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Friday 14 November, 2008 =20
Good morning
It is lovely to be home again. It was a productive time away, but =
jetlag,
horrible hotels, and flight frustrations invariably take the gloss off =
the
potential pleasure of international travel. Besides which, as nice as =
the
rest of the world is, home is always best.
I flew out of Heathrow’s new Terminal 5, so have now experienced it both
coming and going. The check-in hall was vast and uncrowded, with no =
lines
for checking in, which seems to now be exclusively via computer
self-check-in terminals, but with no apparent special facilities for
business or first class passengers (I subsequently discovered these were
down the far end of the terminal - to the right when you enter - but =
there
didn’t seem to be any signage to point premium passengers that way).
Although there were no lines to check in, when I went to go through
security, I was turned away, being told that the security area was too
congested. I asked about the priority lane, and was told that was =
congested
too, so had to go down to the other end of the terminal through the =
other
security area, which was also slow - the priority lane took ten minutes.
BA has several different lounges at both ends of the terminal once you =
get
into the secure area, and I visited the South lounge for business class
passengers. It was a nice enough lounge although as close to full as =
you’d
wish it to be, but it has its limitations. The food being served was =
very
limited and unappealing (only two hot dishes - pasta and sauce, or =
chicken
curry and rice). There was no champagne on offer, not even ‘available =
on
request’ as has become their habit in other lounges.
And, worst of all, there were no work stations for people with laptops.
There were a generous number of computer terminals for people traveling
without a computer, but there was absolutely nowhere for people with =
laptops
to work, other than uncomfortably seated in an easy chair with the =
computer
perched on one’s lap. Some of the chairs had power plugs alongside, but
most didn’t.
How can BA have overlooked this essential part of a lounge’s services?
I go to an international lounge expecting three things, and to a =
domestic
lounge hoping for the same three things - a place to work with my =
computer
(ie desk, chair, internet and power); some food to eat, and, ahem, =
something
nice to drink. BA’s latest lounge at Terminal 5 - the flagship lounge =
of
their entire network - scores an F on the first point, a D on the second
point, and C- on the third point.
It is a sad thought this is the best BA can do.
At least they had a selection of still white wines on offer in their =
lounge,
because, yet again, on the flight back to Seattle, although the wine =
list
promised two white wines, they only had one of them on the flight. Both =
my
flight over and my flight back had only one of the two white wines on =
the
menu available. It wasn’t as though they ran out of the other wine, =
they
just didn’t have any on board to start with.
You don’t get much for a $10,000 or thereabouts business class ticket =
these
days, do you.
There was a large range of stores, and some good food choices in the =
secure
area of the terminal, which was just as well, because I ended up buying =
and
eating food (and even buying my own drink - ginger beer, also not =
available
in the lounge) in the public area rather than in the lounge. I =
particularly
liked a restaurant operated by celebrated Michelin starred chef Gordon
Ramsay (Plane Food) that promised a two course meal within 25 minutes =
and
three courses within 35 minutes, both at very reasonable prices.
Lovers of fine whisky are pointed to an excellent value at the ‘World of
Whisky’ sub-store part of the large duty free shop area; a Lagavulin
Distiller’s Edition Double Matured single malt, distilled in 1991 and
bottled in 2008. A liter costs only =A343, and with Michael Jackson =
rating it
95/100, you’re getting one of the dozen or so finest whiskies in =
existence
for only =A343. The plunging pound (Yay! London almost seemed good =
value
this visit) makes this less than $65.
As whisky devotees know, those ridiculously expensive bottles of =
sometimes
much older whisky, costing ten or even one hundred times more, are often
given low ratings by Michael Jackson and the leading whisky guides. =
Believe
ir or not, older whisky is seldom better whisky.
The last part of my Terminal 5 experience is arguably the most important =
-
getting to the plane and departing on time. Unfortunately, that wasn’t =
a
very positive experience, with us having to bus from the main terminal =
to a
remote location where the plane was parked, and then suffering a 30 =
minute
delay before pushing back.
The reason for the delay was a bit of a mystery. It was explained to us
over the PA system by the pilot, but no-one on the plane, including the
flight attendants, could hear/understand what he said. After =
complaints, he
then re-announced the issue, starting off by rather testily complaining =
that
we hadn’t heard him the first time, but after the first sentence being
clear, it then lapsed back into unintelligibility again.
I don’t understand why a very highly trained pilot, on a $200 million
airplane, can’t manage to make a simple PA announcement. The flight
attendants have no difficulty making themselves heard - why can’t the =
pilots
also master the art of talking into a microphone intelligibly, the same =
as
they presumably do when communicating with Air Traffic Control?
It seems the delay was something to do with not being able to move the
stairs away from the plane - how difficult can that be? The 30 minute =
push
back delay magnified and became a one hour delay arriving into Seatac.
Now, experienced passengers know that what counts is not when the plane
lands, but when you leave the airport. After having to bully the =
luggage
guy at Heathrow to put the priority tags on my bags that I was entitled =
to,
I was hoping to have an advantage that would get me out of the airport
quickly and still allow me to be in time for an evening meeting.
No such luck. It took 21 minutes for the first bag to arrive on the
carousel - this at a time when there were no other international flights =
and
the customs/baggage hall was completely empty. The plane was parked =
less
than 100 yds from the luggage carousel - what took 21 minutes to get the
containers of bags from the plane to the carousel?
It then took another 18 minutes from when the first bag arrived on the
carousel until my ‘priority’ bags turned up. The first 15 minutes or so =
saw
bags arriving, but not a single one had a priority tag on them.
This gives BA a perfect record of failure for mis-managing their =
priority
bag promise - the flight to London had priority bags delayed, and the =
flight
back similarly had the priority bags coming off towards the end rather =
than
beginning of the bag delivery process. Shame on BA.
Anyway, enough about the flights. I was actually feeling a bit sorry =
for
BA, because I do focus on them more than other airlines for the simple
reason that they provide the most convenient services on the =
international
routes I fly from Seattle, and resolved to next try out the new =
Northwest
flights from Seattle to Heathrow, except this week they announced they =
were
discontinuing them, only a few months after they started them.
I had been very surprised when NW announced their plans to use one of =
their
very rare, very precious and very expensive Heathrow ’slots’ for flights
to/from Seattle, and my guess is their decision to end this service =
isn’t so
much a reflection on the Seattle flights as it is a belated realization =
on
their part that they could make more money with the slot by between =
Heathrow
and a more major US market. But maybe I’ll still try and use a =
different
airline for my flights to Europe in December for the Christmas Markets
cruise!
Talking about the Christmas Markets cruise, I’ve been giving some =
thought to
touring options to offer you in 2009. There will be a Christmas Markets
cruise, and I’d like to offer one other tour too. The two choices I’m
currently looking at are both ‘trans’ tours - a Trans-Siberian rail tour
and/or a Trans-Atlantic sea crossing. A possible third choice would be =
a
one week tour to the United Arab Emirates. All three have been recently =
and
regularly requested by readers, and promise to be memorable and =
enjoyable.
The Trans-Siberian Express tour would feature our own private carriages,
complete with showers and toilets, that we’d couple on to scheduled =
trains
to go between cities, then we’d leave the scheduled train and go to a =
hotel
in the major stops along the way for a night or two before continuing on
again. It would run about two weeks for travel from home to =
Vladivostok,
then through Russia to Moscow, and home again. Adding a cruise to St
Petersburg would add almost another two weeks to the total schedule. I =
can
only very roughly guesstimate the costs at this stage - more than $5000 =
per
person for the tour, plus airfare. Adding the cruise to St Petersburg =
would
be another $3000. This would be from mid/late June through to early =
July
(in my opinion, the best time of year to be in Russia).
The QM2 Trans-Atlantic crossing would be a six night cruise from =
Southampton
to New York, and would probably be on 13 or 25 June, with several =
pre-cruise
touring options offered beforehand in London and/or in Cornwall and =
Devon in
the southwest of England (or anything else you wanted to do yourself of
course). The cruise itself would be from about $1250, depending on your
cabin choice, and then you’d need to add airfare etc to this.
The UAE tour would visit Dubai and Abu Dhabi as well as going into the
desert to see places such as Al Ain and the Musandam Peninsula in Oman. =
It
would probably run about a week in length and be about $2000, plus =
airfare.
This would be later in the year (perhaps November).
My question to you is would you be interested in any (or all!) of these?
Could I ask you to quickly click the link below that describes your
interest; this will create an email with your answer coded into the =
subject
line. If you have additional thoughts, requests, suggestions, please =
add
them to the email - all emails will of course be carefully read and
responded to. If none of the ideas have appeal, there’s no need to =
reply.
Interested in the
Trans-Siberian tour without cruise extension
Interested in the
Trans-Siberian tour with cruise extension
Interested in a =
Russian
cruise but not the Trans-Siberian tour
Interested in the =
QM2
cruise but will make own arrangements for pre-cruise touring
Interested in the QM2
cruise with touring before the cruise included too
Interested in the UAE =
tour
Interested in both =
the UAE
tour and the Trans-Siberian tour
Interested in both =
the
UAE and the QM2 tours
Interested in both =
the
Trans-Sib and the QM2 tours
Interested in all =
three
tours
Back to my time in London. I wrote last week about my unfortunate stay =
in
an appalling hotel in London with a room that was too small to open a
suitcase on the floor, and a desk that you couldn’t sit at because there =
was
literally no space between it and the bed. I should add that I paid =
extra
to book a double room so as to get a larger room with more space, even
though I was traveling alone. I can’t start to imagine how two people =
with
maybe three suitcases could fit in this room.
You may recall I was reduced to working naked due to the stifling heat =
in
the room. But contrast my experience with how the hotel is described on
Lastminute.com’s site :
Chic hotel close to Hyde Park & Paddington - 4* - London. This chic =
hotel
has been fully refurbished as a 4-star hotel complete with luxurious
features. Each room has been newly refurbished with the emphasis on =
comfort
and relaxation. With a variety of room types to choose from this hotel =
is an
ideal place to stay for business or pleasure.
Needless to say, I couldn’t detect a single luxurious feature, and don’t
consider it ideal for business or pleasure. Comfort and relaxation? =
There
isn’t even a chair to sit on in the room, other than the uncomfortable =
and
inaccessable one wedged between the desk and bed.
And when I asked to change rooms due to the small size and oppressive =
heat,
rather than being overwhelmed by the claimed variety of room types to =
choose
from, I was told that although they had other rooms free, they were not
authorized to change me to another room. Perhaps my lastminute.com
reservation entitled me only to the worst room in the hotel?
There’s an interesting extra aspect to my hotel booking experience with
Lastminute. I had two London stays - I spent two nights in London, then =
two
nights out of London, then three nights back in London again. I booked =
the
hotel I wrote about last week for the first two nights, at a very good
seeming rate of =A385/night. Then I booked one of Lastminute’s ‘Top =
Secret’
hotels for the second stay. Top Secret hotels are described as being =
hotels
offering rates so low the hotels don’t want to put their names alongside
them. We can all understand that concept and I was pleased to be =
getting a
bargain as a result of some hotel finding itself with too many unsold =
rooms
and wanting to discreetly sell them off cheaply. I spent =A3126 a night =
for
the top secret hotel stay.
Now, get this. My top secret hotel, costing =A3126/night, turned out to =
be
none other than the same hotel that I’d booked, under its own name, for =
only
=A385/night! Rather than being a hotel that was embarrassed by the low =
rate
it was selling its rooms for, it turned out to be, instead, a hotel that =
was
embarrassed by the high rate it was selling its rooms for! Rather than
getting a bargain, I got a rip-off. To compound this unpleasant =
surprise, I
ended up back in the identical room, even though I asked for any other =
room
- maybe indeed a Lastminute booking gets allocated the least desirable
rooms.
A common experience when booking hotels through Lastminute.com is that =
they
are rated with more stars than the hotel deserves.
For example, I’ve compared the different features of two hotels I stayed =
at
while in England last week. One hotel is rated three stars by the UK =
AA,
the other hotel is rated four stars by lastminute.com. See if you can =
guess
which is which :
=20
Hotel 1
Hotel 2
Room size
Microscopic, no space to even open a suitcase on the floor
Large, plenty of room for everything
Bathroom size
Can barely turn around inside - the small bathmat covers almost the =
entire
free floor space!
Large - you’d need a dozen bath mats to cover the free floor space
Shower
Barely dribbles out water
Huge flow of water
Wash cloth
Not provided
Yes
Breakfast
Extra
Included
Lunch and Dinner
Not available - restaurant closed
Both provided with choice of restaurant or bar meals
Bar
None
Yes - fully stocked bar with good range of ‘real ales’, spirits and =
wine,
and friendly bar staff
Convention facilities
No
Yes
Work Desk
Tiny, wedged against bed so impossible to sit at
Large, lots of room to sit at
Easy chair
None
Two large comfortable easy chairs
Bed size
Small standard double
Large king
Blanket size
For twin bed - it is too small and doesn’t fit/tuck in to the double bed
Good and appropriately sized
Pillows
Four lumpy uncomfortable ones
Four of various types - there’s one to please everyone among the four
Phones
Two
Three
Parking
None
Plenty, and free
Newspaper provided
No
Yes
Trouser Press
No
Yes
Room Temperature
Stiflingly hot, day and night
Normal
Alarm Clock in Room
No
Yes
Yes, of course, Hotel 1 is the so called ‘four star chic hotel with
luxurious features’ by Lastminute.com, whereas the vastly superior in =
every
respect Hotel 2 - the lovely Forest & Vale in Pickering where I spent =
the
weekend - gets three stars by the UK AA. Clearly, something is =
massively
wrong when a markedly inferior in all respects hotel is rated four star
while a good hotel and better than the four star hotel gets only three
stars.
I shared the preceding comments with Lastminute’s Customer Relations
Manager, Elaine Gould on Tuesday. She has passed them on to the =
company’s
Hotel Management team, but hasn’t replied yet. I’ll let you know their
responses when they are received.
And now, after that lengthy preamble, on to the feature column for the =
week.
It is a massive offering, spanning five pages, and I was tempted to =
spoon
feed it to you, week by week, but I think better to run the risk of
overwhelming you now - those of you who are interested can then read =
through
as much of it as you want, and those of you who are not interested won’t
have the next five weeks full of irrelevant content!
This week’s offering comes from years of working with many thousands of
travelers when I owned a travel company in the 1990s. It would =
frustrate me
to see how some people were adopting a very dysfunctional approach to
planning and budgeting for their vacation, and my ability to advise them =
was
constrained by their perception that I had a vested interest in the =
outcome.
They were both correct and incorrect in their perception - I did have a
vested interest. But that interest was not to simply sell more travel =
and
make more commission, but rather to help ensure they had a positive =
travel
experience so they would return from their vacation happy and content, =
and
be more likely then to recommend other people to my company.
So, and now offered in a situation where clearly I can have no vested
interest at all, is :
This Week’s Feature Column : How
Much =
to
Spend on a Vacation : I attempt to answer the unanswerable in this
extensive article series on how to budget and plan for a vacation, with
ideas about when it makes sense to spend more - and when it makes sense =
to
spend less - on a vacation.
A note to the many travel agent readers - You might find it helpful to =
refer
potential clients to this article series. 
Blast from the Past : In 2001 I wrote about Ryanair and wondered if its
business model could apply to the US as well. Today, with almost all
airlines including fewer amenities with their fares, and charging extra =
for
everything else, it seems the Ryanair model has taken root with a =
vengeance.
Now if only the US carriers could complete the last part of Ryanair’s
business model - low and often free airfares!
In 2002 I reviewed BA’s Business Class cabin, and I’d make that the =
featured
blast from the past today, but for the need to now update the review to
reflect the new business class seat offered by BA. Look for that in the
next week or two. In 2003, I wrote about something that was then still =
a
novelty - using the internet for phone calls via VoIP.
I think on balance, the most interesting column is the 2001 Ryanair
column. And note at the
bottom of it a still working link to a Forbes article predicting which =
US
carriers would go broke. Being as how they didn’t specify a time frame =
for
their predictions to come true, it is hard to judge their accuracy, but =
the
only two carriers they gave a greater than 50% likelihood of going broke =
to
were US Airways (80%) and America West (90%), which of course =
subsequently
merged into one airline. As for newly merged NW/DL, they rated those =
two
carriers as 20% and 25% respectively likely to go broke.
Dinosaur watching : Talking about newly merged NW/DL, there are some
contradictory stories floating around out there.
On the one hand, their EVP of network planning and revenue management, =
Glen
Hauenstein, was quoted in a Wednesday conference call to reporters as =
saying
that the merged airline intends to keep all current hubs from both NW =
and DL
operating as hubs, which he said would create ‘a stronger platform to =
take
customers from all over the United States to destinations around the =
globe’
(whatever that means).
On the other hand, this
article
reports that Delta is shrinking its Cincinnati hub by 12% in January 09, =
and
is restructuring the hub to make it sustainable through at least next =
year
(whatever that means, and it sure doesn’t sound very positive about the
future). Delta will be offering 33% fewer flights in Jan 09 than in Jan =
08.
That doesn’t sound as confident as Mr Hauenstein’s bravado, does it.
My view is that it is ridiculous to expect the merged carrier to operate =
six
hubs. While the airline might play games with what its calls its =
airports,
expect to see at least two of the hubs with steadily reducing traffic =
and
being de-emphasized on their route network.
In more Delta(Northwest) news, here’s an
st-
bag-fee.html> article that suggests that our ‘enemy’ - when it comes to
airline charges - is none other than ourselves.
In a manner reminiscent of American Airlines discontinuing its ‘More =
Room in
Coach’ program some years back (ie because it wasn’t shifting market =
share
from carriers with cramped coach class seating to AA with much more leg
room), Delta says it is now going to charge a fee for the first checked =
bag
(as well as the second), because most of its passengers thought it was
already charging a fee.
If there’s no benefit in not charging a fee; if there’s no benefit in
providing a superior service, even the least visionary of airline =
executives
can work out that it is better to add the fee and discontinue the =
service.
As I regularly plead with you, we must, as consumers, reward good =
behavior
and penalize bad behavior among the airlines. If there’s no =
accountability
or negative consequence of bad service and high fees, then of course
airlines will continue to add fees and withdraw services.
One more thing about the DL/NW merger. Here’s Delta’s home
l>
town paper belatedly discovering that airline mergers may hurt =
consumers.
Gosh! Who’d a thunk it? Certainly not the Justice Department….
A shame the Atlanta Journal-Constitution didn’t have this epiphany a few
weeks earlier, although I doubt it would have influenced the Justice =
Dept’s
eyes wide shut whitewash of the DL/NW merger.
The unfriendly skies : If you’re flying on Air France or Alitalia any =
time
soon, check ahead for the status of your flight.
Air France pilots are going on strike from Friday through Monday, and =
some
Alitalia unions are ‘working to rule’ - a curious concept that you’d =
think
might threaten to make its staff more rather than less productive, but
apparently that will not be the case.
And Aer Lingus workers have voted to strike later this month, protesting =
the
airline’s plans to cut jobs, hire outside workers for some jobs, and =
freeze
pay levels.
Congratulations to United for coming last in a survey on customer
satisfaction. United had a rate of customer complains seven times =
greater
than that of the best airline in the survey, Southwest. Scoring seven =
times
more customer complaints than Southwest is a surprising achievement, and =
one
which would seem to be difficult to do.
In general, the low cost carriers came tops in all categories for =
customer
satisfaction, while the dinosaurs came bottom.
Apparently, with airlines, there’s an exception to the general rule ‘you =
get
what you pay for’.
Congratulations also to Virgin Atlantic (VS) - but this time, sincerely
offered. The airline won awards for Best Airline Business Class, Best
Airline Economy Class and Best Scheduled Airline Long Haul at the recent
British Travel Awards.
VS also reports an 11% increase in business travelers using their =
services
from Heathrow in the last 12 months, which it attributes to superior =
service
and a better quality product for its passengers.
By a strange coincidence, BA admits to a ‘double digit decline’ in its
corporate traffic as part of reporting a $66 million loss for the last =
six
months (April - September), and certainly my two recent flights showed =
their
business class cabin to be emptier than I’ve ever noticed it before.
Now, if VS is enjoying a double digit increase in its business class
passengers due to superior service and a better quality product, and if =
BA
is suffering an 11% decline in its business class traffic, what do you =
think
the reason for BA’s misfortune might be? Do you think BA attributes its
loss of traffic to inferior service and a poorer quality product?
Ummm, no. It blames it on ‘economic concerns’ and problems in its =
financial
sector clients.
Talking about BA, I had a reader telephone me on Thursday afternoon this
week in a panic. He was at JFK and couldn’t find their new subsidiary
airline, OpenSkies. According to this frequent international traveler,
no-one at the airport had heard of it or knew which terminal it operated
from (answer =3D terminal 7, the BA terminal).
In fairness, he’d been calling it, incorrectly, ‘Fly Open Skies’ (its =
web
url) rather than OpenSkies, so I guess airline staff were looking for it
under the letter F rather than O in their directories.
I also heard from another reader who reported having his OpenSkies =
flight
cancelled. The reason given was a vague reference to ‘winter schedule
changes’ rather than ‘we’re sorry, but there’s just not enough people =
booked
to make the flight worthwhile’.
Talking more about OpenSkies, I reported two
weeks =
ago
that the new airline was experiencing light passenger loads and was =
putting
its growth plans on hold. But in a nonsense
=3D2&
ref=3Dtravel&oref=3Dslogin&oref=3Dslogin> article on Wednesday this =
week, the NY
Times claims that OpenSkies is expanding. No details of its expansion =
are
offered, for truly there are none pending.
Perhaps the most delightful line in this article is the one that follows =
its
exposition about the decline in business class traffic. The article =
goes on
to say that OpenSkies has adapted to the tougher times by eliminating =
its
coach class.
While it is true that its Premium Economy cabin is a good alternative to
business class, eliminating coach class is a strange way of responding =
to
reduced business class traffic. Perhaps the airline might have been =
better
advised to have eliminated its very average business class entirely in =
favor
of its Prem+ class and perhaps retained some coach setting too, or gone =
all
Prem+.
My picks for OpenSkies remain as I’ve earlier said - an uncertain future =
on
any basis, and a continued de-emphasis on its Biz class in favor of =
Prem+.
It is surprising that BA isn’t using OpenSkies for its new all business
class service that will operate between London City Airport and New York
next year, particularly because the BA planes (A318s) can’t fly the =
route to
New York without stopping to refuel in Ireland on the way. It would be =
an
ideal route for an OpenSkies 757 and a logical extension of the =
OpenSkies
business model.
More about the new BA route at the bottom
T_bAs~s
~T_T_b> of this article.
Talking about cancellations, a reader received the following email :
Dear MANGO Guest,
Due to changes to MANGO’s scheduled aircraft maintenance program it has
become necessary to reschedule flight JE154 operating from CPT to JNB on =
3
December. The new schedule for this flight will be as set out below. =
Should
you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact the =
call
center at 0861 162646, and they will be delighted to assist you.
We apologize for any inconvenience thus caused, but this was necessary =
to
ensure your safety, and we trust you will accept the change in that =
spirit.
With kind regards,
Mango Airlines=20
He wants to know how it is possible for an airline to hide behind a
maintenance related cancellation when the notice was sent out on 11
November, almost four weeks in advance, and disputes the suggestion that =
he
should feel good about this because it is being done for his safety.
The headlines of a recent press release sounded very positive, just as =
press
releases are supposed to do. =20
EMIRATES ANNOUNCES HALF-YEAR PROFITS=20
=95 Strong business growth continues =96 operating revenues up 31%, =
passenger
traffic up 11%, cargo tons up 13%
=95 Positive outlook for next six months
So imagine the surprise then when reading on, to discover that Emirates
actually suffered a plunge in profit for its first half year of 2009, =
with
net profit dropping from US$643 million last year to US$77 million this
year.
But perhaps this will quieten the airline’s critics who continue to =
allege,
with nothing to substantiate their claims and plenty to refute them, =
that
Emirates in some strange way enjoys unique advantages unlike any other
airline. A large part of the reason for the drop in profits was the =
impact
of fuel prices during the April - September period.
Yes, Emirates too suffers from the same challenges as all other =
airlines, it
just manages them better than most. See my article on ‘Does
Emirates Enjoy an Unfair Advantage’ for more discussion on this.
And, all joking aside, it is very impressive to see an 11% increase in
passenger numbers and a huge 31% increase in revenue at a time when most
airlines were struggling to stay the same size.
I interviewed the UK country manager of Emirates’ competitor, Etihad, at
World Travel Market on Monday this week, with a view to writing an =
article
comparing and contrasting the two UAE airlines.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a very satisfactory interview - to my =
astonishment,
he didn’t even know any of his airline’s financial results and couldn’t =
even
tell me if they were profitable or not.
A far cry from Emirates and their excellent management, both in the US, =
and
everywhere else.
Here’s a most
110
2313.html?hpid=3Dsec-nation> dismaying article about the collapse and
non-outcome of a federal task force that spent a year trying to work out
guidelines and requirements for passengers stranded for hours on parked
planes.
One wonders how people get appointed to such task forces - in this case, =
36
people strong - and apparently dominated by airline representatives, =
which
surely doomed the task force to failure right from the get-go.
No-one invited me!
I mentioned some rather overly optimistic plans to power airplanes with
nuclear reactors. Hopefully that will not come to pass, but here’s a =
much
tor
s-los-alamos> more appealing idea - mini nuclear reactors the size of =
garden
sheds, and each able to power 20,000 homes.
The top ten mobile gadgets of all time? I’m not so sure, but it is
interesting to see the items chosen in this
rev
olutionary_mobile_gadgets.html> article.
Good news - an enhancement to lithium ion batteries - the rechargeable
batteries commonly used to power cell phones and laptop computers - =
might
increase the power capacity of a battery eight-fold, according to this
>
article. Confusingly the article’s URL says =
‘team.doubles.battery.life’,
and the article both says an eight-fold increase in life and that they =
will
be 90% more efficient than current batteries.
Whatever the gain in performance, they should hit the market in about =
four
years.
This Week’s Security Horror Story : In order for a pilot to possess a
firearm in a plane’s cockpit he has to be first highly trained as a =
pilot,
then secondly, highly trained in firearms usage. He also has to undergo
evaluation and screening for his suitability to pilot a plane, and then =
a
second full series of psychological tests to determine his suitability =
to
carry a firearm, which he is only allowed to have in the cockpit.
Maybe that is fair and reasonable. But now think about what is required =
for
a Federal Air Marshal to take a loaded pistol into the passenger =
compartment
of a plane, and possibly to make a shoot/don’t shoot decision in a cabin
full of passengers : These days, the Homeland Security Department will
recruit pretty much anyone off the street, no matter what their =
background,
and even if they have no prior law enforcement experience. A Federal =
Air
Marshal (FAM) doesn’t need to undergo any screening or evaluation, and =
goes
through a training program that some consider to be insufficiently =
rigorous
these days.
So why is it that a highly trained and highly skilled pilot, being given =
a
firearm as a weapon of last resort to be used only when terrorists have
broken into the cockpit, has to undergo such extraordinarily extensive
training and screening (and on their own dime, and on their own time),
whereas Federal Air Marshals are trusted with loaded weapons and given =
the
discretion to use them in the plane’s passenger cabin (with their =
minimal
training fully paid for)?
Now think about this : If a pilot resigns, then joins the FAM service, =
gets
qualified and serves for a period on flights, then leaves the FAM =
service
and rejoins an airline, he’ll then have to go through all sorts of
psychological tests in order to have more restricted access and powers =
with
a firearm than he formerly had as a FAM.
Does that seem logical or sensible to you? Why are we doing all we can =
to
make it difficult for pilots to protect their planes and passengers (to =
say
nothing of potentially saving buildings on the ground, too) as a last =
ditch
measure, when we trust less skilled less qualified people with broader
powers in the cabin?
More details here
=
..
Reader Bryan writes to report a ’serious security issue’ with Virgin
Atlantic. After my disclosing last week that BA refuses to take
pictures of passengers on its flights, or allow passengers to take =
pictures
themselves due to ’security concerns’, he reports that he was alarmed =
when a
flight attendant ran over to him (his words) upon seeing him taking =
photos
in the VS Upper Class cabin. Was his camera about to be impounded? Was =
he
about to be arrested?
Actually, neither. Instead the VS flight attendant offered to help, and
proceeded to take a nice picture of Bryan looking very relaxed in his =
seat.
Could this be part of the reason why VS is reporting an 11% increase in =
its
business class passenger numbers, while BA is experiencing what it coyly
describes as a ‘double digit decline’ it its own premium cabin traffic? =
Or
is VS being alarmingly lax about this serious security issue?
Flight delays contribute to drinking and espionage? To say nothing of
kissing strangers. More details here
new
s_view&newsLang=3Den&div=3D508383071&newsId=3D20081111005365> .
It seems that if you complain vociferously about Ryanair’s calendars,
they’ll send you one for free the next year. Ryanair is again issuing a
calendar this year featuring some members of its, ahem, female staff, =
with
all proceeds going to charity.
And, in a gesture of some sort (an upraised digit leaps to mind) it is
sending free copies to people who complained about the good taste (or
alleged lack thereof) of last year’s calendar.
If you’d like to view the calendar (purely for, ahem, researching the =
days
and dates in 2009), you can see it generously displayed here
st-
charity-calendar-featuring-scantily-clad-cabin-crew.html> . Which will =
be
your favorite month in 2009?
Until next week, please enjoy safe travels, and if your flights are =
delayed,
well, read the article immediately above the calendar article for ideas =
of
how to pass the time…..
David M
Rowell aka The Travel Insider
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=20
