Two Hornets from VFA-87 wait as Crash and Hanky back out of a KC-10 from the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base near San Francisco.
Unfortunately, many people just think of Memorial Day as a day off work (unless you are in the airline business where your work never stops), but it is much more than that. Many wonderful airline pilots start their careers as a military pilot and not all are able to make the transition to civilian life since they are killed in the line of duty.
Please take some time today and no matter what your political beliefs are or if you feel the wars we have fought and are currently are fighting are just, remember those that have died in the line of duty!
Image: Timmeh!
Air France's new Boeing 777 sporting their new livery
Back in April a few milestones happened with one plane. Boeing was able to deliver its 777th Boeing 777 and Air France was able to show off its new livery. Overall, a very minor evolution from Air France’s previous livery.
Image: alexisced73
Does Southwest Airlines giving out free drink coupons help them to acheive #1 status?
According to the Customer Service Satisfaction Index, airline passengers feel the airlines are doing a 3.2% better job in customer service compared to the year before.
Although fees are up, the numbers of passengers are down. This means less lines, fewer bumped people, and more room since you might have no one sitting in the center seat.
Southwest Airlines was #1 for customer satisfaction for the 16th year in a row with it’s highest rating ever. The biggest gainers were Delta Airlines, US Airways, and Continental who improved by margins of 6.7% to 9.7%. American Airlines saw the largest decrease (3.2%) and United Airlines ended with the lowest overall score for the year.
It will be interesting to see if the airlines can keep this positive trend going, since hopefully by next year we’ll have a strong economy and fuller planes (and lines).
Source: USA Today Image: tsmyther
As the blog grows, we want to keep adding new and fun features to the blog. There have been some smaller changes and it might be hard for people to notice an easier to use layout, but there are some more obvious things that I wanted to point out:
- SHARE items that interest you on a blog. On the bottom left of each entry you can see different ways in which you can share. Either, Digg, Facebook, Fark, and maybe more.
- TWITTER. We now have a twitter account and will post when there are new postings and some random thoughts. FOLLOW THE AIRLINE BLOG!
- COMMENT REPLIES. Now you can have replies to your comments emailed to you, to help foster better discussion.
- EMAIL BLOGS. Get a daily email telling you what is new on The Airline Blog (you still have RSS option as well).
- GRAVATAR. Want a nifty picture next to your comments? All you have to do is set up one Gravatar account and upload on image and it will show up on any WordPress blog (ie CrankyFlier or Delta Blog) you comment on. No need to add a picture on each blog you read!
- NO LOG INS. You can now comment without having to log-in. Yes, means I have to deal with more spam, but I think it allows you to give your comments without having to go through the pain of creating an account (and put in your email address and it will post your Gravatar).
- AWESOMENESS. Well this is not really new, but we will continue to keep adding on to it!
Stay tuned. We will continue to grow and add new content, new blog authors, interesting series, more videos, interviews with airline industry insiders, and much more! Any suggestions or story ideas, you are always welcome to email da***@th************.com.
THANKS FOR READING!
A dramatic view of the Grand Tetons immediately after stepping out of door 1L on an American Airlines Boeing 757-200 at Jackson Hole Airport (JAC/KJAC) in Wyoming.
The 57 year old pilot was supposed to be taking 204 passengers from London’s Heathrow to Chicago yesterday on flight AA87. Before the flight could take off, security staff alerted police who administered a breathalyzer that the pilot failed. The flight was delayed, but was able to take off after finding a replacement pilot.
Source: MSNBC Image: matt.hintsa