Cabin of an airline -- keep it clean!
I know I have been on certain airlines (I will keep them nameless) where there seems to be a constant dirty feel to them. Seats are stained, garbage in the seatback, and don’t even get me started with the bathrooms…
After United Airlines tied for last place in a JD Power and Associates survey for aircraft interiors they took a second look at their cleaning schedules.
It is not as simple as breaking out the 409 or some other cleaner, since many passengers will have allergies or some chemicals might interact negatively with the plane’s frame (and no one wants that).
Where United would only do deep cleans (shampooing and scrubbing) once every 6 to 18 months (kind of gross thinking of the number of people on the planes), now it is more about 30-days for domestic and about 15 days for international aircraft.
Gulf Air - Alcohol Free?
No, you make not have a drink.
If you are a frequent flyer of Gulf Air and like to have a drink or two on your flight, you might have to resort to going back to biting your nails for a little bit of nerve comfort.
Parliament in Bahrain unanimously voted to ban the serving of alcohol on the Gulf Air flights, since they claim it Islam bans then from serving alcohol.
Although it is sometimes hard to argue with forcing people to do something against their religions, Mona Almoayyed, who is president of Bahraini Businesswomen Society, points out that it might, “start with this and it will end up with restrictions on women.” That,” it is a matter of personal freedom,” and , “it is not a matter of alcohol.”
Of course in this world economy and market for almost all airlines, they can’t really afford to lose much more profit. No matter what happens with this situation, I just hope it doesn’t spread to many other airlines.
Flight 1549 Floating in the Hudson
An amazing videos here and here showing the crash and evac (crash at 2:02). Some great pictures can be found here.
You have probably heard of the story in some detail by now, if you have an interest in the airline industry. Normally when I hear about an accident, I think I am about to have to write a blog that I do not want to write about. However, in this case things (other than some minor injuries and probably some nightmares) worked out about as well as an accident can.
Flight 1549 took off last Thursday a few minutes before 3:30pm from LaGuardia on its way to .
At about 3,000 feet, climbing after take off, it is certain that the jet his a group of birds causing both engines to go silent. Most people have the mis-conception that if a large aircraft like this loses it engines it will fall quickly to the ground. However, they still have forward momentum and lift, causing them to glide.
But with only 3,000 feet of elevation in a large metropolitan area, it doesn’t give the pilot too much time to think or maneuver.
After impact all 155 passengers were able to successfully exit the aircraft. Absolutely amazing. I have always seen those water landing images in the airline safety card and thought there would be very little chance a plane could successfully land like that and allow people to escape. I am glad I was wrong!
Source: AP Video: AP Images: Fox
AirTran Boeing 717
Of course we all live in an age of heightened airport security. Signs remind us that “we” the passengers are the eyes and ears and report any suspicious activity.
That is what some passengers on an AirTran flight from Reagan National to Orlando thought they were doing…being vigilant. Anyone who has played the game telephone know how easy it is to mis-hear things. Well a group of 9 Muslim folks were on the plane and discussing the safety of the plane, something that many people would talk about before trusting their safety on a piece of technology 30,000 feet in the air. One passenger thought it was suspicious and reported the event.
This caused the party of 9 to have to de-board and be interviewed by the FBI. It also caused the other 104 passengers and their luggage to be re-screened before the plane can leave.
No matter if this was too much of an overreaction, the part I don’t get is even after the FBI cleared the group, AirTran would still not allow them to fly on their airline and would not set them up on another flight.
AirTran says they were given a full refund and may now fly again in the future, but I imagine that is not very likely.
UPDATE: Per MSNBC.com:
Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran said in a statement that it refunded the passengers’ air fare and planned to reimburse them for replacement tickets they bought on US Airways. AirTran also offered to take the passengers back to Washington free of charge.It is a good thing to see AirTran came around and did what was right!
We can do silly things to get that internet!
On the ground we live in a world of easy communication. Access to the internet is pretty much everywhere, from Wi-Fi, to phones, to city-wide free wireless access. However, the technology has seemed to take a while to find a foot hold in the sky.
It would seem to make sense. People are willing to pay to use the internet at hotspots on the ground (even at the airports) why hasn’t the technology taken off (heh) in the air?
Connexion by Boeing used to be the beacon of hope. Here was a big name (you probably have heard of Boeing if you are reading this blog) that was to provide internet access to passengers on planes. It went online on May 17, 2004 and only lasted until December 31, 2006. Boeing stated, “the market for this service has not materialized as had been expected.”
Prices varied from $9.95 per hour to $29.95 for unlimited access. Even though this might be a little too pricey for some, it would seem cheap enough to provide enough entertainment, communication, and business productivity for those who are dropping at least a few hundred on a ticket.
So, where is the beacon of hope now? One of the brightest beacons is Row 44. It was also created in 2004 around the same time as Connexion, but unlike Boeing it is still around and with a hopeful future.
Row 44 currently has plans to set up trial runs on Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines. Unfortunately there was been a little delay due to competition for FCC approval. However they are on track now for testing to start in early 2009. The beauty for those of us in North America, is we might have a chance to use the system (Connexion was not in N. America).
One way or another, I have faith that sometime in the near future we will have seamless internet connection from the ground into the air. Many people have already made it clear they don’t want to be sitting next to someone for a few hours talking on their cell phone (including myself), but I know I would love to be entertained (and gosh maybe even write an airline blog) at 30,000 feet in the air.
Image: Juicyrai
