means that the system has the capability to store images, not to mention workers could sneak in cameras or phones.
EPIC has tried to gain access to the test images to see how privacy might be violated, but the TSA has refused to release them. EPIC has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security under the Freedom of Information Act seeking details about the government’s use of advanced imaging technology. Many fear if the scans are publicly released, it will allow people to learn how to beat the system. Right now the system is really easy to beat, just refuse to be scanned and ask for a pat-down.
How much is all this wonderful security costing you, the tax payers? Only $6Billion per year. According to Stanford Daily, when airport security was still privatized in 2001, it only cost $700Million. Even in comparing with 2001 prices, that is $700million versus $4.6Billion.
It is frustrating to see stories like this continue to pop-up. I am sure this will not be the last story of a passenger’s rights being violated. Stay tuned…
Computer drawing of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental from Boeing.com
On May 8th, Boeing announced they have started the construction of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental (747-8I). What the heck is the Intercontinental? It is the passenger version of the Boeing 747-8 Freighter (747-8F) that took flight back in February.
Lufthansa already has 20 orders with 20 additional options. “We are very pleased to see that the production on the 747-8 Intercontinental has begun,” said Nico Buchholz, senior vice president, Corporate Fleet of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. “We are looking forward to welcoming the aircraft in our fleet as it is a component of Lufthansa’s strategy to modernize its fleet and increase environmental stewardship. The 747-8 shows our clear commitment to customer orientation.”
The Boeing 747-8I is 18.3 feet longer than the Boeing 747-400 and can hold 51 more passengers in a three-class configuration. Visually you will be able to tell the new aircraft by the swept wings and larger upper-deck. The new version will have the next generation GEnx-2B engines and a wing design like the Boeing 747-8F, which will make the aircraft more fuel efficient. The Boeing 747-8I will incorporate some of the cool features of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Boeing is hoping the 747-8I will take flight by the end of the year and then deliver by late 2011.
Currently Boeing has 32 orders for the Boeing 747-8I and 76 for the Boeing 747-8F.
Jude Lee is disabled, needing a wheelchair, and last August wanted to fly from Darwin to Melbourne on Jetstar. The airplane was not at a jetway and an airline employee informed him the lift was broken. Lee claims he was treated like “troublesome baggage” as a male employee carried him onto the aircraft.
Then January of this year Lee was looking to fly from Singapore to Darwin. He was checked in and waiting at the gate to board, when he was told the airline did not have an aisle wheel chair. Again, to be able to fly he had to be carried onto the plane by hand.
Jetstar does not deny the fact that Lee was carried on the aircraft, but they do deny they broke the Anti-Discrimination Act.
This is where it gets bad. In Jetstar’s reply they state, “Given the nature of its operations, Jetstar does not have the systems, staff or facilities to provide the same level of special assistance to its passengers as provided by full cost carriers.”
Wow. If you read my blog, you know I try my best to defend airlines and look at the positive spin. I was hopeful Jetstar would learn from their mistakes when this happened previously. But to do this twice to the same passenger and not even be sorry about it? I am sorry, but that is a total disgrace to the other airlines out there that work hard to treat each and every passenger equally.
Lee wishes he would have more options, but states that due to his regular business travel, Jetstar is the only option. “I find myself embarrassed, harassed and having to constantly plead my case with improperly trained Jetstar staff just for the right to be treated equally and to simply board its planes almost every time I travel,” he said in his complaint.
Lee is a lawyer and is in the process of suing the Jetstar for his treatment and the Northern Territory Anti-Discrimination Commissioner has determined that Jude Lee has a case.
I hope that Jetstar can see that just because they are a low cost carrier, doesn’t mean they have the ability to treat passengers with disabilities at a lower level. I understand that when you pay a lower fare, you will get less service. But no matter how low the fare is, each and every passenger should have the basic rights of being treated like a human being.
Jetstar is a low-cost subsidiary of Qantas and has a fleet of about 50 airbus aircraft flying to 30 destinations around Australia and Asia.
