Posts Tagged ‘airlines’
All Nippon 747 decked out in Pokeman livery
To the delight of women everywhere, All Nippon Airlines (ANA) will be the first airline to officially take a stance on the timeless toilet seat versus gender controversy.
According to an March 1st ANA press release:
Following numerous requests from passengers for this service, one women-only lavatory will be designated in the passenger cabin….and will be available for use by women passengers [only].
Departing, by Elsie esq.
“You kids don’t know how good you’ve got it,” says Grandpa from the backseat. He may be right — especially when it comes to travel. What Grandpa had to endure for better leisure traveling these days can make your head spin around: the fickle, unreliable airlines, the volatile political situations, the disease, poverty and rampaging Godzillas just to name a few.
It’s hard to quantify just how much the traveling experience has improved from your grandpa’s, or even your dad’s era to ours, but there’s little doubt that as travelers we’ve got it pretty good. From the smooth transcontinental flights, that our bags typically arrive with us, our web check-ins, etickets, electronic itineraries, planning, booking and moving around the globe, there’s no doubt it’s better now than it ever has been. And it’s in no small part due to the pitfalls the previous generation was exposed to.
To demonstrate the point, here’s how modern traveling is better than it’s ever been:
After nearly years of speculation it was finally announced today that Air New Zealand (yes, New Zealand again) will be giving the people exactly what they want, a good night’s sleep. The seats in their 777s are to be
adaptable so that people can stretch out from window to aisle.
Coined “the Skycouch” the genius is in its simplicity: flip-out extensions to the seat bottom and movable armrests. These features can set up a bed of sorts that allow for two people to lie down side-by-side, for one person to have ample flopping space or for a family to play games and actually enjoy a long flight for a change.
As you probably know, there was an attempted terrorist attack on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit over the holiday.
A Nigerian man named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to use a powder and liquid concoction to set off an explosion near the end of the flight but was subdued by some angry passengers that rightly deemed him to be threatening to their otherwise pleasant holiday flight.
Talk about negotiating power. Cabin crews at British Airways voted today to go ahead with an insanely timed walkout that would effectively grind airline operations to a halt over the year’s busiest travel season, the Christmas and New Years holiday. British Airways has said up to a million passengers could be affected by the strike, expected to begin on Dec 22 and last for 12 days, through to Jan 2.
BA’s management has been wrangling with Unite, the trade union that represents 13,500 British Airways flight attendants, on how best to handle proposed job cuts, pay freezes and other contract obligations. They’ve yet to come to an agreement.
I’m sure by now everyone knows the dramatic story of US Airways flight 1549. But in case you’re seriously media challenged (or have just been really busy), on January 15th of this year Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s Airbus careened through a flock of Canadian Geese on it ascent out of La Guardia airport, losing power to both engines and wound up ditching into an icy Hudson River. Of course everyone lived. Hooray!
On June 9th the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) released their docket on the incident making public the information from the flight data recorders. A company called Exosphere 3D took that info and built up a true-to-life recreation allowing the casual viewer to relive the scenario using realistic points of view and real-time radio transmissions, all equally harrowing and thrilling to behold.
There’s been a lot of to-do over the last couple years about Airbus’s new A-380, the world’s largest passenger airplane. Since Airbus is headquartered in France, I suppose it’s fitting that Air France should get on board and outfit some of these planes with their signature tricolore.
Air France marks the first superjumbo to depart from Europe, taking off at 1:30pm from Paris Charles de Gaulle on Friday heading to JFK with 380 passengers on board. As with Singapore Airlines’ inaugural A-380 flight, the ticketed passengers’ fares for this flight were auctioned off and donated to charity, generating $450,00 for the Air France Foundation, an organization that helps children in difficulty
A lot of news has come out of the gulf region’s airline industry of late. In the past ten years, four separate high-quality airlines have come out of that part of the world and are all vying for the title of number one. While Emirates has a business model that pretty much puts the others to shame, there’s several national carriers that are headquartered in that area doing what they do very well.
On Sept 13th Continental Airlines made a major shift in their allegiance and became the 25th member of the Star Alliance network of airlines.
This marks the first time a major airline has moved from one alliance to another. Continental was a compliant member of Sky Team (the alliance that brings you Delta, Air France and Northwest) for over five years before officially leaving on Oct 24th.
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