Southwest 737-700 (N711HK) seen at Dallas Love Field with Row 44 raydome between the strobe and vertical stabilizer. It also sports a retro-livery design.
On November 20, 2013 Southwest Airlines announced that, effective immediately, customers could use their portable electronic devices (PEDs) gate-to-gate. This was expected as other airlines had been making similar announcements earlier in the month after the FAA relaxed their rules. What wasn’t expected was that in-flight entertainment (IFE), through their Row 44 WiFi, would also be available gate-to-gate, making them the first U.S. airline to offer a seamless integrated experience, regardless of altitude.
Southwest Airlines has long been a renegade, going against the grain, often being successful with that strategy. When the industry zigs, they zag and usually find themselves with a competitive advantage. And that’s exactly what they did when they bucked the trend of U.S. airlines signing on with traditional passenger-level-hardware IFE. Instead, Southwest chose Row 44, an industry underdog to provide their connectivity. Row 44’s network is powered solely by satellite, whereas (at the time) the other big domestic players (i.e. GoGo) focused on terrestrial (land-based cell tower) service.
BONUS: GoGo Unveils New In-Flight Technology
I’m a known critic of IFE at the airline-provided-hardware level. I am of the school of thought that if you can give me WiFi, I’ll find a way to entertain myself, with my own device(s). BYOD (that is, “bring your own device”) is gaining in popularity across many industries and applications, so why not with airlines? Traditional IFE is expensive to implement, heavy to fly around, and requires added maintenance. With passengers likely to bring the added weight of their own devices anyway, why not simply eliminate the cost and complexity?
Southwest’s in-flight connectivity is nothing new, but has matured well beyond basic WiFi. I recently had the opportunity to try out the new gate-to-gate, or in my case, gate-to-gate-to-gate Row 44 on a business trip from Kansas City with a stopover at Dallas Love Field on my way to San Antonio. Let me say, I was impressed.
An Airbus A321 pushing back at Philadelphia. Is this a Boeing 757 replacement? – Photo: Mal Muir | AirlineReporter.com
With most Boeing 757s heading toward the end of their life cycles, airlines are moving forward with plans for more fuel-efficient aircraft that can hold similar amounts of passengers over a decent range. The most popular option at the moment is the Airbus A321. Having never flown one myself, I was excited to have an opportunity to test out this aircraft on a recent flight out east. I wanted to see first hand how the newer A321 stacked up to the (soon-to-be) classic 757.
At the moment, the only current operatosr of the A321 in the U.S. are Spirit and US Airways; however JetBlue and American Airlines have received their first ones and Delta, and Hawaiian have plans to expand their fleet with the A321 in either CEO (Current Engine Option) or NEO (New Engine Option) flavor. In some cases, these aircraft will replace 757s, such as with AA; however, some are just for expansion as with the case of JetBlue & Hawaiian.
My first-ever flight on an Airbus A321 was with US Airways, travelling from Phoenix to Washington DC’s Reagan National Airport. Not only would this be a new aircraft for me, but also a new airport (Phoenix) and a new airline (US Airways). Hee-haw, I was down for the AvGeek newness tri-fecta.
AA’s first Airbus A319 departs from Hamburg on its delivery flight. All of American’s A319s will be delivered with the new sharklets. Image: American Airlines
Reported from Fort Worth by: Jack Harty, Senior Correspondent Archive.com and re-printed with permission.
The ’œNew American’ is arriving along with a new aircraft almost every week. With each delivery, American is slowly introducing a brand-new onboard product that first debuted on their Boeing 777-300ERs and continues to make its way into the fleet with the delivery of their first A319 aircraft. In February, American Airlines and US Airways announced plans to merge which would help form the ’œNew American.’
However, the Department of Justice filed a motion to stop the merger last week, citing that competition would be decreased. At this time, it’s not clear if a merger with US Airways will be part of the ’œNew American’, though many in the industry feel that the merger will happen after AA agrees to concessions, such as surrendering significant slots at Washington Reagan National Airport.
At a minimum, the merger closing will be pushed back from the 3rd to 4th quarter of 2013. Even if American and US Airways do not complete their merger, it is evident that American Airlines is going through a transformation as they build the ’œNew American.’
On August 14th, American Airlines unveiled their first A319 in the United States to employees and press; we were invited.
American Airlines Boeing 737-800 in Seattle.
It takes quite a bit to get me up at 4am. Having the chance to spend about 40 hours flying on a premium product is just about enough to do it. I was recently invited to check out American Airlines new Boeing 777-300ER on a flight from New York (JFK) to London (LHR). I was set to leave at 7am on Monday and be back home by 10pm the next day. This was going to be one heck of a great #AvGeek adventure (note: American covered all my flights).
It did not take too long to get ready for my trip. One back-pack with a change of clothes, laptop and camera. Soon enough I was sitting in my car ready to rock and roll. I turned the key… nothing. Tried again and once again nothing. Oh boy.
After ten minutes of messing with my main vehicle, I decided to take my secondary car which is a 1987 Ford Bronco. Oddly, it is not known to be very reliable, but I was going to have to take the risk and started the 45minute drive to SEA. Hopefully this was not a sign of things to come.
Even with my vehicle issue, I was able to make great time to the airport, parked and made my way inside. With longer trips, I will find alternative parking options, but with getting to the airport at about 5:30am and scheduled to return the next day at 10pm, I decided just to park on-site and pay the $28 per day (heck, I get extra miles to boot).
With just one bag, normally getting to the gate would be a breeze. But I had a non-rev media ticket and with most airlines, I am not able to check in online and need to go to a ticket counter. No worries, I was flying First Class from SEA to JFK and had a priority line waiting for me — maybe.
Almost 12,000 miles in less than 40 hours.
Walking up to the counter the economy line had about 20 passengers, but my special line had no one — bonus. Unfortunately the agent working the First Class line was was on the phone, but I figured I could wait a few minutes, but at the five minute mark it got a bit annoying. The agent had not even looked up to let me know that he knew I was there. Not a huge deal, but a simple recognition that I existed could have gone a long ways.
Instead of waiting on the ticket agent, I decided to give an open kiosk a whirl. About half the time they work with the media tickets and the other half they do not. The good news is it seemed like it was going to work, but the darn thing would not scan my Passport. Luckily there was a nice woman there who was able to quickly help me and get my boarding pass with a smile and I was off to my gate.
Lifting off from Seattle. Do not fret that I have my “electronic” camera device on below 10,000 feet. I had permission from the airline!
My premium ticket was also able to get me quickly through the security line with only one person in front of me versus the 50 of so in the main line. SEA operates body scanners at each check point, but to date, I have still not been scanned at my home town airport (and only twice ever other places — darn you AMS and TPA). Per usual, the TSA were operating scanners at two of the four bag scanners and I was easily able to choose a line without a scanner. I am by no means a fan of the body scanners, but if you are going to operate them, at least do it in a fashion where they are not so easily avoidable.
However, the TSA made it up to me during boarding when my bags were randomly selected to be searched. I have to say that the two TSA gate agents were some of the nicest I have interacted with and I am really glad I went with a conservative pair of boxer shorts.
Boarding was quick and easy. I was greeted by my last name, my jacket was quickly hung up and offered water, juice or champagne — classy. This level of attentiveness remained the entire way to JFK and honestly is not what I normally expect when flying domestically, even in First Class. Realize this has nothing to do with me being media. I was not taking any photographs inside the aircraft and everyone was receiving this same level of treatment. I was impressed.
Landing at JFK where the weather was not too pleasant.
Lifting off from SEA on a clear day is always a great reminder how much I love the town and the surrounding area. It might be a shocker for some of you, but many take offs I experience are cloudy and gray.
Once hitting the 10,000 feet mark, I was excited to get back online. Fired up my laptop and went to connect to the GoGo in-flight internet. Then I saw the costs: $10.00 for an hour, $20.00 for three hours, or $21.95 for the entire flight. I get the fact that most people on business travel will just expense this out and that it costs money to provide the internet, but this was just too much for me at the time. I think if it were $15, I would have gone for it and was thinking I might do the $10.00 during the 3rd hour in the flight, but sleep got in the way.
The American domestic First Class seats not only have a decent recline, but they also move the bottom of the seat forward. One of my favorite features was the arm rest next to the window is able to raise, allowing access to the additional space by the wall. This provided ample comfort to get in a few hours of sleep, so I could be well rested for my 777 flight.
A few American Airline tails at JFK.
It had been a while since I flew into JFK. Many airports, you land and it only takes a few moments to get to the gate. Not here. Post landing, it took a good 20 minutes before we arrived at the gate. At least I had a window seat and was able to spot planes turning green.
After collecting my things, I was on the jetway, checking my email on my phone and missed the gentleman who was there to great me: Phil Derner Jr who runs NYCAvitiation.com. A nice little surprise. Also, Jason Rabinowitz (who writes for both of our sites), was also on his way to join us to help me take photos of American’s 777-300ER. It was a mini AvGeek get-together.
AveGeeks Unite! Me, Phil Derner Jr with NYCAviation and Jason Rabinowitz aka @AirlineFlyer pose at JFK.
To celebrate our gathering, we took a photo in front of a JFK/American backdrop that was at some random gate. I forgot I was not in Seattle anymore and when I asked a gentleman sitting by us if he would take a photo, he looked at me like I was nuts. Luckily a nice lady next to him offered and after about five attempts, we ended up with one that was not super blurry.
After our photo shoot, we were off for some beers while waiting for the American Airlines representative to escort us on to the aircraft.
The flight deck of American’s Boeing 777-300ER.
Soon, it was time to pre-pre-board the 777-300ER. I have found trying to board super early provides much better photos than rushing around with a bunch of passengers. This also allowed us to view First Class, economy, the flight deck (bonus) and the crew rest areas.
I found it pretty interesting that multiple American employees kept boarding the plane to take a look at the new plane and interior. I think that shows the excitement that the new aircraft is bringing to the company. After getting everything we needed, we de-planed, Phil and Jason went back to their normal lives and I was back on the Worldliner 15 minutes later prepping for my flight to London.
Pilot rest area located above the main deck in the front of the 777-300ER.
Then I took off, flew for a bit and then landed. Awesome review right? Do not worry, a full story on the flight is coming soon, but for now, the 40 hour adventure continues (minus the actual 777 flight). Insert cheesy time transition here.
We arrived at the gate a little late, but still giving me about six hours in London before getting back on the same plane and heading to New York. It was time to find the lounge.
Unfortunately, I avoided customs and was able to head to “connecting flights,” go through security, check in and be ready to go. I say “unfortunately,” because this means I did not get my Passport stamped — I know, tough life.
My American Airlines Boeing 777-300ER landing at JFK by Eric – SouthPawCaptures.
At the lounge I was looking for two main things: coffee and a shower. Luckily it had both. I was able to keep productive (and hydrated) waiting for my return trip home. My departure time was 12:30pm local time, but that was 5:30am at home. I had not been able to sleep too much, so by the time we boarded, I was exhausted.
I found my seat, got situation and then… BAM, it was four hours later. I must have woken up at some point, since my seat was fully reclined. I do not remember taxi, take off or the missed meal service (again more details on my 777-300ER flights later).
Admiral’s Club in London — my home for about five hours.
I was once again back at JFK. When going though customs, I was some-what excited to be asked about my trip and how long I was in London. Maybe even get additional screening from having such a weird story. Instead I was greeted by probably the nicest Customs official I have interacted with, but no questions about “how many days were you in London?” Oh well.
After going back through security, I found the Admiral’s Club and relaxed for about an hour before taking my final leg back home to Seattle. Once getting settled in my seat, the captain came on to let us know that the flight was going to be a “home coming” for the 737, since it was built in Renton. Awesome — I like this guy.
My flight back to Seattle started very similar to my flight back to New York. Boarded and back to sleep I went. Upon waking, one of the flight attendants noticed and asked me if I wanted one of the meals — nice. Most times when sleeping through a meal service, I have to ask. I ate some sort of beef (I forgot to grab the menu), but I was too full to have another ice cream sundae (I had one on the 777).
The flight landed back in dark SEA about 30min early. In less than 40 hours I had just flown about 12,000 miles. I always have wondered if I have a limit on how much I can fly before I get tired of it. This was as close as I have gotten, but after a nice rest in my own bed, I would have been ready to hit the sky again.
I will go into a bit more detail with my next story, but I ended up with noticeably better service on my domestic American Boeing 737 flight than I did with the international 777 flight, but the product on the 777 was strikingly more impressive. The interesting part are the flights are about the same length.
It leaves the big question: does an amazing product with mediocre service trump a mediocre product with great service? Stay tuned for my answer and put your thoughts in the comments.
SEE ALL 76 PHOTOS FROM THE AMERICAN AIRLINES TRIP
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This story written by…David Parker Brown, Editor & Founder.David started AirlineReporter.com in the summer of 2008, but has had a passion for aviation since he was a kid. Born and raised in the Seattle area (where he is currently based) has surely had an influence and he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the world.@AirlineReporter | Flickr | YouTube |
The World Series’ Trophy in all its glory.
For the second time in three years, the San Francisco Giants are World Series champions. To celebrate their victory, the Giants and Virgin America (the team’s official airline) teamed up to bring the World Series trophy back to the their roots in New York and I was invited to tag along. It was perfect for me since I both love aviation and baseball.
The team’s history dates back to 1883, when they were known as the New York Gothams, playing at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. Even though the Giants moved to the west coast in 1958, there is still a considerable fan base in New York.
With the sun rising over the runways at San Francisco International Airport, I approached the gate for the 9:25AM flight to find the World Series trophy already on display, hours before departure. Glistening in the morning sunlight, passengers, airline employees, and even police dogs inside the terminal were drawn to the trophy, posing for pictures at this unexpected event.
San Francisco Police K-9 officer Xaro poses with the World Series Trophy
A little less than an hour before departure time, a flood of local media approached the gate area to set up video cameras, as the Giants President and CEO Larry Baer along with David Cush, Virgin Americas President and CEO, were about to give a press conference. The press conference only lasted a few short moments, and it quickly became photo-op time in front of the aircraft.
Virgin America President/CEO David Cush (left) and Giants President/CEO Larry Baer with the World Series Trophy in front of “The Beard”
The ride from San Francisco to New York was no ordinary Virgin America aircraft, of course. The flight was operated on the Airbus A320 officially named ’œFly Bye Baby,’ or as it is more commonly known, ’œThe Beard.’
This particular A320 (N849VA) has a large San Francisco Giants logo on either side, as well as a painted on beard on the nose. Originally inspired by Giants closing pitcher Brian Wilson, who is no longer with the team, ’œThe Beard’ definitely stands out from the rest of the Virgin fleet.
Nice beard man. Virgin America (N849VA) Airbus A320 with facial hair.
Once the photo-op was over, the trophy was finally brought onto the plane, where its first seat was arguably the best seat on board, the pilot’s seat. Thankfully for the passengers (which were mostly “normal” fare-paying folks and then a few media and invited folks), the trophy was soon moved to a first class seat after a few pictures, and the pilot was able to take his rightful position.
After takeoff, members of the media were brought up to the front of the cabin to interview Larry Baer of the Giants. I had never interviewed the CEO of a company before, but what better place to put me at ease than the first class cabin next to the World Series trophy. In the five minutes I was allotted, Mr. Baer and I talked about everything from the team’s loyal following in New York, to the partnership with Virgin America.
When asked about the Giants partnership with Virgin America, Mr. Baer had nothing but great things to say. ’œI can’t imagine a better airline partner than Virgin America,’ said Baer. Interestingly, he told me that before partnering with Virgin, the team was in talks to become partners with United, who has a very heavy presence in San Francisco. During talks with United, Virgin approached the Giants, and the rest is history.
Along the transcontinental journey, a few more events were held to celebrate the trophy’s journey. Mr. Baer and the Giants social media team held a ’œTwitter chat,’ utilizing the aircraft’s Gogo wifi system. Shortly after, the flight crew held a Giants trivia contest over the PA, but with an interesting twist. Instead of raising their hand, or simply shouting out answers, passengers had to use the in-flight entertainment system to answer. Using the tethered remote, passengers logged into the systems chat room, and whoever answered first was the winner. Those who won were brought up to the first class cabin to take pictures with the trophy.
Towards the end of the flight, the crew got on the PA system once more, and encouraged all passengers to wave the orange Giants towel they found at their seat at the beginning of the fight. Before landing at JFK, Mr. Baer walked to the back of the aircraft with the trophy so that every passenger had a chance to see it up close.
Giants President/CEO Larry Baer walks down the aisle with the World Series Trophy
Most major airlines in the United States sponsor multiple sports franchises, and sometimes it feels as if the sponsorship is nothing more than a few billboards at the stadium. In the case of the Giants and Virgin America, the relationship feels deeper than that, and it is refreshing. The event flight was a lot of fun, and it is something those passengers will not forget any time soon. As a big sports fan and aviation enthusiast, I couldn’t have asked for a better combination.
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Gate sign informing passengers of the event
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Virgin America A320 Model
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Posing with the trophy
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Fly Bye Baby, aka The Beard
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Virgin America President/CEO helps load a passengers bag into the overhead bins at SFO
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What better way to document the journey of the trophy than to strap a GoPro camera to it?
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This story written by… Jason Rabinowitz, Correspondent.
Jason is a New York City native who has grown up in the shadow of JFK International Airport. A true “avgeek”, he enjoys plane spotting and photography, as well taking any opportunity he can get to fly on an aircraft.
@AirlineFyer | FaceBook | |
