Vietnam Airlines Boeing 777-2Q8 (ER) VN-A149 is racing down runway 18W in front of the fire station.
Where more and more liveries are going to mostly being white and not being unique, Vietnam Airlines has a gorgeous metallic blue livery.
Image: Thomas Becker
Virgin American's RED where you can order food and drink right at your seat.
In an age where almost everyone has an Debit or Credit Card and that airlines are charging for more things on flights than just movies and alcohol, it seems obvious that airlines should be taking credit cards in flight.
Going cashless has many benefits (not having to have cash on the plane, don’t have to ask for change, encourages people to spend more, etc), but some flight attendants are worried what happens if the card reader doesn’t work? And there are concerns that the credit cards will slow down service.
Although airlines that have already implemented the service show there is a learning curve, but once learned, service can actually pick up.
Virgin America probably has the coolest system where you can order items on the entertainment module in the seat back and actually swipe your credit card there.
Current American cashless airlines:
* United Airlines: Since late April
* AirTran
* American Airlines by June 1
* JetBlue
* AirTran
* Southwest Airlines
* Sun country Airlines
* Frontier Airlines
* Alaska Airlines
* USA3000
* MidWest Airlines
* Virgin America
There could be more — there doesn’t seem to be a full list of airlines and I tried to search down as many as I could.
Although the additional charges might be bothersome, at least most airlines are making an effort to make paying them easier.
Image: NotCot.com
McDonnell Douglas MD-11, N1767A, Approaching r/w 27L, London, Heathrow,
At a time where airline’s frequent flier programs are becoming less friendly with higher charges, more miles required to redeem free flights, and more restrictions, American Airlines has decided to try something new and make it easier for its fliers to redeem their miles.
American Airlines is now allowing passengers to easily redeem one-way tickets for half the miles a round-trip ticket takes. This will open up many more options for those that only need a one-way flight, but wasn’t able to easily or cheaply do it with their miles. This should also make it easier to find a free seat on an airline. For if a person was booking a round trip “miles flight” and one of the legs had no more free slots, the entire itinerary would be denied. Now, it allows more flexibility.
Airline analysts think American Airline’s move will help to booster their AAdvantage membership by millions and will cause a ripple effect to other airlines, forcing them to follow suit. This should bring up revenue for additional passengers who want to build up their miles and also via partnerships with hotels and rental car companies who purchase miles for airlines.
It took about a year for American Airlines to make the changes to their system to handle the one-way ticketing and they expect it to take another year before seeing other airlines providing direct competition.
Source: MSNBC Image: Bonedome
Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 with love
Talking to someone on a long flight can provide entertainment, but can it find love? Air New Zealand is hoping so. This October they are having a “matchmaking flight” from LAX to New Zealand. The experience will start with a pre-gate party at LAX, a luxurious flight with drinks, food, and games, followed by a Matchmaking Ball at Auckland’s SkyTower.
Feel that might not be enough time to meet the perfect person? Air New Zealand has created their own website TheMatchmakingFlight.com where you can start finding that perfect someone now.
Prices range from $780 to $1100+ depending on when you return and your options. Probably some cheaper ways to find love, but not as cool.
Source: Straits Times via Airline World Image: TheMatchmakingFlight.com
JetAmerica's Boeing 737-800
Yes, a new airline is starting up, but they have a lot of help. The airline will be based out of Newark, NJ and have most of their flights go to smaller mid-sized cities which have seen a drop in traffic from other airlines.
Some of the airports are willing to shell out a lot of money to make JetAmerica work. Lansing, MI, South Bend, ID Melbourne, FL, and Toledo, OH are paying JetAmerica with $1.4 million in grants, almost $900,000 in waived fees, and over $1 million in marketing and advertising in the first year.
John Weikle, chief executive or JetAmerica, feels this extra money will help protect the new airline from fuel price spikes which mostly caused the bankruptcy of Skybus — an airline JetAmerica is modelling themselves after.
Prices will start at $9 per seat (for the first 19 seats) and then up to $199. The standards of paying for checked bags, food, drink, etc will apply as well to the new airline.
JetAmerica will start with one leased Boeing 737-800, but hope to have four flying by July of next year.
Source: MSNBC Image: JetAmerica.com