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Air India Needs To Build A Better Mousetrap After Rat Sneaks Aboard

We’ve seen our share of airline delays due to weather, mechanical delays, and even wacky passengers. However, there aren’t too many delays caused by furry critters. Well, that’s exactly what passengers of an Air India flight had to deal with as they were stuck to wait things out for about 11 hours.

Apparently a flight with over 200 passengers from Amritsar, India was supposed to head out to London over the weekend. Early on Saturday morning passengers spotted a rat on the plane, and then the rest of the day was spent searching for the little stowaway. After all, it definitely didn’t go through security.

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Mathematics Might Be The Secret To Fixing Airline Delays

We’ve all been there, and we certainly have done our share of complaining about them: the dreaded delayed airplane. For the most part it has just become one of the many fun features that are now part of the travel experience. However, there are some researchers trying to crack the code behind these inconveniences, and the smartypants scientists feel that a little math might help everyone out. If academics can help aircraft land on time and leave on schedule, we just might head back to school.

Computer scientists at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland have created a system to use runways efficiently to reduce delays and to conserve fuel use. Their plan uses the size of aircraft, fuel efficiency of the plane, and number of passengers aboard to figure out the most effective way to move the birds around the airport. Their new math also looks at the amount of suitcases on the planes to ensure baggage handling delays are kept to a minimum. Unfortunately, there’s no mention of preventing baggage loss—too bad.

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Meet Tarmac: the Travel Media's New Favorite Word

I don't know why, but I've always liked the word tarmac. Before I even knew what it meant, I knew it was something important, a place where powerful people went and big things happened. Maybe it was from snippets of the TV news I'd overhear about presidents being greeted on the tarmac, or my airline pilot father making conversation with his friends about a recent flight, but I was sure that a tarmac was far more exciting than my suburban backyard. When I finally figured out that tarmac referred to the runways, aprons, and ramp areas of airports, it lost none of its allure. Sure, the golden age of flight is over, but big things still happen in airports, journeys begin and end. And for some reason, the word tarmac perfectly describes the big, flat open space that serves as as a mini-purgatory for fliers, whether coming or going.

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Tags: Airlines / Airline News / Airline Travel / Cheap Travel / Cheap Flights / Last-Minute Travel / Last-Minute Deals / → All Tags

Quit Vacillating and Book Your Summer Flights Already!

If you've been waiting to pull the trigger on a flight this summer in the hope that ticket prices will soften even further, it's time to commit. Airfares are about as low as they're going to go, according to the guy from FareCompare.com, which keeps an eye on these kinds of things. In an interesting AP item, CEO Rick Seaney said that airfares have begun to creep up by $10 to $20 in recent days, and will likely continue to firm as oil prices rise and the summer travel season begins in earnest over the Independence Day holiday. The bottom line: buy your tickets now if you want a super-cheap vacation this summer. Do it.

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Slightly Down is the New Up: Airlines Find Hope in April Traffic

You know times are tough in the airline industry when this is what passes for good news these days: passenger traffic on U.S. airlines fell in April, 2009, but its rate of decline wasn't as steep as it was in March, raising hopes for a recovery later this year. As the AP points out, however, slowing the free-fall has come at a cost to the carriers, who have been forced to slash ticket prices to maintain cash flow and keep their airplanes full. United reported that its April traffic was more than 10% lower than it was last year, while Delta and American also reported declines.

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Flying Can Have Its Indignities, But It's Still Amazing

We've got to hand it to comedian Louis C.K. for perfectly summing up our profound ability to dismiss a century of innovation in air travel as our birthright. In this amusing clip from the Conan O'Brien show, he riffs on the guy who complains when the in-flight internet service goes out, even though he just learned it existed ten seconds earlier, and the inevitable "worst day of my life" stories that people share when they've been on a cross-country flight that was delayed by an hour. He certainly has a point: not long ago people risked life and limb to travel long distances, and now we get steamed because the seat doesn't recline enough and we can't get a pillow. It's funny, but it also ignores the other side of the issue, which is that the airlines are as much a beneficiary of the technological advances as we are, and it's the duty of the consumer to demand that service be held to the highest attainable standard. So maybe it's not so ridiculous to whine about extra fees and declining service. The system relies on both sides pushing as hard as they can. All the same, it still amazes me when I get in an airplane somewhere cold and get out a few hours later where the weather is hot. I can't help it, it's just an amazing thing.

[Video: The Economist]

Related Stories
· Louis CK Defends Air Travel [The Economist]
· Louis C.K. [Official Site]
· Comedy Coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Accidents / Airlines / Airline News / Airline Travel / Airline Fees / Continental / → All Tags

Denver Jet Crash: Scary, But It Could Have Been Way Worse

A Houston-bound jet skidded off the runway and caught on fire during takeoff in Denver Saturday night, resulting in 38 injuries but no fatalities. Some witnesses said the Continental 737 hadn't left the ground yet when it veered off the runway and into a ravine.

There's no doubt it was a terrifying situation for the 112 passengers on board, who had to exit the plane via inflatable slide, but I'm sure most of them consider themselves lucky right now, like they just got a new lease on life. Just think about how much worse it would have been if the plane was a few hundred feet in the sky before going out of control.

It also sounds like the evacuation went pretty well. College student Emily Pellegrini told the Denver Post that she just "went with the flow off the plane," leaving behind her cell phone and carry-on bag. Somebody's been paying attention to the passenger emergency procedures demonstration.

Investigators are on the scene, and the cause of the accident is under investigation. Not surprisingly, the incident has resulted in some delays, but for one fortunate group of fliers, that probably doesn't seem like a big deal right now.

[Photo: AP]

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· DIA Crash Injures 38 [Denver Post]
· Accident Coverage [Jaunted]

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Airline Travel Today: Still Better than Stagecoach Travel

Oh, airline travel. You used to be so cool. Flights were affordable, on-time, and featured amenities like meals, blankets, and a selection of current magazines and newspapers. Now, despite rising fares, fliers are lucky to get a bag of pretzels to munch on and a SkyMall catalog to read, and when it comes to making connecting flights and getting reunited with luggage, it's a crapshoot. What happened?

A recent AP item reports that as airline satisfaction rates have declined, customers have begun to push back, demanding improved service to justify the wave of extra fees for things that were once included in the ticket price. Airlines are responding with new initiatives to improve punctuality and baggage handling, as well as upgrades for business and first class passengers.

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The Glam Life No More: NYT Scribe Becomes Flight Attendant For Two Days

The life of a flight attendant was once very glamorous. The stewards and, more frequently, stewardesses who worked for airlines like Pan Am, American, and Eastern in the 1960's and 1970's were seen as globetrotting style icons, with enviable job perks like layovers in exotic locales, interaction with rich and influential people, and free travel for themselves and their families. According to Michelle Higgins of the New York Times, however, those halcyon times of fun in the sky are long over, replaced by days-long assignments that have flight attendants working crowded flights with an increasingly irritable - and irritating - clientele.

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Airline Fees and Why We Pay Them

At the deli by our office, a turkey sandwich used to be four dollars even. Then, about two years ago, they started adding sales tax on top of that, when it used to be included. Not long after that, a couple slices of tomato suddenly cost an extra fifty cents. Within weeks they came for the lettuce: another fifty cents. What's next, a quarter for a squirt of mustard? The underlying justification here, of course, suggests a redefinition of the sandwich. For the purposes of the JY Deli, a sandwich consists of lunch meat on bread with your choice of butter, mayo, or mustard. Everything else - lettuce, tomato, pickle - is ancillary, and thus, costs extra. It's an à la carte approach, designed to mask the creeping prices under the pretense of giving the customer more control over their order. After all, some people don't like lettuce. Why should they be forced to pay for it?

The airline industry seems to have taken a page from the deli book. Using the same à la carte sales philosophy, they've been tacking on extra fees for luggage, blankets, legroom, and even beverages, which were once seen as the one sacrosanct right of all travelers. An interesting story in the New York Times this weekend has an in-depth analysis of all the extra fees, and why the flying public is more or less okay with paying them. The gist of it is, it's seen as unavoidable, and much too profitable for the airlines to stop now. After all, the definition of a flight these days is little more than a seat on an airplane. In-flight amenities - and even checked luggage - now cost extra.

There are a few holdouts, though. Southwest Airlines advertises "freedom from fees," and Delta doesn't yet charge for the first checked bag. And in a move that could almost be described as Orwellian, there's talk about introducing higher all-inclusive fares that include the things that were, until recently, included in regular fares. But whatever the airlines are charging, the traveling public will likely pay up, given the lack of good transportation alternatives. Just like we keep paying six bucks for a turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and mustard.

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· At Least the Airsickness Bags are Free [The New York Times]
· Airline News Coverage [Jaunted]

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Alternative Fuel Flying: Is Jatropha Nut Oil the Anwer?

Topsy-turvy oil markets have got everybody in a tizzy these days, and the airline industry is no exception. Higher ticket prices are a drag, to be sure, but at least the economic shock is finally causing the major carriers to look into alternative fuels to power their fleets. A recent AP item points out that scientists are experimenting with various types of biodiesel jet fuels, an especially challenging proposition since there's little room for error at 35,000 feet.

Still, a few options look promising. South African carriers have been burning a jet fuel blend that uses "clean coal" as a primary ingredient for a decade already. And in February, Virgin Atlantic airlines flew a 747 that was partially powered by B20, a biodiesel made from babassu (a type of Amazon palm) and coconut oil. I wonder if the exhaust smelled like a piña colada. And there's even talk of harvesting algae to create fuel.

All eyes will be on Boeing and Air New Zealand later this year, though, as the companies prepare to test a fuel made from the oil of the jatropha tree. The homely-looking plant isn't good for food, but it grows easily in warm climates, doesn't require much water, and represents an economic opportunity for many impoverished people. Best of all, fuel made from the oil of jatropha nuts is significantly cheaper than crude oil, which is fortunate, because all the good intentions in the world won't create a market for alternative fuels unless it makes sense on the bottom line.

Related Stories:
· Airlines Push for Homegrown Jet Fuel [AP]
· Virgin Atlantic Completes Biodiesel Test [Biofuels Digest]
· Jatropha Plant's Oil Studied as Biofuel for Jets [LA Times]
· Airline News [Jaunted]

[Photo: AP]

Tags: Airlines / Airline News / Airline Travel / FAA / → All Tags

Pilots Say Parsimonious Airline Fuel Allotments Getting Out of Hand

Oil prices may have eased somewhat in the past couple of weeks, but they're still pretty lofty, causing airlines to do everything they can to keep costs down. Some airline pilots, however, feel that their bosses are going too far, forcing them to fly with less fuel than they'd like to, and possibly compromising customer safety

As the AP points out in a recent news item, pilots are increasingly complaining to government authorities about management scrimping on fuel on certain flights, causing a few white knuckles in the cockpit as the needle drifts perilously near the red. In February, for example, a 747 captain reported burning extra fuel over the Atlantic on his way to JFK due to headwinds, but being rebuffed by his airline overlords when he discussed a refueling stop. The flight landed safely at JFK, but the captain said it was just too close for comfort.

The airlines say that flights always have sufficient fuel, and U.S. authorities are reluctant to get involved. But our own pilot friends have complained of this exact phenomena numerous times: "I didn't have enough fuel to wait in the pattern at JFK so I had to reroute to Philly," or "They're flying smaller jets on transatlantic routes now to save money, and they sometimes have to declare fuel emergencies on approach because they can't afford to wait in line to land."

We're content to leave this to the experts to work out, but would certainly hope our next flight has a few extra gallons to burn, just in case.

Related Stories:
· Whiney Pilots Complain that Stingy Airlines are Forcing Them to Fly Uncomfortably Low on Fuel [Consumerist]
· Pilots Forced to Fly Low on Fuel Worry About Safety [AP via Newsday]
· Airline News [Jaunted]

[Photo: Modern Mechanix]