easyJet gets down and dirty, but Ryanair started it!
I can’t figure out if Ryanair and easyJet really hate each other or love the fact they can constantly fight. Recently they have been going at it over their advertisements. Ryanair struck first by asking why easyJet won’t publish their on-time numbers.
The ad shows Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the Founder of easyJet, with a Pinocchio nose and asking why easyJet says, “punctuality…is a top priority,” but hasn’t published their on-time stats for 37 weeks. Ryanair claims they have “lower prices and better punctuality than easyJet,” in the ad.
EasyJet struck back with their own ad pointing out that Ryanair states they fly to certain cities, but really fly to much smaller cities up to an hour away from the city advertised. This ad got Ryanair worked up and they complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), stating that easyJet was trying to accuse Ryanair of false advertising. The ASA ruled in Ryanair’s favor and the campaigned was banned.
Seems a little bit like Ryanair can dish it out, but doesn’t like to get dirty advertising back.
Yesterday, Continental Airlines announced they will be cutting their free food for most domestic flights starting near the end of the year. The airline will charge for meals in economy on all domestic and Canadian flights of less than six hours. However, they will be keeping free meals on longer flights and still offering free peanuts and drinks on all flights.
There is a lot of rumbling on the internet of “another airline caving in” and screwing over the passenger. However, I see this as a smart move and was really surprised Continental held out as long as they did.
Free food is almost non-existent on most domestic flights anywhere in the world. Passengers have come accustomed to not eating or buying food on board. I would assume that most leisure passengers weren’t even aware that Continental still served food, but it would be a nice surprise when aboard.
If passengers have the expectation to not get free food, why should Continental pay for it? Plus Continental can make additional revenue by charging for food and maybe lower their prices.
Would I love to have free food while flying? Of course. But I understand Continental’s move and with passengers demanding the lowest fares possible, I think it is a smart move for Continental to do this!
Apolo Ohno outside of his special livery plane. "Follow Apolo to Hawaii"
Previously I talked about Alaska Airlines having a special “Follow Apolo” livery to help support a local Olympic celebrity Apolo Ohno. He had great success during this winter Olympics and is the most decorated US winter Olympian in history — quite a feat. To help celebrate, Alaska Airlines recently launched their “Follow Apolo to Hawaii” sweepstakes where you could win a Hawaiian vacation for two with Ohno.
Five people and guests will win a trip to Maui, a private luau with Ohno and four nights and five days at the Grand Wailea in Maui. Not too shabby.
“What better way to celebrate the most decorated U.S. winter athlete in history than to give fans the chance to say ’˜congratulations’ from Maui,” said Greg Latimer, Alaska’s managing director of brand and product marketing.
On Friday, passengers on flight 859 from Seattle to Honolulu were greeted by a nice surprise – meeting Ohno who was handing out leis.
It is easy to enter. Just head over to FollowApolo.com and sign up for your chance for a little relaxation in Hawaii. If you sign up for the Alaska Airline’s newsletter or have a mileage plan number, you can increase your chances of winning!
A lot of people fly only to get from point A to point B. They see it as a hassle and not an adventure. From writing this blog, I think you can guess I am a huge fan of aviation — in any form. To me, flying is still an adventure and is exciting.
As a kid I grew up watching Airwolf (yes, it is on Hulu now) and even looked into flying Dolphins for the US Coast Guard after college (changed my mind). I have grown up flying in small planes, but always have had a fascination with helicopters. I have come very close to flying on a few, but none of them panned out. Flying in a plane is awesome, but you have to keep moving forward to create lift. You can fly by and over things, but you cannot hover. Aircraft also have to follow stricter rules on where they can and cannot fly.
Flying up to Snoqualmie Falls
This is where the helicopter comes in very handy, especially for sight seeing. On Tuesday I was given the opportunity to hitch a ride with Seattle HeliTours and see the greater Seattle area from a very different perspective.
I felt like a kid, having the opportunity to fly in a helicopter for the first time. I wasn’t only getting to fly in a helicopter, but in the front seat, leaving from Boeing Field (BFI), where three Boeing 787’s live. As I pulled up to BFI one Boeing 787 Dreamliner took off, and as I was leaving a second one took off. Even though I still love seeing those wings flex, what happened on the helicopter ride was even more awesome!
I was being piloted by Greg Baker who is also one of the owners of Classic Helicopter Corp, who runs the Seattle HeliTours. My flight would be on one of their Robinson R44 helicopters. They own three R44’s and three R22’s which are mostly used for flight training. I have to say that the Robinson R44 is one neat machine.
Greg and I were able to get very close to the Space Needle and hover around it.
First flown on March 31, 1990, the R44 has provided helicopters to people who never could have financial access to them previously. It being a bit smaller than other helicopters was of no concern, she was very stable and the smaller size let me feel more connected to the flight.
The first thing I noticed was the large windscreen making it easy to see forward. During the summer months, the side doors can be removed (picture from their website, not my flight), really connecting a passenger to the flight. Since it was about 40 degress, Baker decided to keep the doors on — which was a good call.
After taking off, we swooped east, then north and got a great view of Mount Rainier. As stated before, I grew up flying in small planes with my father around the Seattle area, but never this close; it was pretty amazing. After buzzing by Seattle we headed east towards Snoqualmie Falls. It surprised me how much open farmland and woods are still to the east of Seattle. We also got to see a lot of crazy-big homes. How do so many people have outdoor pools in Seattle? Anyhow, once we reached the falls, it was breath-taking!
How to describe seeing the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from a helicopter. "Awesome" just doesn't do it!
I have driven to them a few times before and have seen them from the viewing platform. Nothing can compare to seeing the falls, hovering from a helicopter. This is not something you can do in an airplane. We hovered for a while, turning around, waving to the poor people who were land bound (they waved back).
The flight time was about 45 incredible minutes and of course I could stay up in the air all day. Baker has only been doing this for about two years and loves flying around Seattle and the northwest. One of his best experiences was flying the helicopter from California, up the coast to Seattle (I volunteer to go next time 🙂 ).
The R44 sits at BFI after a great flight.
This flight is great for visitors from out of town, but also really amazing for those of you who live in the Seattle area. Seeing the area from a helicopter is much different than in an airliner flying over or even a small plane. I think it is very much worth the money to take a unique airborne tour of your own city.
This might have been my first helicopter flight, but I can guarantee it won’t be my last. Hearing that “THWOP, THWOP” noise when we were at the right speed, coming down in elevation, while over looking Snoqualmie Falls will stay with me for a long time , and I very much want to experience something like that again in the future.
Have any of you had experiences with helicopter rides or tours that you would like to share?
Sigh. I really should have my own photos and video of today’s two flights. But my car had other plans. I was on a camping trip this weekend, with every intention to make it back to the Future of Flight in time for ZA003 Boeing 787 Dreamliner to take flight and then watch the second Boeing 747-8 to take off. However my car broke down and had to be towed 75 miles back to civilization. If this would have happened on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s first flight, I would have ditched the car and taken a taxi! Luckily some other great people were there to cover the action.
Above is a video of ZA003 taking off for the first time today, taken by Liz Matzelle (@ImperfectSense). This is the third Boeing 787 built, but the fourth to take the skies. ZA004 took to the skies beforehand on February 24th. ZA003 is being used to test the interiors,which I was able to tour of back in early February.
If seeing a Dreamliner taking off wasn’t enough, the second Boeing 747-8 also took the sky today after a few delays. The first 747-8 took flight on February 8th. I am currently trying to track down any video or photos taken of the flight, but I did find a photo from Kevin (@TxAgFlyer) showing RC22 waiting to fly.
Boeing recently announced before today’s flight, the Boeing 747-8 has completed 13 flights and 33 hours of flight time. The tests are going as planned — which is a good thing. Five pilots have flown the airplane taking it up to 30,000 feet and up to Mach .65. Boeing has completed initial stall tests and other dynamic maneuvers, and performed an extensive checkout of systems on the airplane. They are hoping to get the third Boeing 747-8 in the sky soon.
