Airplane p0rn - SAS A340

Time for this week's airplane p0rn.

And this is one taken on the ground in Downtown Seattle - about a block from the Space Needle - A SAS Airbus A340 climbing out and beginning its long flight back to Scandinavia.

More Airplane p0rn next week!

Updating something that's good - The Great Circle Mapper (Review).

In a lot of my trip reports (and a lot of others I read), you'll find a little map in there 9 out of 10 times.

I use and prefer the maps generated by Karl L. Swartz's Great Circle Mapper (old version).

Here's one generated by the old version

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper

Well it seems Karl has been very busy and has released gcmap.com and has put some real work into it. Little things for example... like airport labels..

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper

They're also scalable maps too...

 

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper

And perhaps most visually exciting is the Blue Marble overlay

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper

It's also configurable for non airline geeks so when you get a map out, and say you're going from LHR-ORD, there's an English translation..

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper

Overall - a very worthy update to a very worthy tool.

Highly recommended if for the visual impact this tool has its purposes.

Blog Admin: Things that appear in the middle of the night.

Hello gentle readers (both new and old). A few announcements:

1) More old trip reports are appearing as I get the chance to tidy and press publish. I've added:

• If you're going to San Francisco - The SFO MegaDO 08 - with BMI and United  - LHR-SFO-LHR (also on FlyerTalk  
  
• Gold Run - Mr Kevincm Goes to Washington with Aer Lingus and US Airways - BHX-DUB-PHL-LGA-DCA-BOS-PHL-DUB-BHX (also on Flyertalk)
• Come and be Scared with US! - LHR-PHL-SEA-PHX-ORD-PHL-LHR with US Airways  (which posted itself by accident)
• There are a couple redux trip more on the boil - I'll be placing them online in the next couple of weeks as and when (including some classic BMI trip reports... when BMI was an airline and not a joke!)

2)  I have a backlog of posts I am slowly working though (least of all - an Analysis of ANZ's new seats, Deltas seats). Whilst I can't bring everything to the plate quickly, I'll cover bits and bobs as time allows.

3) Highlighted titles -You may have noticed I'm using **'s in my titles for important breaking stuff. I'll continue too to mark out if something important has happened in the world.

4) More GhettoIFE related stuff. As I come up to my next round of travel in March, I'll be looking more at devices that fall into the GhettoIFE category and seeing if they're any good, or if they're really toilet. I'll also be publishing my guide to building GhettoIFE for the Apple iPhone and possible adaptation methods for other devices (of course if any manufactures wish to have their device "accredited", feel free to drop me an email)

5) The Airplane p0rn section is growing each week. For some reason, A330's seem to be very popular at the moment.  Got a request? Drop it into my inbox

6) The Tagline at the top has changed. Sometimes shorter is better ;)

8) I can't count still. 

Thank you again for choosing and viewing GhettoIFE.com!

Ghetto IFE on... the Apple iPad

Well for those of you who haven't lived under a rock today would had heard of Apple releasing it's newest toy... The iPad

For Ghetto IFE users, what's the interest in this device?

Take you standard iPod Touch. Now pimp the screen. There you go. All the usual tools (including Safari, Mail, Photos, etc etc are there).

In terms of entertainment, there is a nice large screen for music and video, with an alleged 10 hour runtime of VIDEO. In other words, LHR-BKK, LHR-SIN, LHR-SFO, SFO-TYO etc range is the name of the game.

In travel terms, it should fit in your bag nicely - least of all it's only 1/2" thin, 1.5lb/685gramms heavy, with 16GB storage to start with, up to 64GB (non expandable), and it'll load all your Application you've got from the App Store.

One of the new features is it's also going to be an Ebook Reader. This I've got a few concerns about (you try staring at a bright backlit screen for hours - doesn't do your eyes any good). An eInk based reader might be a better option.

For those who are going try to use this for business (and good luck getting on your accounts), iWork will also make an appearance too.

For a device like this, WiFi and 3G (The WCDMA2100 standard - not EDVO or WCDMA1700) will make an appearance too. It's SIM unlocked, so it should be able to be used in any country you like with whatever data plan.

Overall....

I'm sorry, I would had expected a bit more - but I thought overblown iPod touch would be the order of the day... and I'm not off the mark.

It's pricing is about cheap netbook level, and a bit beyond that if you add 3G Radio. As it's pre-pay, I don't expect operators to subsidise this at all as a lot of operators still have to get over charging silly amounts per megabyte still.

The lack of multi-tasking is quite frankly getting to the point of unacceptability, and is a point to address in the next iPhone software - and the unwillingness of Apple to open up the platform to Java and Flash is getting downright annoying.

• A business tool? Hardly.
• A nice thing to have around the home? Maybe
• An Ebook Reader? I'd strongly urge you to compare with a eInk based reader compared to an LCD screen, and tell me which one is easier on your eyes. eInk is superior and more "natural" in this respect.
• Will this head the way of the Newton? I don't think so - least of all there are a lot more Apple Fanbois out there these days.
• Would it make an excellent IFE Device? I'd say yes - but you'd need to find a way of mounting the thing.
• Will I be rushing out to get one? I'll wait for the UK pricing and decide not to. Just like all the other slate/pad/tablet devices....

Air New Zealand on... Cougars.

Oh dear... This one completely slipped off my radar, but I still think it's worth including...



How this is related to flying is beyond me (it might have something to do with Auckland - but that's to be proved - and even then the campaign has been pulled
) , but this is Air New Zealand - the company that has introduced ghetto sleeping systems and a new Premium Economy product...

... that I'll go into a bit later on today... ;)

BMI Blue+ or above? Used the LHR-TLV route? How about a Status Match?

El-Al are offering a status match with BMI for those abandoned after the BMI LHR-TLV service was terminated

• For Blue+, there is an upgrade to Gold.  800 points to retain within 6 months, and you'll get gold for another year
• For Silver and Golds, you'll be matched to Platinum, requiring 2000 points to retain status within 6 months,   and you'll get Platinum for another year

To qualify, you'll need a your BMI membership details, and a statement that must  include two flights to/from TLV within 12 months with BMI or any Start Alliance partner

Details are at http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/Hebrew/HidePages/MatmidDeals/bmi_info_general240110 (Hebrew Only)... but run it through http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elal.co.il%2FELAL%2FHebrew%2FHidePages%2FMatmidDeals%2Fbmi_info_general240110&sl=iw&tl=en and you should get the jist of it...

Happy matching!

Ethiopian Incident ** Update **

More details are slowly emerging regarding the ET409 air accident that happened this yesterday

• Eyewitnesses say they saw a ball of fire in the sky before Addis the plane fell into the sea after taking off in stormy weather. 
• At least 24 bodies have been found, 
• No Survivors have been found found
  
• The plane disappeared from radar screens some five minutes after take-off in stormy weather at about 02:00 near the village of Naameh, about 2 miles from the coast.  
• It appears that the plane did not follow the suggested flightpath of the tower, but turned in the opposite direction into the storm.  It is unclear why this happened, or if it was beyond the pilot's control. 
• The flight recorders have not yet been recovered 
  

And once again - Unite Ballots BA workers for strike

Well it's begun. Unite has commenced the ballot on possible strike action.  The ballot that runs from now (25/01) until 22nd February, with the first action possible from 1st March.

Unite reiterates it will not call action over Easter - trying to buy the public off with a sympathy "We're hitting businessmen, Willie Walsh and not families" line.

Unite is also angry over the plans to replace their staff with other recruited staff (either internally or via leasing), citing it, would put passengers' lives at risk.

Unless Unite and BA can bang heads together, sort themselves out so the company can survive, this is really going to drag on....

** BREAKING NEWS ** Ethipoian Airlines airlines crash near Beirut

An Ethiopian Airlines flight 409 from Beirut to Addis Ababa has crashed 5 minutes after take off.

Search and Rescue operations are in progress - it is unknown if any of the 83 passengers or 9 crew survived.

The plane - a Boeing 737, is said to have disappeared from radar screens some five minutes after take-off in stormy weather at about 0200 local time.

News is still developing in this story - updates will follow during the day.

Air Accident in Mashhad (Iran)

Emergency teams in Mashhad, Iran have been attending the scene of a landing accident involving a Tupolev Tu-154M.

The TU-154M owned by Taban Air flight 6437 from Abadan to Mashhad , suffered damage on landing, losing its undercarriage and a wing.

Iranian State media said almost 170 people were on board and that at least 46 were injured. There were no reports of fatalities in the incident. The rear end broke up, and passengers were evacuated from the plane.

It seems the plane landed in fog at Mashhad airport, where the tail of the plane hit the ground, caused plane skidded off the runway and burst into flame.

UK Paranoia hits a new high - Terror alert increased.

Well the UK has decided parnoia must rule again, and the Home Secretary - Alan Johnson has said  the UK terror threat level is being raised from "substantial" to "severe",

Whilst no specific threat has been given in relation to the threat increase,


The decision to raise the threat level was made by the UK's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC).
Mr Johnson says

"We still face a real and serious threat to the UK from international terrorism, so I would urge the public to remain vigilant and carry on reporting suspicious events to the appropriate authorities and to support the police and security services in their continuing efforts to discover, track and disrupt terrorist activity."

So the sky isn't falling yet - but it could do soon! 

The rise is in response to the perceived increased threat from international terrorism following the NW253 Incident on Christmas day.

Again - Mr Johnson stressed there was no intelligence to suggest a terrorist attack was imminent.

In other words, the free pass for extened security at airports and transport hubs has now been given a free ride.

Kevin's hint: Allow extra time for travel.

For Sale: One slightly used A320. Slightly Damp. Wings and Engines optional extras....

N106US - the A320 that was involved in the little splash-landing in the Hudson River in New York last year is up for auction, with a small warming that the A320 suffers “severe water damage” and “impact damage to underside of aircraft,”

The pictures are at http://www.aigaviation.com/aviationsalvage/salvagedetail.aspx?faano=N106US.

Picture - AIG Insurance

Bids for the plane are open to the public, and will be accepted until 27 March.

Well a nice collectable if you can get it. Although no wings, no engines, seats optional extra and wet.... say isn't this the usual US Airways experiance?

BA and Unite - BA starts to play *real* hardball - Removal of Travel Benefits for Strikers

British Airways seems to have racheted up its position, by issuing a threat that ID90's (used for standby travel which gives an industry discount of 90%) are to go for striking workers, and in addition, the quality of crew hotels are now up for review.

Unite describe the move as "shocking", "another act of provocation" and "petty'.

It should be noted that the ID90's and other travel perks are NOT part of the standard BA contracts - and thus can be withdrawn as a disciplinary measure. For those BA crew members who commute from far and flung places - this could be very expensive in the long run if their benefits are withdrawn and they're travelling on ID90's

Let the games continue - this is get very nasty very quickly.

Once again... one bad TSA staff member gives the entire lot a bad name (TSA Incident at PHL)

Once again, one apple spoils the entire TSA Crop - this time with a fake drugs incident at Philadelphia International.

A TSA agent decided to play a joke on a passenger on a Rebecca Solomon as she was travelling back to college

After pulling her laptop out, through the scanning machines, and walking through a detector, she went to collect her things and a TSA agent motioned her toward him, where a small, clear plastic bag from her carry-on. Inside the bag was fine, white powder - which is the sort of power that drugs could be in for example.

The TSA agent seems to be their usual caring self, saying

Answer truthfully, the TSA worker informed her, and everything will be OK.

Of course, this complete axehole of a TSA agent started to smile and said

Just kidding, he said

He waved the baggie. It was his.

I'm sorry. COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. Security Theater is a Joke as it is. Adding this little twerp into the mix with this action is UNACCEPTABLE.

Security was called and the incident reported

In the first instance, the TSA knew nothing. Shortly after the first inital statement was released.

"The TSA views this employee's behavior to be highly inappropriate and unprofessional," she wrote. "We can assure travelers this employee has been disciplined by TSA management at Philadelphia International Airport, and he has expressed remorse for his actions."

Remorse. REMORSE! That it? No other penalty of acting like a complete numbskull?

But wait - there's more!

It seems the young lady's father is a Litigator. Now there is a shame. And in later a later comment the idiot of a worker is no longer employed.

This is why people don't trust the TSA. Idiots like this who take their powers, exercise them to beyond the limit and then giggle about it afterwards.

COME ON TSA - SORT IT OUT. BEFORE THE TRUST IN YOU GOES COMPLETELY

The TSA have responded in it's Blog, showing minimal remorse (which about right for the TSA Blog)

Rebecca Solomon also has published her comments too http://michigandaily.com/print/52118


Source: The Philadelphia Enquirer .

Air France... new seats... and bad news if you're a POS*

* POS = Passenger of Size 

---

In two steps, Air France seems to be trying to make money. First up is the introduction of silmline seats.

Slimline seats are the current modern marvel that reduces the weight of the seat, yet allows more passengers to be packed in a plane at the same time. Nifty.

Image - Air France

These seats are being introduced on the Short-Haul A319's, A320's and A321's (37 frames in total) - in many respects - adding one row extra. Keep an eye out when selecting your seats

In perhaps not an unrelated news, Air France is now offering POS's the option to buy a second seat at check-in at 75% of the fare (minus taxes and fees). If the flight is light, then you don't have to pay for your extra seat.  Which is nice.

Alternatively - for safety reasons Air France can choose not to carry you. So if you're 43" waist or above,you don't have to pay, but will be offered the extra seat actively.

Spokesman Jean-Pierre Lefebvre clarified:

"It is not an obligation; we suggest to such passengers they buy a second seat for their own comfort and in order to be sure the seats are adapted to their needs. If the plane is not full, they can get a refund."

This new rule comes into effect from 1 February. Oh well Air France, win one loose one....

The fallout of NW253 - UK Goverment reactions

It seems that the UK goverment has completed a report after the NW253 incident, and I'm afraid if you're a traveller, here's a hint - it's going to get worse.

• A No Fly list is to be set up (well we're only a few years behind eh?), including deep screening, and no entry into the United Kingdom at departure countries
• New Intelligence teams to identify individuals who could be terrorists (Government intelligence? Oxymoron there. Moving on)
• More information sharing - in other words, yes your data about your travels will be mingled more than it is at the moment.
  
• A Harder push for e-Borders to implemented at all UK entry points (which is currently under investigation by the European Union for interfering with the rules of Freedom of Movement).
  
• Direct flights between Yemen and the United Kingdom are suspended until further notice (which kiboshes Yemina's services) due to security fears and concerns over safety are addressed.
• Nude-o-Scopes (Millimetre Wave Scanners/Full body scanners)  to be introduced next week at UK Airports.
  

There have been calls for both deeper internal investigations to possible people in the UK, and the safeguarding of civil liberties.

In other words, expect some liberties to be whittled away in the name of security theatre (Let us remember that MMW scanners would probably not have picked up the bomb), and remember to leave plenty of time to get to the airport and get through security.

Just makes you want to pack your bags and fly off into the sunset eh?

The BA/Unite Strike: Is Unite trying to buy Sympathy this time?

Ok, I've skipped the announcement that Unite is once again going to ballot it's Cabin Crew workers, and that BA are going to try to break the strike by wetleasing aircraft and crew, and it is actually opening up cabin crew training up to other qualified staff to the point where Unite has made one hell of a conession

That it will NOT strike over the Easter period

Quote Unite:

"families to be able to plan their travel arrangements in confidence".

Thats fine, except if you're planning to travel between 1st March and Easter, you might run into problems if there is a decision to strike.

Simply put, this is public appeasement to make up for the planned Christmas debacle, whilst trying to bring the public on their side.

The new strike ballot among cabin crew will open on 25 January and conclude on 22 February - so March can look dicey - unless Unite and BA butt heads together to get a positive outcome.

We can but hope.

Strike Day: IAA Goes on strike.

It seems it's time for another strike, this time with Irish ATC walking out over modernisation and working practices after 15 controllers were suspended for failing to cooperate with the new technolgy implemented.

Shannon, Cork and Dublin are affected by this action which starts from 14:00 to 18:00 (20/01).

Aer Lingus has cancelled 64 flights, RyanAir cancelling 48  flights and a varity of other airlines hit during various times. 

If you're travelling today and heading to Ireland, or anywhere in Irish Airspace, expect delays, divertions and cancellations as aircraft are rerouted as needed - and if your airline has not contacted you - now would be a good time to contact them....

And so it came to pass - JAL files for Bankruptcy protection

It's done. Japan Airlines (JAL) has filed for bankrucptcy protection.

A turnaround organisation says it plans to inject about 300bn yen into JAL, with a 600bn-yen credit line and get 730bn yen in debt waivers.  With stock at an all time low, it will be de-listed from the Japanese Stock Exchange on Wednesday 20th.

In practical terms:  flights will continue as normal as the airline restructures itself. JAL has also stated that Frequent Flyer benifits and miles are secure.

More of concern are 15,000 jobs that are now on the line thanks to this action.  All JAL's board members have resigned in deference to this action.

Of course, it wouldn't be a crash story without the companies sniffing around the carcasses. In this case, Delta was first out of the door with a statement. 

"Delta and SkyTeam fully support Japan Airlines and stand ready to provide assistance and support in any way possible.
"Delta fully expects that JAL, with the support of ETIC, will be successful in its restructuring and return the airline to a position of prominence."

In other words, once the re-organisation is nearing complete, expect a transition to SkyTeam...

The Fallout of the changes at BMI...

Well it's been a good few hours since BMI has announced its latest method of death spiral.

Lets take a closer look to see how this is going to happen - step by step (I've excluded the end of Manchester Long Haul for this exercise).

• Wet-Lease to Lufthansa Italia/Lufthansa Mainline - A sign on the beginning when an A319 were shifted away from BMI Mainline duties to help Lufthansa kick off it's LH Italia service. And then the quick borrowing of anohter A319's to assist the Berlin route take hold properly deprived the BMI A319 fleet of more rapid deployments.
• The cutback of KPB - This is a classic "What were BMI management on at the time" thinking - risk one aircraft, see if we get any traffic, pull it back if we don't. Once again - no dedication to the route. 
• The cutback of TLV - From an A320 to an A330 to... nothing. Once again, poor leasing costs killed this route before it started. With reports of yields being awful too, this isn't surprising - if regrettable.
• And CAI too - CAI also was upgraded to A330 service. However, this service has survived and has been switched back to an A321
• The cutbacks of AMS, BRU - Perhaps the first real sign of trouble when these were announced. This is down not only to the recession, but can be mostly be put at BMI's own doorstep with it's crazy inventory management - it's classic way of killing off routes.
• The return of leased aircraft - with A330's returning to lessor soon, and some A320's/A321's, it will be a much younger fleet that is left - however this reduces capacity and possible expansion space
• The Cutbacks of DUB - Or "How really to spite your customers". Discussed in this very blog, and with revenues management hand playing, it's spited customers in Ireland, who now consider Aer Lingus as the first method of getting to London now, with a useless service to get to London first thing, and getting back to Dublin last thing.
• The abolition of Short-Haul Business Class - BMI call it cost saving for APD. I call shenanigans, with all the changes coming up
• Spiting Golds, Silver and BluePlus by charging for food on Short-Haul - That's right BMI - take away the last differentiator between you and BA for your elites. Shows how much you really value your elites, making short-haul users of the Electronic Upgrades practically useless 
  
• The abolition of BluePlus - Set up as a method of making sure people who fly over 3000 miles a year so they don't pay for food, this goes out of the window too. Shows once again, BMI don't care about their elites for the price of £5 of food.
  
• And finally a wet-lease agreement announced today with Austrian Airlines from London to Vienna - Yet another A319 reassigned to other duties, which will retain business class.
  

Diamond Club members are however voting with their feet already, with elites burning miles, and switching business to other carriers - with BA and Aer Lingus being the direct beneficiaries of the actions of BMI.

Even British Airways is on the full poach, dragging customers from Amsterdam, Tel Aviv and Brussels for a very rare status match. 

... and you know what - this Diamond Club member is thinking along the same lines. It could be time to dump BMI ...

Iran Air A300 Incident - more than meets the eye?

It seems there is something more to the incident to the Iran Air incident on Saturday with confirmed reports - and a video of an engine flameout on the left hand side and an almighty clang inside the aircraft.



Zoiks.

Flight has more coverage on this.

BMI takes another step to becoming Lemming Airways...

BMI today announced it's to drop it's Business Class product on the following routes

• London Heathrow - Glasgow
• London Heathrow - Edinburgh
• London Heathrow - Dublin
• London Heathrow - Belfast

and instead to introduce a "Flexible Economy" product instead.

For long time readers, you've guessed correct - BMI have once again to been to the Strategy Boutique and picked out the cheapest shiniest thing that looks like a good idea at the time.

So what's Flexible Economy going to be like? According to BMI...

•  Fully flexible ticket - no charges for changes
•  30 minute check-in
•  Business lounge access at both ends of your route
•  Priority seating at the front of the plane
•  Complimentary food and drink served on-board throughout the day
•  Lower rate Air Passenger Duty.

Err. Apart from the lower APD rate, that's basic BMI Business fares as they stand now, except with densification up the front, and the lower APD rate applied for EU travel.

Naturally, this gets worse. A lot worse

• Two fares will be available for short-haul flights - Economy and Flexible Economy
• Flexible Economy will offer complimentary catering, whilst Economy will offer a paid-for service
• There will be no complimentary catering in Economy for Diamond Club Blue Plus, Silver or Gold card members (so that benefit is in the pan)
• Blue Plus is eliminated as of 28/01/10

So two big issues spring up - both a hit on loyalty, in terms of free catering going and the effort of loyalty for hitting 3000 miles or so.

The full changes are at flybmi.com, the FAQ and of course how it affects Diamond Club holders

I'm sorry to be cruel, but this is smacking of desperation by BMI in an effect to reduce costs. The reduction in APD allows for the trashing of a Business Class service - along with the service items needed whilst keeping the costs to the passenger high. Telling the Elite members where to also go in terms of benefits really isn't acceptable even in these dark times. In many respects, the race to the bottom seems to be have won by BMI after BA's cutbacks in service.

Especially after the Dublin Fiasco last week when the services were cut from 6 to 4 a day, it's a very quick way to kill routes and remove customers.

There is an active discussion on FlyerTalk with the reoccurring theme of disappointment and annoyance of frequent flyers.

More Commentary later.

The Mercer Report on Transport Canada's

I think this video says it all really in regards to how silly some of the kneejerk reactions to the NW253 Incident for Canadians travelling to the USA....



Thanks to: Things in the Sky

Another Aircraft Skids - Iran Air A300 comes off at Stockholm

It seems that the skidding season is in full flow this year with an Iran Air Airbus A300 coming off the runway.

Flight IR762 on Saturday 16/1 with service from Stockholm to Tehran, 149 passengers aboard, left the runway at low speed shortly after beginning its take-off roll, forcing the runway to be closed.

No passengers or crew were injured, and the airframe itself appears to be undamaged. A normal disembarkation occurred without need for emergency slides was made.

It seems there was also light snow during the take off, but something must had gone wrong for it to slide that much. At least everyone is safe - and rebooked for the next flight.

Airplane p0rn - BMI A330 at Manchester

It's Sunday again, so it's time for some more airplane p0rn.  This time another one from the archive, and one that will pass into history soon with a BMI Airbus A330-200 taxing for a Barbados departure from Manchester Airport.

The A330 fleet was shifting in its entirety to London, where one will remain to serve the Saudi routes, and the remaining two will be returned to lessor, citing costs.

Ah. Glory days of travel.

More Airplane p0rn of course, next week!

Maximing LHR-ORD - Part II - Segmentally Yours.

Ok - I'm behind schedule (as usual) so here's part two of the LHR-ORD post.

So you remember the numbers? Good.  I skipped Code shares for one reason - I wasn't willing to handle them at this juncture.

BMI offer the UA flights of LHR-IAD-ORD and back for £362, with a £2 discount for going direct.

CO is one who also offers cheaper fares - £330 on the direct (the cheapest fare) with a stop in Newark costing an extra £2.

Sometimes codeshares can be beneficial (for example, I once scored a £90 discount on an LHR-SFO and back fare on one site vs the United site), but alas this time - not so much.

So lets get back to segments.  One of the little beauty facts of the BMI programme is the minimum credit of 600 miles per segment (multiplied by the fare code bonus). For the lower frequent flyer like me who qualify by the skin of our teeth - this is good and very helpful in the grand scheme of things as you don't know where your qualification level will be by the end of the status year.

Two good runs initially appeared:

LHR-PHL-ORD-DCA-LHR (with a bonus leg if you like) for £340. = 8980 miles or 9502 with a CLT leg thrown in

Whilst good on the surface, two little matters come to mind -

• Firstly, the LHR-PHL flight gets in comparatively late (and departs just as late), killing time that I need to spend in Chicago (the earliest flights get to Chicago for 19:20 - United will get you there for 2pm) 
• Secondly... It's US Airways. Nuff said?
• Yield: 3.58p/per mile
  

The United Equivalent which was LHR-IAD-ORD-CMH-IAD-LHR would yield 9154 for £342.

However. I did a bit more digging, and after a bit of fiddling with the United engine I managed to get LHR-IAD-ORD-CMH-IAD-EWR-LHR score a total of 9542 miles, which also throws in a Continental codeshare between EWR and LHR for a grand total of £2 more.

Matters that come to mind with this:

• Dulles immigration - hopefully the midfield will be open as it was before I get there
• Possible Moonbuggy fun ;)
  
• The high chance my luggage will be lost between Chicago and London on the homeward run 
• £2 for 40 status miles
• Yield: 3.58p/per mile
  

So the options are once again - US Airways or United with Continental.

Which one did I choose? You'll find out in March when the trip report goes live.... but it should be easy to guess... ;)

Baggage fees. Hint: They're going up. Again.

Airlines and Shareholder love more income. Alas, they're targeting the consumer once again with more baggage rises. A quick overview (Note if you have some sort of Elite Status with the airline or alliance, it will probably reduce these costs to nothing):

United
First Bag:  $25 at the counter,  $23 online for a US Domestic
Second Bag: $35  at the counter,  $32 online for a US Domestic

Continental

First Bag:  $25 at the counter,  $23 online for a US Domestic
Second Bag: $35  at the counter,  $32 online for a US Domestic

Delta:

First Bag:  $25 at the counter,  $23 online for a US Domestic
Second Bag: $35  at the counter,  $32 online for a US Domestic
Anyone spot a pattern here?  Expect the sheep to baaaa and follow.

Richard Quest on... Miles.

Of course, there are wonder-people like Gary, Lucky and of course Randy Petersen, who are in the millions of miles.

However, some of us are in the mere hundred thousands (or thousands in the case of some programs).  For those of us, we just muddle through.

Although this space might get a bit more crowded thanks to increased perception through George Cluneys "Up in the Air" and of course, CNN's Richard Quest who put out a good three-parter on CNN's Business Traveller

• Airline Alliances (and the joy of airline security)
  
• Mega Miles (Including one of the poor reporters Singapore KirsFlyer Blue)
  
• The Mileage Run (Featuring the Star MegaDo last year and Up in the Air)

It's a reasonable set of programs that discusses the ins and outs. Obviously you need to do a lot of your own research to see what programme suits you best, but it's a good overview.

Viewers will also note some of my familiar sights - including LHR T1 insides,  LHR T1 UA Elite Check-in and of course the ex-BA Star Alliance Lounge (although he does kick off outside LHR T3...).

Of course - Richard Quest is an acquired taste. Or a 3am delirious taste. Depending on your mood of course ;)

JAL: A Self Filling Prophecy?

It seems banks and investors have made their mind up about JAL, with it's stock value dropping to ~7 yen per share, with people dropping out rapidly.

It seems the offers from both American and Delta will be ignored, and JAL to head to bankruptcy with it's market value dropped by the hour.

In related news, a new CEO has been selected for JAL by the Japanese Goverment -, Kazuo Inamor - the 78-year-old honorary chairman of electronics components manufacturer Kyocera agreed to the request after meeting Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Wednesday, according to news reports from Japan.

The expectation is for JAL to enter bankruptcy protection next week.

More Snow, More Trouble...

If there is one thing the british are obsessed with (and if you've been looking at this blog dear reader) is the weather.

The UK has been gripped by another wave of snow, with London Gatwick closed to runway traffic to allow it to be cleared, London City closed due to poor visiblity, with Birmingham International right behind it (at time of writing) and London Heathrow showing heavy delays.

Expect cancellations.

In addition, a severe weather warning has been raised for North-West England, the West Midlands, Wales and Southern England.

Roads are... slushy at the moment, with snow settling. Expect all public transport to be affected.

Freezing conditions will follow - to follow up to ten days time - expect more snow and ice blog entries to follow

BMI continues its downsizing stratagy - Kills off Dublin crew

BMI is a funny old beast of an airline.  It launches into brand new markets guns ablazing, only to pull out less than a year later, or it kills routes at random.

It's preferred method of doing this is to:

• Let Revenue management take over setting wild prices
• Realising no one want to travel because prices are to wild
• Cancelling the route citing load and yield factors 

History behind this?  Well let us name some routes recently that have fallen by the wayside....

• MAN-ORD
• MAN-LAS
• MAN-ANU/BGI
• LHR-KBP
• LHR-TLV
• LHR-AMS
• LHR-BRU

It seems that BMI are now hell bent on closing the Dublin link as well with today's announcement of the closure of the Dublin base, and the cut of one rotation a day as an aircraft is needed elsewhere (and considering the fleet cuts that going on too..) 

This puts BMI at a disadvantage to Aer Lingus who could at will deploy the heavy guns to Heathrow with minimal notice, play with prices to their hearts content, whilst reducing Hub to spoke traffic to near enough nothing.  Combined with Revenue Managements lack of clear thought that is visible to anyone - and the seeds of the LHR-DUB link going appear to be well founded.

I can honestly say I am VERY disappointed with BMI's lack of foresight and lack of will to compete on this route. The LON-DUB Route used to be one of the heaviest corridors of traffic to compete on, and BMI is ONCE AGAIN giving away its traffic.

More worryingly for BMI, Aer Lingus is starting to be a bit resurgent. It has been making pacts with other airlines, and from a very dim viewpoint is considering alliances again (Aer Lingus used to be part of OneWorld before it withdrew - although it co-operates with OneWorld airlines, it's not adverse to working with United and shoving UA flight codes on all EI flights to LHR).  That - combined with Lufthansa attitude to shove everyone through either FRA or ZRH means only one thing for BMI - More Trouble.

For me personally, I can say I haven't stepped on a BMI plane for the past year or so. Why? All the routes I used have now been whittled away to nothing, with BMI either giving up, redeploying or withdrawing from markets I use. And it's sad. I'd LOVE To support BMI, its network and its staff.

But this is nigh on impossible. BMI is turning into BMED in many respects (the airline BMI brought for it's middle eastern routes), with a fancy UK feeder service.  In other words, I can't think of *one* BMI route I use - or want to use.

Lets hope this is temporary with the withdrawal of the fifth rotation and that traffic can improve. Although with Revenue Management at the tiller... it could be time for me to find a new "home" airline....

Ref: RTE

JAL: Approching Endgame?

JAL's shares have once again taken a nosedive as people fear it's heading into bankruptcy - even though American has increased its bid to $1.3 Billion and it's employees have voted to take cuts in the pensions scheme.

With further cost cutting concessions - The Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan will happily inject new cash - providing JAL goes bankrupt, and that it sheds 1/3rd of its staff in the process.

A final decision on JAL's future is approaching towards the end of January - with Delta and American Airlines left by the side if it decides bankruptcy is the only solution. 

What could this all mean? JAL could well be the shadow of it's previous operation - and ANA taking up the remaining slack. Whatever happens - the staff are the ones that will have to pay the price...

Maxmising LHR-ORD (The Spring Commute) - Part I....

So it's coming up to that time of year again when I visit the USA.

As I'm on limited time to, there will be little time for mileage running, or doing great hops here and there. So what's the obvious answer? Either nest a trip inside a trip (which 9/10 times isn't allowed) ... or try to maximise mileage vs cost. So whilst A) is a nice idea - it isn't going to happen (least of all I've only got a  few leave days left this year!), it has to be B - Maximising Mileage!

Lets go back to Math 101. Simple addition.

The calculations I'm going to use exclude elite non qualifying  bonus miles but added BMI's minimum elite mileage bonus (flights  <600 miles get 600), routed on Star Alliance Airlines only (Confused? Good...).

Segment Start	Segment Stop	Segment Length	Route Total
LHR	ORD	3942	3942
LHR	EWR	3465
EWR	ORD	719	4184
LHR	PHL	3545
PHL	ORD	678	4223
LHR	IAD	3677
IAD	ORD	600	4277

Or for those graphicly challenged:

 Calculations based on the Great Circle Mapper Lets now play with these figures to give us our magical pence per mile. (Note: Codeshares excluded. It muddys things at this point)

Airline	Via	Cost in GPB	Route Total	Pence/Mile
United	Non Stop	£327	7884	4.18
US Airways	PHL	£340	8446	4.03
Continental	EWR	£372	8368	4.45
United	IAD	£332	8554	3.88

There are lots of ways to cut this up, but the net result is this: I'm going via Dulles it seems.

Oh joy........

However, there is a part 2 to this post after I spent some time with United.Bomb and USAirways.bomb. More a bit later... ;)

Korean Air show how to get decals on a plane

Ok - this one passed me by, but it's a good little video of how Korean Air tart up one of their 747-400 fleet to show the sponsorship of the British Museum


Well you can't say they didn't make an effort with the plane. Very cute... if the music is slightly annoying...

Airplane p0rn - Delta MD-88

It's Sunday again, so therefore it must be time for some more airplane p0rn!

This week, A McDonnell Douglas MD-88 in Delta colours at Philadelphia International

More of course next week!

More Snow ahead - expected Sunday - LONDON in the firing line

The weather predictions for this weekend are NOT good with more snow due on Sunday.

Alas, expect delays and cancellations on fights, trains and public transport services.

Trouble is expected until Mid-January at the earliest... and it would be nice for it to finish as Ive had enough slip/slide fun on ice this year....

The fallout of NW253 - Trouble on EK004 (LHR-DBX).

It seems what some considered as "little things" are making airlines lock down quickly.

Three people made verbal threats on the plane as it was taxing at Heathrow. The plane was brought back to stand, and Police swarmed on board. These people were arrested, and the plane brought back onto Heathrow T3, with armed police and sniffer dogs checking the plane out.  Other Heathrow operations were unaffected.

It seems that some people made the mistake of getting drunk before getting on board a plane....

In addition there have been incidents of planes being diverted inflight due to threats made "under the influence".

In other words - go easy on the drink people!

A simple graphical representation of why the UK has ground to a halt...

A single picture can say a 1000 words...

There are still substantial delays, service cuts and incidents as of today (08/01).

Please check before you travel.

Image: NASA/GSFC, MODIS Rapid Response, Full size at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8447023.stm

BA and Unite - Back to to the negotiating table....

 Well it seems BA and Unite are heading back to the table to try and avoid the oncoming storm of more strike action. 

Unite has agreed to the talks with BA in an attempt to find a settlement over jobs, pay and conditions.  As you remember, on the run-up to Christmas,  strike action was around the corner until it was deemed illegal by the courts. In response, Unite went into full militancy mode and the promise of a second ballot.


Unite;s joint general secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley comment.

"We have said all along that this dispute could only be resolved through negotiation, rather than imposition or litigation, so we are delighted to be joining BA management in talks at the TUC," 

"We will be approaching those talks in a constructive spirit, seeking to find a settlement that meets the real concerns of BA's skilled, loyal and professional cabin crew, while keeping the airline flying."

Well, they say it's good to talk.  Lets hope for all concerned this has a positive outcome with no further action - least of all more action will damage both the company and remaining sympathy to the staff.

Yes, the weather is still bad...

... and there are many distruptions at airports, airlines, train and public transport.

And roads too.

Whilst the snow threat has receded, it's now turning from a Snow into an Ice problem with black ice developing everywhere. Allow extra time for your journeys, and check with your carrier if a service is running!

And if you think my luggage is bad... (Thai Airlines Luggage Scandel)

The Chairman of Thai seems to forgotton to pay some excess baggage fees.... by about $5000, with a bit of customs fraud thrown in too.

The Thai media and bloggers have been all over this, and after the extended coverage,  Wallop Bhukkanasut, stepped down

The avoidance was on a Toyko-Bangkok, with 30 cases  of luggage being sent. Not only this, but to avoid customs, it was sent to the lost property office to be processed, with a weight of nearly 400kg (with an F class allownace of 150Kg)

Thai Airways is currently overhauling itself after reporting a loss of 21.3bn baht in 2008.

And to think I have the cheek of taking 64kg of luggage and feeling guilty ....

UK Goverment goes for MWW scanners... But do they work?

Well it sees the USA isn't the only country that can do kneejerk reactions.  The UK Has commenced a review of airport security, with the upshot of it being Millimetre Wave Scanners (MMW) being implemented in UK airports for deployment by end of January.

How do they work?

According to Wiki...

Clothing and other organic materials are translucent in some extremely high frequency (millimeter wave) radio frequency bands.[2] This frequency range is just below the (related) sub-millimeter "Terahertz radiation" (or "T-ray") range.


The millimeter wave is transmitted from two antennas simultaneously as they rotate around the body. The wave energy reflected back from the body or other objects on the body is used to construct a three-dimensional image, which is displayed on a remote monitor for analysis.

Obviously, there are privacy concerns, inculding the threat of abuse of images (although the promise of instant deletion of images quite frankly doesn't wash with me), but it still boils down to one person behind a screen examining the images.

Herein is the problem. If a person is having an off day, and misses something - oops.

The big question is this however - Is this all just security theatre? By that I mean is it there to reassure the public that something is being done, or is it just a "Show of force" with nothing more behind it. It should be pointed out that no disclosed threat has been identified by security means.

Even the Home Secretary has confirmed this in his speech:

"It is clear that no one measure will be enough to defeat inventive and determined terrorists and there is no single technology which we can guarantee will be 100% effective against such attacks,"

- Alan Johnson, Home Secretary

In addition, Alan Johnson said there was only a 50 to 60% chance that a body scanner would have detected bomb materials allegedly carried on NW253.

Only combined with the possibiltiy of passenger profiling (which itself could open a whole kettle of fish), could this stand a chance in hell of working.

I think I know the answer to the security theatre question, and I'm sure you can guess what I think it is too...

UK Weather - From Bad to Worse - More Snow

The UK Met Office has issued an flash weather warning, indicating heavy snowfall expected over the next 24 hours, concentrating in Dorset, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire - and is spreading south.

Latest weather from The Met Office and from BBC Weather

Expect Travel disruption, delays and cancellations today in all forms of travel - and keep safe.

Mesa enters Chapter 11...

Well it seems that the carrier that a lot of people don't like has entered Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection, citing the economy and the downturn.

Mesa Air Group operates aircraft for Delta, United and US Airways which is inculded in its Chapter 11 request. Its joint Hawaiian inter-island operation Go!-Mokulele is not part of the filing.

Jonathan Ornstein, chairman and chief executive, said he expects Mesa will need only "a matter of months" to emerge from bankruptcy.

The air group will be expected to make serious cuts in its fleet of 25 aircraft that are already parked up, whilst allowing it to finish its lawsuit with Delta quickly.

Mesa's fleet is a mixture of Dash-8's, CRJ-200's, CRJ 700's, CRJ 900's, ERJ-145's and various mixed other aircraft, with emphaisis on the 50 seat market.

Mesa's reputation however goes before it, and some people would prefer Mesa to go away. Whilst the the aim of this reorg is to cut aircraft, if it's time for staff to go - there will be serious problems as the staff have been cut and shaved so many times...

Good luck to the staff involved

More Snow Trouble (UK airport clourses)

Yes, more white stuff has fallen in the UK with Manchester airport only reopening at Midday today, EasyJet cancelling flights and all sorts of fun.

Currently:
City of Derry Airport - Suspended
Durham Tees Valley Airport- Suspended
Liverpool John Lennon Airport - disrupted - Check in as normal
Leeds Bradford Airport - disrupted - Check in as normal.
Manchester International Airport - disrupted - Passengers are advised to contact their airlines.

All other airports are reporting some disruption - Check in as normal, but expect delays.

Snow. Wonderful stuff eh?

SAS puts some of it's MD-80's out to stud... with Alligent.

Well we know that SAS are reorganising themselves as they've suffered in the current climate, and are in the process of disposing 21 of its MD-80 fleet.

It seems that Allegiant Air was in the market for some aircraft, and thus have brought 18 MD-80's.

These veteran aircraft are currently on the ground and are between 19 and 25 years old, so they're easy money for SAS to make with a total sale value of 200 million Swedish Krona.

This move sees Allegiant boost its MD-80 fleet to 52 units, and SAS reduce its MD fleet to 24 units for intra-Scandinavia use (although knowing SAS, they'll be be on Intra-Europe routes faster that you can think)

Ryanair Declared "puerile and childish". What's new?

(I've almost caught up with my posts - dread the thought I might be up to date by tomorrow afternoon. Of course stranger things have happened - normally whilst I'm in the queue to board the plane).

How long is it since I've bitched about O'Leary's pestilence of an airline? Far too long it seems.

The Office of Fair Trading enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UK's economic regulator. Which is nice when they actually win something or get off their backsides to do something in the case of the bank charges fiasco.

However, they've decided to turn their attention to our Irish friends. Why this time? As mentioned last year in this blog, Ryanair are now charging for Visa Electron, whilst making Pre-Paid MasterCard Free of fees for that method of payment only.

The Office of Fair Trading has declared Ryanair "puerile and childish", whilst Ryanair say their payment policy model allowed passengers "to avoid costs"

In UK law, if an airline offers at least one free payment method, it is allowed to advertise cheap fares that do not include extra credit card charges. So in Ryanair's case it was Visa Elecrtron before, now Pre-Paid Mastercard.

Mr Fingleton told the Independent newspaper: "Ryanair has this funny game where they have found some very low frequency payment mechanism and say: 'Well because you can pay with that'. 

"It's almost like taunting consumers and pointing out: 'Oh well, we know this is completely outside the spirit of the law, but we think it's within the narrow letter of the law'."

Ryanair of course came back with one of their classic responses

Ryanair Head of Communications Stephen McNamara said: "Ryanair is not for the overpaid John Fingletons of this world but for the everyday Joe Bloggs who opt for Ryanair's guaranteed lowest fares because we give them the opportunity to fly across 26 European countries for free, £5 and £10. 

"What the OFT must realise is that passengers prefer Ryanair's model as it allows them to avoid costs, such as baggage charges, which are still included in the high fares of high cost, fuel surcharging, strike-threatened airlines such as BA."

No Ryanair. What it means if you don't pay attention to EVERY detail to a Ryanair booking, and play the game, you'll get stung and stung hard with some of their costs.

And I'm sorry - I know how much it costs to process a credit or debit card. HINT. It's less than £5 a time based on their fare structure. In other words - you're a profit centre to Ryanair. 


So always double check everything, and when possible - do yourself a favour - double check the prices, ignore the headline fares and compare with a traditional carrier. You might be surprised at the actual difference (and it will be small)

Flying with Fish and Elliott.org... *No longer subpoenad*

In very good news (and news I missed by my own admission) both Chris Elliot and Steven Frischling  have had their subpoenas for information regarding the now infamous SD-1544-09-06 TSA Directive withdrawn by the TSA.

In addition, the TSA will replace Fish's MacBook that was damaged by the investigation.

The TSA describes their investigations nearing completion satisfactory. I call it a cockup of epic proportions - least of all thanks to Runway Girl finding out that a notebook that an agent was using was left in a public place.

My congratulations to Elliot and Fish. And since I read their blogs now, you'll find them on the left hand bar to visit from here.

JAL: No more bailouts... but we'll consider extending a loan..

When is a bailout not a bailout? When it has something to do with JAL it seems.

Whilst the Japanese Government has promised no new loans to it, it has however promised to extend previous loans from 1 Billion Yen to 2 Billion Yen.

Thats a lot of yen!

This still doesn't solve the long term problems with JAL (least of all the 1.5 TRILLON Yen Debt Pile - and growing), but it might tide it over until it can decide to go with American or Delta.

In the short term however - if nothing comes to past and there are no rapid improvements - JAL could well find itself off to Bankruptcy protection land...

Air Berlin 737-800 copies Ryanair... skids off Taxiway

We'll be doing a mini catchup over the next couple of days.  Lots been happening - me mostly sleeping through it. I'm also in the middle of planning my next trip at the mo - a post on that later.

An Air Berlin Boeing 737-800 Flight AB2450 departing Dortmund (Germany) to the to Las Palmas, Canary Islands (Spain) overran the runway during takeoff, and ended up at the end of it in the snow, nose down.

The pilot aborted takeoff due to a technical irregularity, and failed to stop the plane before runway threshold.

Thankfully, none of the 165 passengers or 6 crew were hurt, and the they were evacuated using air-stairs. 

With weather conditions in Europe expected to get worse, focus on De-icing and runway maintenance - as well as delays and re-routings will become the norm...

Airplane p0rn - United 757

A New Year, so of course... more Airplane p0rn!

This week - a bit of snow, and as we mostly know, Chicago O'Hare tends to slow down.  This shot is of a United 757 at the C gates at ORD.

More airplane p0rn of course, next week

Happy New Year

Wishing you all Happy New Year and safe travels over the coming year!

GhettoIFE.com will be out and about next year with more travels, and will keep ontop of the stories, the fun and the madness that is the world of civil aviation especially in these times.

Note: Yes - It's an automated posting that I wrote the day before. I'm probably in bed when this goes live ;)

List of UK Major Airports with IATA codes

United Kingdom and Ireland Airport list

For those of you who might be confused by some of the Three Lettered Codes (IATA) of Airports I use in the blog posts, here's a semi-comprehensive list of major airports within the United Kingdom and Ireland area. The link to the respective airport's site is also there too. I've added a Twitter feed if they have it too.

IATA	Airport Name and Link
BHX	Birmingham Airport
BLK	Blackpool International Airport
BOH	Bournemouth Airport
BRS	Bristol Airport
MME	Durham Tees Valley Airport
EMA	East Midlands Airport
EXY	Exeter Airport
HUY	Humberside International Airport
LBA	Leeds Bradford Airport
LPL	Liverpool John Lennon Airport
LCY	London City Airport
LGW	London Gatwick Airport
LHR	London Heathrow Airport
STN	London Stansted Airport
LTN	Luton Airport
MAN	Manchester Airport
NCL	Newcastle Airport
NQY	Newquy Airport
NWI	Norwich Airport
DSA	Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield
SOU	Southampton Airport

Ireland

ORK	Cork Airport
DUB	Dublin Airport
NOC	Knock Airport
SNN	Shannon Airport

Northern Ireland

BFS	Belfast International Airport
BHD	George Best Belfast City Airport
LDY	Derry Airport

Scotland

ABZ	Aberdeen
EDI	Edinburgh
GLA	Glasgow International
PIK	Glasgow Prestwick
INV	Inverness

Wales

CWL	Cardiff Airport

Twitter Follow Links

For those of you who use Twitter, you can add the following feeds for up-to-date news and spam from the following airports:

England

• Birmingham - twitter.com/bhx_official
• Durham - twitter.com/DurhamTVAirport
• Liverpool - twitter.com/LPL_Airport 
• London City - twitter.com/LondonCityAir
• London Gatwick - twitter.com/Gatwick_Airport 
• London Heathrow -twitter.com/heathrowairport 
• Manchester - twitter.com/manairport
• Southampton - twitter.com/SOU_Airport

Ireland

•   Dublin - twitter.com/DublinAirport

Northern Ireland

• Belfast - twitter.com/BELFASTAIRPORT

Scotland

• Aberdeen - twitter.com/ABZ_Airport 
• Edinburgh - twitter.com/EDI_Airport
• Glasgow - twitter.com/GLA_Airport 

Wales

•  Cardiff - twitter.com/Cardiff_Airport