Nothing like a good ‘ol fashion false alarm hijacking to get the heart beating! A Delta Air Lines flight left from Northwest Florida Regional Airport bound for Atlanta last Wednesday. Shortly after takeoff, the plane was ordered by the TSA to return to the airport. Apparently a TSA employee who was on the flight was not properly screened.
This would have turned out to just be an annoying time delay, but no one informed the Air Force base near by for the flight change. When the military noticed the plane was altering its filed flight path, they were afraid it might be a highjack situation.
The USAF base sent word to the local Sheriff’s office stating, “at this time advising that there is a poss(ible) hijacked airplane in progress.’
Further communication states: ’œOkaloosa airport cannot make contact with the plane at this time and this is considered a security breach.’
It took about 20 minutes for the situation to get cleared up. The plane landed, the TSA employee successfully was screened and the flight was on its way back to Atlanta.
Currently, the TSA is, “reviewing the incident and will take appropriate action if necessary”, Sari Koshetz, spokeswoman for the TSA said. “If necessary?” They don’t see that maybe this is not the best practice? The simple solution is making sure TSA employees are screened properly, but if that solution doesn’t sound right, then maybe informing the USAF base next time a flight is diverted? Just my two cents.
I remember when flying wide bodies was a common thing to do. Catch a DC-10 or even Boeing 747 from one coast to another. Today, you are more likely to be on a Boeing 757 or Boeing 737. In 1974, TWA was proud of their Lockheed L1011 service to the East, where you got extra cushioning and even a steak meal in coach.
Ah, the good ‘ol days when you could get a steak in coach. Of course remember, you can fly today from coast to cost for a little over $100 one way. I think I can handle the peanuts for that cost!
Every week I try to show a different airline livery. I have always been facinated with airline liveries. This week I came across what I think is the ugliest one I have seen so far. It just doesn’t make any sense. You have this silver body, with white tale, and a big white stripe running down the middle?
What makes this better? They have rotating images on their website and on shows a Boeing 747-400 with a different (and better) Albanian Airlines livery, but it is obviously photo shopped. (although maybe they will get one soon? Their website says, “we are in the process of adding our fleet by B747, 757, 767.”)
They only have four aircraft, one MD-82 (pictured) and three BAe 146’s. The BAe’s have a different livery (the best of the three in my opinion) than the MD-82 or the photo shopped Boeing 747, which makes me think the MD-82 is sporting a livery of the previous airline they bought the jet from and they slapped their logo on it.
I can understand saving a few bucks, but it doesn’t help them create a recognizable brand and would make me think twice about flying. However, they were using just TU-134s only eight years ago and I much rather fly on an ugly livery’d MD-82 than a pretty and matching TU-134.
Ryanair has over 200 Boeing 737-800’s, which allows them to save on maintenance, training, parts, etc. However, this also lessens their ability to negotiate effectively if Boeing knows Ryanair is not likely to start buying other aircraft types.
Ryanair is one of Europe’s biggest airlines and they feel they can keep growing. They are so confident about their ability to grow, they are looking to purchase another 200 airplanes and they say Boeing is not working hard enough to make a good deal.
“We see no point in continuing to grow rapidly in a declining yield environment, where our main aircraft partner is unwilling to play its part in our cost reduction programme,” Michael O’Leary, the famous CEO for Ryanair, said about the situation.
O’Leary says they have cash on hand and if Boeing doesn’t want it, they will just pay their stockholders in dividends instead (why not put the money to providing some actual customer service? Nah’¦).
This seems it might just be O’Leary doing what he does, trying to squeeze every last dime out of Boeing. I find it hard to believe that Ryanair would move to having two aircraft types or willing to shell out the money to convert their entire fleet into one. My bet is either they really don’t want to buy 200 planes or if they do, they will all be Boeing 737’s.
Take a look at the winglet and tail. This is a new Boeing 737-800 for Ryanair.
Ryanair has over 200 Boeing 737-800’s, which allows them to save on maintenance, training, parts, etc. However, this also lessens their ability to negotiate effectively if Boeing knows Ryanair is not likely to buy other aircraft types.
The airline is one of Europe’s biggest and they feel they can easily keep growing. They are so confident about their ability to grow, they are looking to purchase another 200 airplanes, but they say Boeing is not working hard enough to make a deal.
“We see no point in continuing to grow rapidly in a declining yield environment, where our main aircraft partner is unwilling to play its part in our cost reduction programme,” Michael O’Leary, the famous CEO for Ryanair, said about the situation.
O’Leary says they have cash on hand and if Boeing doesn’t want it, they will just pay their stockholders in dividends instead (why not put the money to providing some actual customer service? Nah’¦).
This seems it might just be O’Leary doing what he does, trying to squeeze every last dime out of Boeing. I find it hard to believe that Ryanair would move to having two aircraft types or willing to shell out the money to convert their entire fleet into one. My bet is either they really don’t want to buy 200 planes or if they do, they will all be Boeing 737’s.
Branson greeting you to calm your fears. From Virgin Atlantic's website
Are you afraid of flying? For $4.99 you can download an iPhone app that has a 98% success rate with calming people’s fears. According to a Boeing survey, one of every three Americans is either anxious or afraid to fly.
The iPhone app starts out with an introduction from Richard Branson, president of Virgin Atlantic, trying to calm people’s fears of flying. Then users can learn about the flying process, what to expect, a frequently asked questions section, and even a “Fear Attack” button in case you need quick breathing exercises to calm your nerves.
“Our first iPhone app will bring the benefits of our successful Flying Without Fear course to millions of people around the world who are now using mobile technology to make their lives better,” Branson said.
And don’t take my word for it! Whoopi Goldberg stated, “I was a sceptic. I hadn’t flown in 13 years but after doing their program, I understood that while my fear was real, there were many things I didn’t know or had misinformation about, which they were able to clear up. So what happened? The program works. I now fly. It’s that simple.” And you know if Whoopi can do it, so can you!
Even if you don’t fear flying, you get 2,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles when joining the program, which might be worth the $5 all on its own!
