Not a welcomed guest!
A scorpion and five of its babies hitched a ride on Southwest Airline flight 2093 from Phoenix to Indiana. About 30 minutes before touch down the passenger was messing in his carry-on and felt a familiar stinging sensation — he had been stung by scorpions before. He notified the flight crew who notified emergency personnel on the ground.
The passenger ended up being treated at the airport, the hitch-hikers were exterminated, and the aircraft was fumigated overnight. Southwest recently started allowing pets to fly on their aircraft, but I don’t think this is what they had in mind.
Source: IndyStar.com
Boeing 787 at the Everett, WA plant
Is Boeing threatening to move jobs out of Washington State unless their labor union commits to a no-strike clause in the next contract? I was waiting for a bit more information on the reports of Boeing’s ultimatum to their Washington machinists’ union before blogging about it, but details have not been forthcoming since U.S. Representative Norm Dicks from Washington broke the story a couple of weeks ago:
“The whole thing comes down to, can they get a long-term agreement with the union, with a no-strike clause. That’s what ultimately has to happen here in the next two or three or four months or they are going to go elsewhere. I think if they get this agreement, they would stay.”
The no-strike clause rumor comes in the wake of Boeing’s purchase of a 787 rear fuselage production plant in South Carolina ’“ prompting concerns that Boeing will move more of its production out of the Everett and Renton, Washington plants.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO District 751, who represents Boeing’s machinists in the Pacific Northwest, issued a statement assuring members that no proposal on a no-strike clause had been presented by Boeing. They also expressed disappointment with Boeing allowing rumors to spread this way: ’œTo use politicians as microphones to deliver a message, creates problems and does nothing to improve the relationship [between Boeing and the Machinists’ Union].’ That being said, the union asserts that they will look at any possible routes to keeping jobs in the state.
Washington State greatly benefits from the two large Boeing plants, and I’m sure residents would hate to see more Boeing jobs go out of state. Boeing has also been hemorrhaging money in the delayed production of the Dreamliner Boeing 787, so I can understand their desire to avoid costly strikes that could cause further delays. Boeing’s method of self-preservation, however, leaves a bad taste in the mouth, and I tend to feel for the union’s dismay over having all this leaked to the media before sitting down with labor. It will be interesting to see how negotiations pan out, and how strong public opinion will play a part.
Sources: Seattle Times, IAM District 751 Image: andyconniecox
TheAirlineBlog.com is now AirlineReporter.com
Thursday the 23rd will mark this blog’s first year and it has been a VERY exciting year. I have been able to participate in great adventures and meet some wonderful people. I have gone from family and friends reading a year ago to thousands of people reading from 111 different countries from around the world (still no readers from Azerbaijan, but 5 from Albania!).
One issue I have run into with creating this blog is name-confusion. There are other websites out there with similar names and it has caused confusion for readers and others in the industry. Even though I will lose time and money with this transfer, I feel it is the best move to do now before the blog grows any more since I wouldn’t want readers to confuse my blog with others.
I am VERY excited with the blog’s new name. I surveyed over 50 people I trust and spent hours looking at different possibilities. AirlineReporter.com has everything I wanted in a new domain name (and I get to keep my cool wing-A logo). A lot has changed in the last year, and I’m planning more changes, but still keeping the core of what this blog is about. I already have one additional blogger and editor, Amy Franklin, and I hope to grow in the number of bloggers in the near future.
Even with growth and change, I want to keep the basic concept of the blog the same: being able to share what is going on in the airline business in a way that anyone from industry experts to airline hobbyists can read and enjoy. And of course there has to be a little humor thrown in there too (Crazier Than Ryanair medal anyone?).
I will slowly transition to the new name, still posting on here to remind people to change over their bookmarks, RSS feeds, etc for a while. Thanks everyone for all your support and I look forward to bringing you the same great blog, under a new, better name: AirlineReporter.com.
Boeing 757 VQ-BCn special livery "Northern lights"
Yakutia Airlines is based in Yakutsk Russia and was founded in 2002. It has fleet of about 40, made up of mostly Russian built aircraft. This one shown in the photo is one of three Boeing 757’s currently being leased from Icelandair.
Three videos that teach you Wi-Fi do's and don'ts
A while back I was able to fly to Baltimore and be a part of AirTran’s wifi unveiling. I was excited to see the new technology first hand, but was disappointed when my AirTran flight back to Seattle didn’t have WiFi. Well, now there is no more wondering! 100% of AirTran’s planes now have WiFi. The beauty of all aircraft on a single airline having WiFi, is you no longer have to wonder. You know by flying on AirTran or Virgin American you will be able to enjoy WiFi.
To assist with folks getting use to having the internet in close proximity of other people, AirTran has created a website to teach you about Internetiquette (awesome word). It has three funny videos and an online brochure. Bonus points for anyone who can take a picture while looking at these on an AirTran flight!