Hanging out with two awesome United Airlines flight attendants on the tarmac at LAX. That's a sweet Boeing 747-400 behind us.
I am an airline advocate. There are lots of media sources and people that love to bash the airlines. If an airline does something major enough to deserve a good bashing, then I will give it to them, but mostly I try to find the positive even in a negative situation.
When I recently connected with Rahsaan Johnson with United Communications while in Chicago earlier in the month, I was dead honest with him. I told him that I feel as though many are under the impression that United Airlines is lacking spirit. Being one who always wants to find the silver-lining with airlines, I wanted him to help let me show people that there is spirit within United.
It wasn’t long before Johnson thought of an idea to help me see, first hand, the energy and spirit most United employees have. I was invited for a day trip down from Seattle to Los Angelas (LAX) to see United connect with some of their best customers, experience some unique things and witness the delivery of Emmys.
United Airlines pilots talking to customers about what they do before flight.
The morning I left, I posted about the font change of the new Continental and United merger. Throughout the day I was getting some critical comments from you, my readers, about United’s perceived service and I was reading each one to Johnson to give him an idea of your impressions. You all echoed what we have both seen and heard from other sources.
After interacting and connecting with so many United employees and customers through out the day (on and more importantly off record), I honestly feel United is heading in the right direction. A lot of people I spoke with will openly admit they know that United has had their ups and downs, but everyone I spoke with feels positive with the direction United is heading and pumped about the likely merger with Continental.
Two United Airlines pilots welcome the Emmys to LAX
Things have changed a lot for United Airlines in the past forty years. From deregulation, to a few spikes in oil prices, to strong competition from low cost carriers and of course bankruptcy in 2002, United has persevered through it all.
There are a lot of hard working employees who are there to treat their customers well. During my visit to LAX, United invited important customers and showed them how they operate. This was to share what they are looking to do in the future and get feedback from customers on how they can improve their performance. They were able to get helpful feedback on schedules, and service, even down to having the proper ratio of cheese to crackers.
United Airlines Boeing 757 and Continental Airlines Boeing 737 get close at LAX. Two airlines will (most likely) become one soon!
Not only was United able to share what they are up to with special customers, they were also able to share the Emmys with everyone. Later in the afternoon, the Emmys were flown from Chicago to LAX on United Airlines. They had nice comfy seats up front and were welcomed by a crowd of people in the terminal. Being the huge airline nerd I am, when I was told the Emmys were being flown in, the first thing I asked is, “What kind of plane they will be flying in?” (It was an Airbus A320). Hey I am an airline reporter, not TV awards reporter! Yet it is always cool to see not only customers, but employees get really excited about an event like this. It does show there is some great spirit alive and ready to grow at United!
The people that I spoke with are very excited about the merger with Continental. Changes like this inject a feeling of motivation (for those not losing their jobs that happen in any merger) about the future. Continental and United both have interesting histories and will most likely make a solid future together.
Over the next few weeks I will share some of the very cool things I got to experience on my full day at LAX… a tour of the upper deck and cockpit of a Boeing 747-400, riding on a tug while pushing back a Boeing 757 and having an amazing view of LAX from the old FAA tower. Stay tuned!
A few Virgin tails! Image from Virgin.
Two big announcements came from Virgin America last week and I think they are both worth looking at. First, they stated they will start flying to Dallas Fort-Worth International Airport (DFW). There will be daily flights from Los Angeles (LAX) and San Fransisco to DFW starting in December of this year. This will become the 12th destination that Virgin American visits.
’œDallas-Fort Worth is one of the largest metropolitan areas in North America and a major center of business with strong ties to California most notably in the financial services, energy and the Silicon Prairie-Silicon Valley high-tech sectors,’ said Virgin America President and CEO David Cush.
These new flights will obviously compete against American Airlines to the same destinations and their dominance at DFW. As Dan Webb in his Things in the Sky blog points out, Virgin America is not the first low-cost carrier to compete on these routes. AirTran tried the DFW to LAX and wasn’t able to make it work. Will Virgin America be able to wow American passengers with their fun atmosphere and superb in-flight entertainment? With Virgin America’s recent order of 40 new aircraft (and 20 more options) they seem pretty confident they will be successful.
In typical Virgin America style, there has to be a sexual innuendo tied into this announcement and I am not surprised they went with “Virgin America Does Dallas,” (if you don’t understand it, Google it…but not while at work).
On the bottom of every Virgin America’s press releases is the statement, “Virgin America is a U.S. owned, controlled and operated airline. It is an entirely separate company from Virgin Atlantic. Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is a minority share investor in Virgin America.” Even though Virgin America shares the same brand name, the ownership structures are very different with the other branded airlines. Where the different Virgin airline brands were kept pretty separated previously, the second bit of news connects them like never before.
Virgin-brand airlines; Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin America and V Australia/Virgin Blue have become mileage partners. That means if you fly any of those Virgin brands, you are able to earn and redeem frequent flier miles. As a nice little bonus, if you end up flying on two of the brands before the beginning of the year, you can actually win a trip to Sir Richard Branson’s private island.
So what does all this mean? It means that Virgin America is becoming a real player in the domestic market. They might not be making profit right now, but they are improving and have the confidence and motivation to succeed, which always seems to work out well for competition and passengers.
reLAX, enjoy some snacks and the view
A new and exciting concept has popped up at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Those who fly regularly on a particular airline or have no problem paying for the First Class ticket get to experience the VIP airline lounges often.
Now, you don’t have to have thousands of miles or thousands of dollars to be treated like a VIP. A new pay-by-the-hour lounge at LAX gives you ability to get VIP treatment at an economy-seat price.
For only $10 for an hour, $25 for three, $35 for five or $50 for the entire day, you can hang out at reLAX Lounge. The lounge has top-notch amenities, free wi-fi, free refreshments, some snacks and amazing views of airlines outside the window. It is located before the security check points, so if you are flying out, have a layover, or waiting for an arriving flight, you can enjoy the amenities.
I asked Walter Vergara, the creator and marketing director, about how business was doing. “Business is doing well better than expected, there is a real need for this product specially when so many business class travelers are flying economy due to the economy and companies cutting back,” Vergara said. He also told me they were looking at opening additional locations at other airports by the end of 2010 or early 2011.
I asked about what the space reLAX is currently taking up was going to be used for. Vergara told me originally the airport was going to use the space for public concessions, but while LAX was building their mutli-million dollar VIP lounges they used the reLAX space for a temporary airline lounge. After the airlines moved to their new homes, reLAX was created and opened December 4, 2008.
Harriet Baskas, who is a columnist for USA Today and MSNBC and writes her own blog, was recently at LAX and took a look at what reLAX offers. She was welcomed to view the reLAX Lounge without having to pay the $10. However she told me, “I would, however, be willing to pay that $10 for the first hour another time – for the Wi-Fi, the great view, the comfy chairs, and especially the snacks. I paid more than that for a lot less out in the food court.”
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A different perspective at LAX
LAX, which is known for their “close calls” and poor safety record, announced a new warning system aimed at preventing runway accidents.
The $7 million project uses a combination of a runway status light system, radar, and traffic controllers to maintain the safety of all the aircraft and support vehicles.
Lights on the pavement will flash when radar detects a possible conflict between planes or ground vehicles. Once the lights flash, all parties must contact the tower and get clearance before proceeding.
The light system has previously been tested at the San Diego and Dallas-Fort Worth airports. The system caused the number of close calls to drop from 10 to 3 in similar 2.5 year periods before and after the installation.
Currently the system is installed on one of LAX’s four runways and only 8 of its taxi ways.
Source: LA Times Image: waioli