Wind power for Alaska Airlines up in Nome, Alaska. Photo from Alaska Airlines.
So where the heck is Nome, Alaska? It is pretty darn as close to the middle of no where as you can get, although it is on the western edge of Alaska. It is a small town of less than 4,000 people and transportation to destinations outside the city is difficult to come by. Roads connect Nome to smaller cities up to 54 miles away, but there are no roads connecting the city to the rest of the world. For the town to operate, it requires transportation via water and air.
Air travel becomes a necessity to get goods and people to and from remote areas in Alaska and Alaska Airlines is one of a few airlines operating out of Nome ’“ it is also the largest.
Nome has long days in the summer, short in the winter and is the end destination of the Iditarod dog sled race. The remote city is also known for its fierce winds of 80 to 90mph. With being so remote, having strong winds and long days of light in the summer, it makes sense for locals to look at alternative sources of energy and that is just what Alaska Airlines has done.
Recently the airline built a 30-foot wind turbine next to the Nome Terminal and installed solar panel array on the roof. According to Alaska, ’œthe project is the first foray for Alaska Airlines into using wind and solar power to produce a significant amount of an airport’s electricity ’“ and it appears to be the first time a domestic carrier has pursued alternative energy for an airport operation.’
Alaska is hoping that the turbine and solar panels will produce around 15,000 kilowatt hours of power per year, which is about 6 percent of the terminal’s load. If successful, the concept may be expanded to other rural airports in Alaska, said Ron Suttell, Alaska’s director of facilities planning and administration.
“The turbine was selected because it performs well in turbulent air, it is engineered to continue producing electricity in harsh climates and high winds, and the design eliminates icing issues on the blades,” Chris Andree, Alaska Airlines’ regional manager of properties and facilities, who oversaw the project for the airline.
I have been sharing stories of airline love. Yes, we all know there are a lot of airline haters out there, so that is why I have started to share some of the happier stories. This one comes from John C who lives in the Seattle area and recently explained his short story via email. Here it is in his own words:
Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 in the snow.
A while back, I was taking a flight from Long Beach, California, to Seattle that fell on Christmas Eve. Coming into Seattle over the city on a clear night is one of the most beautiful sights around.
Before we made the final turn toward SeaTac, a woman flight attendant on this particular Alaska flight launched into a most beautiful rendition of “White Christmas.” This was the voice of a trained singer.
What a memorable experience…
Image: Daniel T Jones
United Airlines Boeing 757 and Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 at SFO.
If you read my blog often, you know I try to remind people of the positive side of the airline business (sometimes it is harder than others). Each year airlines receive A LOT of complaints. Some are well deserved, while others are from people who have a warped sense of what is right and wrong.
Occasionally an airline will receive a positive letter and possibly a story of one employee who truly went out of their way. Some might think that letters like these get lost in a sea of other letters, but trust me, they do not. When touring many airline operation centers, they have a special place where they show off the positive letters and cards that they receive. Unfortunately the area is not too large, since not too many are sent. Let’s change that…
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE – LET AIRLINES KNOW WHEN THEY ROCK!
Next time you are flying and someone goes out of their way or is obviously passionate about their job, take a few moments to jot down their name and email the airline. Be sure to mention the airport, your flight, their name and any other details. It doesn’t need to be long, just enough to give some kudos. Not only will people at the airline love to hear it, but this could actually help the career of the employee.
Recently, I have experienced two such instances that I made sure to tell the airline about. The first was a United Airlines gate manager in Seattle. I was waiting to take a flight to Chicago and the early morning flight had been cancelled and my aircraft had been changed from an Airbus A320 to an A319 (smaller). This meant there were a lot of people and not enough seats. He did a great job of just being honest with people and keeping a sense of humor during the ordeal. Most people were smiling as the gentleman warmly welcomed them on the flight, even the people who didn’t make the flight seemed happy (they also for $400 on United).
The next was an Alaska Airlines gate agent in Los Angeles. I had a five hour layover and plenty of time to watch her keep her spirits up and welcome each passenger by name on each flight. She was also my gate agent and it is just nice to be welcomed by name on a plane even though I was flying economy.
If you are having difficulty finding who to send it to, it is okay to send it to me (da***@ai*************.com) and I will make sure it gets to the proper people. Heck, even if you send them to the airline directly, send it to me anyhow, I love hearing positive stories and I might even post a few. If you are a Twitter user, share your stories and use the hashtag #AirlineLove (what the heck does that mean?).
Airlines and employees have to deal with a lot of crap, let’s remind them that there are still people out there who love airlines and see flying as a great experience. The ball is now in your court!
Image: iflysfx
That bump on the back of the Southwest Boeing 737 gives Row44 internet to the aircraft.
Recently I got a call on my phone where I didn’t recognize the number, so I decided not to answer. Then they called again. Okay, fine — it might be something important so I answered and it turned out to be my friend Nick. Wait a second; #1 why is he calling with a number I do not know and #2 he is flying on Delta Air Lines from Minneapolis (MSP) to Seattle (SEA), how is that possible? Even though airlines and internet providers have tried to ban talking via phones on airliners, there are still pretty easy ways to get around it.
Earlier Nick and I had been talking about VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) and I was explaining how you cannot have a phone conversation while flying — he was all too happy to prove me wrong. This is by no means a “how-to” story and I am not going to explain how he did it, since I am against people talking via their phone on planes. However, I can say it was nothing complicated and anyone with a smart phone could and an internet connection could replicate it.
So, it was possible to use GoGo Wi-Fi (internet provider on Delta and other airlines) to talk on the phone and I wondered what policies airlines and internet providers had in place to stop passengers from doing things they should not (phones, porn, etc).
I first spoke with Steven Nolan with GoGo Communications and he explained, “We do restrict VOIP services and at the request of our airline partners, we also restrict access to some web sites.” One of the big challengers is technology is always changing and it can be difficult to know all the “bad” sites and smart phone applications. What happens when someone, like Nick, finds a loophole? Well, talking to multiple airlines, this doesn’t seem to be a big problem.
Virgin America’s Abby Lunardini explained that they block VOIP and have not had any major issues with passengers finding their way around it. Alaska Airlines also bans VOIP for passengers on their GoGo internet. Even though they haven’t had a lot of issues, the flight crew are trained to enforce the airline’s policy. “Should a customer get around the VOIP blocking, our flight attendants would be prepared to enforce our policy which prohibits voice calls of any kind inflight,” Alaska Airline’s Bobbie Egan explained to AirlineReporter.com.
Row44, another airline internet provider, that can be found on Southwest Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle helps airlines in similar ways. They provide airlines software that allows them to choose what sites they want to block. “We allow our airline partners to decide whether to use this option and which sites to block,” Row 44’s chief commercial officer, Howard Lefkowitz explained over email. Row44’s airline customers are easily able to add new sites that are deemed to be a problem since new technologies are always emerging. “The back-end system supporting Row 44’s broadband entertainment platform adapts quickly and can immediately add new sites (VoIP services or other types of websites) to the list of blocked content in-flight. But this will be a decision for our airline partners.”
So does this become a game to beat the internet providers and the airlines? No, at least it shouldn’t. Public opinion in the US is pretty split on allowing in-flight conversations. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) bans cell phone usage in the US and it is still against airline policy. Nick was a good passenger and kept our conversation short, even though he supports passengers being allowed to talk on their cell phones on a plane.
What are your thoughts? Other airlines around the globe let passengers talk on their cell phones with little to no issues are Americans ready?
Image: gTarded
As of midnight last night, part of the FAA shut down due to fun politics. Part of the shutdown was not having the ability to renew FAA taxes on airline ticket sales. Some airlines are taking advantage of this and offering lower fares, others are using this as a chance to earn a little extra dough.
It makes sense for airlines to go both directions. One is really just your classic sale promotion and using the timing of the taxes. For the others, I would assume that most consumers do not understand that there are no taxes and are not aware that even though the taxes are removed, most airlines have just raised fares to compensate.
UPDATE 1: I have confirmed that Spirit Airlines is passing the savings on to customers. I have heard rumors that Frontier is as well, but waiting to confirm.
UPDATE 2: Hawaiian Airlines is also sharing the love with customers.
UPDATE 3 (7/24 2pm PDT): Frontier Airlines is also sharing the love. American and JetBlue have raised their fares.
UPDATE 4 (7/25 7:45am PDT): It looks like some airlines might have had a change of heart. Working to confirm, but appears that Virgin America and Frontier might have stopped passing on their savings and have raised fares. For now I am changing Virgin America and Frontier to “unknown.” Also checking in with Alaska, Spirit and Hawaiian to see their thoughts.
UPDATE 5 (7/25 8:55am PDT): Spirit Airlines has confirmed they are still offering lower fares. Virgin America has raised some of their fares, but not all of them.
Currently, only a few airlines are passing the FAA tax savings to customers.
I am trying to talk directly to US airlines through out the day and will be updating. I am hearing somethings from reliable sources, others are more like rumors and I am being sure to indicate each:
ALASKA AIRLINES- Sharing the Love
Alaska Airlines is advertising on their main page that they are having cheaper prices due to no FAA taxes. A spokesperson with Alaska explained via email, “We’re not raising fares. We’ll continue to pass the savings on to customers.”
SPIRIT AIRLINES- Sharing the Love
I have confirmed directly with Spirit that they are passing down the savings and have no plans to stop.
As of 6:30pm PST on 7/24 there is no information about their “Spirit Airlines is Giving Customers Their Share of $200 Million Per Week in Tax Savings!” deal on their webpage, but an email was sent out to their VIP customers (thanks John B for sharing). In the email they state, “Spirit has become a model for transparency, ensuring customers are not impacted by hidden fees as practiced by other airlines and the government.”
HAWAIIAN AIRLINES- Sharing the Love
Hawaiian Airlines is promoting saving money via the FAA Taxes on Twitter: “Some major federal taxes on airline tickets have taken the weekend off. BOOK NOW.”
VIRGIN AMERICA- Sharing Some of the Love
Over the weekend, Virgin America ran a special “Evade Taxes. Take Flight,” campaign, but now the website is changed. As of 10:40pm last night they were advertising fares with lower federal taxes. As of Monday morning, they have raised some of their fares. “Yes, we were automatically passing on the equivalent discount (down to the decimal) across the board through the weekend ’“ and encouraging guests to grab the discount early,” Abby Lunardini with Virgin America Communications explained over email. But, given the dynamic nature of fares, with the Monday morning fare load ’“ some fares have changed and/or moved up, but some of the discounts have held.”
FRONTIER AIRLINES- Unknown
As of Monday morning I am hearing rumors that Frontier has raised their prices. Emails, calls and messages sent via Twitter have not yet been returned to confirm.
DELTA AIR LINES- Keeping the Money
It seemed earlier in the day that Delta was going to share the love, but it has been decided to raise fares.
SOUTHWEST AND AIRTRAN- Keeping the Money
“Southwest and AirTran implemented a system wide fare increase of $4 each-way to help offset industry cost pressures ’“ such as the rising expense of fuel,” Brad Hawkins with Southwest Communications explained over email. “Our current ticket prices will remain the same (Customers will not see an increase in fares), as the 7.5% excise tax will not be collected. These decisions were made in light of the recent industry change in aviation tax collections, and we made a business decisions to remain competitive in these economically challenging times.”
UNITED AIRLINES- Keeping the Money
United has decided to match the taxes and have increased fares.
AMERICAN AIRLINES- Keeping the Money
According to the LA Times, American Airlines and JetBlue have raised their fares and are keeping the extra FAA tax money. “So in effect the taxes are not being collected, but the price paid by the customer remains the same,” American’s Tim Smith told the LA Times.
JETBLUE- Keeping the Money
JetBlue has decided to raise fairs and a spokesperson told AirlineReporter.com, “We’re working with the Federal Government to determine how the recent expiration of the Federal Excise Tax, and other taxes, will impact our operation. We have participated in an industry-wide fare increase in order to remain competitive.”
