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Continental Airlines Eliminating Free Food is Ok!

By David Parker Brown, on March 16th, 2010 at 10:10 am

Tail and winglet of Boeing 737-800

Yesterday, Continental Airlines announced they will be cutting their free food for most domestic flights starting near the end of the year. The airline will charge for meals in economy on all domestic and Canadian flights of less than six hours. However, they will be keeping free meals on longer flights and still offering free peanuts and drinks on all flights.

There is a lot of rumbling on the internet of “another airline caving in” and screwing over the passenger. However, I see this as a smart move and was really surprised Continental held out as long as they did.

Free food is almost non-existent on most domestic flights anywhere in the world. Passengers have come accustomed to not eating or buying food on board. I would assume that most leisure passengers weren’t even aware that Continental still served food, but it would be a nice surprise when aboard.

If passengers have the expectation to not get free food, why should Continental pay for it? Plus Continental can make additional revenue by charging for food and maybe lower their prices.

Would I love to have free food while flying? Of course. But I understand Continental’s move and with passengers demanding the lowest fares possible, I think it is a smart move for Continental to do this!

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Image: MDLFlyer

Get Boozed Up at Las Vegas Airport — They’re Looking At Opening a Liquor Store in Baggage Claim

By David Parker Brown, on March 2nd, 2010 at 4:47 am

Welcome to Las Vegas! Liquor Store Ahead!

Ah Las Vegas. Gambling, fancy hotels, bunch of college students and of course alcohol (ok the list could go on and on, but we will stop with that). Remember in the olden days how you had to wait to get to downtown before getting sloshed? That time between your buzz wearing off from your $6 beer from the plane and having to take a cab all the way downtown? How many times have you been waiting for your bag and thought, “dang, I sure could use a Jaeger shot right about now.” I know…LAME! Well have no worry — the Vegas airport is here to help.

The McCarran International Airport is proposing to open a liquor store in baggage claim. That’s right! This would be the first airport to have a true liquor store. Sure you have those duty free stores and bars, but this you can buy full bottles and take them with you (or finish them before leaving the airport).

Steven Sisolak, a Clark County Commissioner stated, “Oh, I know it will be a gold mine for some liquor store, but does this mean we’ll do anything for money?”

Seriously? Does this guy know Vegas? It is based on making money! He continues, “What’s next? Airport strip clubs? Topless bars? Is that appropriate for county property? I mean, that’s ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking, too.” Maybe, but really alcohol is already served on planes and in bars, is a liquor store really that much of a jump?

Sisolak also states he is worried about travelers drinking the alcohol in public and having public drunkenness. But isn’t that pretty standard in Vegas, people walking around quite buzzed with a drink in hand?

The airport is hoping this might bring in some extra cash. “We’re strapped for cash just like every other county department, and because of the smoking ban our gaming revenue has gone down and advertising has been a little slow,” said Elaine Sanchez, airport spokeswoman. “We believe, in hard times, this is a good idea.”

What do you think? Is this a good idea?

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Source: Las Vegas Sun Image: lonnypaul

Alaska Airlines Goes with GoGo for Wi-Fi

By David Parker Brown, on February 24th, 2010 at 10:17 am

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800 taking off from Anchorage, AK.

Airlines adding wi-fi to their fleet is nothing new. But Alaska Airlines announcing they will be adding GoGo Inflight for their Wi-Fi service is exciting since: #1 They were testing Row44 and decided to go with GoGo instead and #2 Alaska is my hometown airline (based in Seattle), I fly them often, and I love having the internet at 30,000 feet.

Alaska has been testing Row44’s satellite-based internet service for quite sometime now. Row44’s main customer is Southwest Airlines. Many thought Alaska would go with Row44 since they have flights to Hawaii and remote areas of Alaska where cell towers, needed by GoGo, do not exist.

Why is Alaska willing to forgo service on all their routes to go with GoGo? A few reasons. First GoGo equipment costs less and takes less time to install on aircraft. This would mean a lower investment at the beginning and not as much lost revenue due to aircraft not being able to fly during installation. Also GoGo is installed on many different airlines all over the US already and has proven itself as a viable service.

GoGo, attempting to get Alaska’s business, has agreed to expand its network into Alaska, however flights to Hawaii will still have no internet (but heck those passengers are going to Hawaii…nice tropical, warm Hawaii. They can deal with no internet).

To get FAA certification, one Boeing 737-800 will get GoGo installed, then the service will be installed fleet-wide.

Mary Kirby, with Flight Global’s Runway Girl, also has another opinion on this choice. She asks if Southwest and Row44 might have some arrangement in the works, which would have either delayed installation of Row44 into Alaska’s aircraft or Southwest might invest in Row44 and partly own the company. Only time will tell!

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Image: Bob Butcher

All Nippon Airways (ANA) Will Provide Women-Only Lavatories

By David Parker Brown, on February 23rd, 2010 at 10:07 am

All Nippon Airways Boeing 747 (JA8955) waiting to take off.

Starting on March 1st, All Nippon Airways (ANA) will have women-only lavatories on their international planes (except the Boeing 737 or Airbus A320). These lavatories will be restricted to only female passengers and will have a pink logo on the doors.

Only under certain circumstances will male passengers be able to use the lavatories:

* When required for safety reasons, just prior to the seat belt sign being turned on during take-off and landing

* When a passenger is not feeling well and a personal emergency requires such use

* When there are very few female passengers and the women-only designation has been lifted for the flight. If this is the case, an in-flight announcement will be made.

I don’t want to go into too many details on why this might be a good idea, but a man using the restroom and turbulence could cause issues. Also women wouldn’t have to worry about putting down the seat.

Of course previously ANA has advised passengers to use the restroom before even boarding the plane to save on fuel and carbon emissions.

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Image from 64N21W

Greetings from 36,239 Feet!

By David Parker Brown, on November 14th, 2009 at 8:15 pm

I only read the best stuff while on my flights. Taken just a few mintues ago.

I only read the best stuff while on my flights. Taken just a few minutes ago.

I am currently posting this from 36,239 feet on a Virgin America flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Seattle (SEA). The in-seat map tells me we are over Central Oregon. Today I flew to San Fran and I’m now flying right back to Seattle to test out Virgin America’s in-flight entertainment system. I will post a full review of my experience on Monday, but while enjoying the Wi-Fi, I wanted to talk about it a little bit.

I am currently accessing the internet via GoGo and I don’t have to pay a dime. Virgin America, with Google, is offering free Wi-Fi on all their flights from now until January 15, 2010. Delta Air Lines, with eBay, is providing free Wi-Fi for a week starting November 24th.

The free internet is not only for folks on an airplane. Until January 15, 2010 Google will provide complimentary Wi-Fi in 47 airports across the country, including Las Vegas, Boston, Houston, Miami, and Seattle.

Seattle was supposed to be one of the 47 airports with free Wi-Fi. However, when I was there earlier today, I was excited to do some blogging while waiting for my flight to leave but it wasn’t free. Luckily I have an iPhone (airline and tech nerd) and found that there is a contract issue between AT&T (the current provider) and the airport.

Other airports got the Wi-Fi this Tuesday, but Seattle won’t be seeing it until November 18th. Every cloud has its silver lining; Seattle and Burbank airports will have free Wi-fi forever. I guess I will be ok with no Wi-Fi today for perpetually free Wi-Fi in a few days.

I am no stranger to technology and I fly quite a bit, but every time I have the access to the internet while flying, it feels magical. Some people say the magic of flying is gone but I disagree, it just depends on who you fly.

Internet is the future of airline travel. I feel that all airlines will have internet access in the near future. Once an airline cuts the Wi-Fi for landing, it is only a few minutes to re-connect on the 3G network and be connected once again. Awhile back, I talked about the possibility of having free Wi-Fi on airlines, but Andrew Compart with Things with Wings came up with another possible change that Wi-Fi could cause.

He caught something interesting in the Google media release about the free Wi-Fi, “A recent study conducted by the Wi-Fi Alliance reported that 50% of business travelers take red-eye flights in order to be “reachable” during business hours, and an overwhelming 82% said that being connected through Wi-Fi would help solve that problem.”

He brings up a good question that with business travelers having access to Wi-Fi during their flights, will fewer take red eye flights? Will that affect an airline’s business flying at night? I hope not. For personal travel, I enjoy red-eyes since I am able to sleep and I want as much vacation time as possible.

A year ago, there was barely any Wi-Fi on any flights. Hopefully a year from now Wi-Fi will be so common that there’s nothing left to even write about.. I think I am going to wrap up now, time to play Doom for the rest of the flight back home!

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Continental Airlines Eliminating Free Food is Ok!

Get Boozed Up at Las Vegas Airport — They’re Looking At Opening a Liquor Store in Baggage Claim

Alaska Airlines Goes with GoGo for Wi-Fi

All Nippon Airways (ANA) Will Provide Women-Only Lavatories

Greetings from 36,239 Feet!

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Continental Airlines Eliminating Free Food is Ok!

Get Boozed Up at Las Vegas Airport — They’re Looking At Opening a Liquor Store in Baggage Claim

Alaska Airlines Goes with GoGo for Wi-Fi

All Nippon Airways (ANA) Will Provide Women-Only Lavatories

Greetings from 36,239 Feet!