Southwest quietly made a change to its contract of carriage last month, making us here at Flight Wisdom wonder if being forced to to announce material changes in the contract of carriage should be part of the DOT’s proposed rulemaking.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Delta Air Lines will be selling two of its regional airline subsidiaries, Mesaba and Compass.
We didn’t say much about the Spirit Airlines pilot strike, but part of that has been our silence in general of late. Things have been crazy here. But today, the strike is over…unofficially. The Airline has said flights will resume on Friday. The strike grounded Spirit Airlines for five days. The airline carries roughly 16,000 passengers a day, which is 1 percent of the domestic market.
While the Port Authority makes plans to demolish Terminal 6, Delta is looking to upgrade its facility. The Wall Street Journal reports that Delta might announce a definitive plan for its future at JFK airport.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs JFK Airport, wants to knock down Terminal 6, also known as the Sundrome. The PANYNJ announced the move in a press release in April, noting that the demolishing of the terminal would permit planning to begin on the expansion of JetBlue’s Terminal 5 to allow the airline to consolidate its international operations, which must currently arrive into Terminal 4.
Matt over at NYCAviation has a great article reporting on the runway renovation at JFK. We’ll all be very glad when it is done, and it appears to be on scheduled. Here are some highlights we gleaned from his article. For more check it out here.
There is no point to this post, per se. It’s just a bit of Aviation Geeky fun from Flight Wisdom HQ. The gate departure board that hangs on the wall, right after it was dusted, and our selection of alternate signage. What do you think we should acquire for it next? What destination, etc?
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Welcome back. Our editor has been a bit behind with other things, but we’re trying to get back on track and back in the saddle. Stay tuned for more guests, and more information. For today, more from previous guest Dan Webb.
Monrovia is back in Delta’s sights, with once weekly service planned from its Atlanta hub, via Accra, Ghana. Apparently, Roberts International Airport implemented measures to ensure its compliance with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization. We hope this means the TSA is satisfied with the security arrangements.
Yesterday, Chris Elliott posted an article on his blog which asked the question…Do Frequent Flier Programs Make You Dishonest. We thought we would respond where we felt he did not, and talk about the issue of frequent flier programs in general, which we don’t quite cover as much.
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Our editor is back from his trip. Check out his review on the Auto Train. Meanwhile, back into the swing of things. Lots of business to take care of.
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This is a Special Briefing…We like to open up the Briefing for those to provide their opinion and to hear some new voices. Both of our guests did talk more than you hear, but were edited for time. Thanks to Dan Webb, of Boarding Area’s Things in the Sky blog. Dan is also a regular on the Airplane Geeks podcast and will be back with another piece soon. Our second guest, with a brief opinion, is Marisa Green. Remember, you too can give your two cents on the Briefing. Just contact us.
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Our editor will be going on the road for a few days, as a roving reporter for our sister project, Transit Wisdom, reviewing Amtrak’s Autotrain. Until then, here’s all the news that fit to podcast.
The Irish Aviation Authority has announced the closure of its airspace from 7:00AM to 1:00PM Local Time tomorrow, Tuesday, May 4th, 2010. Another volcanic ash cloud is heading south from Iceland will affect Ireland and parts of Scotland. There is nothing to indicate that the eruption is ending, and ash clouds like this might be a problem for a long time to come.
The New York Times reports that Continental and United Airlines agreed today to a merger that would create the world’s biggest airline. United is buying Continental, and the new company will be based in Chicago, and will have Jeffrey Smisek, Continental CEO, as the Chief Executive.
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The Briefing is the first to feature a guest, Benet Wilson, who covers Business Aviation for Aviation Week. We don’t usually cover Business Aviation at Flight Wisdom, as it isn’t our area of expertise, but it is Benet’s business. Benet also joined our host for the first annual Aviation Geek Gilbert and Sullivan Day back in January, which we’re hoping to repeat next year. Pinafore, anyone?
JetBlue announced today the schedule for its Washington-National(DCA) service, now that it has secured slots at the airport. Service will begin on November 1st, with seven daily flights to Boston, and one each to Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando.
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This is Briefing 18. We’re still eager to get guest editorials. Those of you interested, please contact us. A guest editorial would be a 1-3 minute opinion on a relevant topic of your choice. It can be recorded over Skype or alternate digital means. We’re sure, while you aren’t tired of the Flight Wisdom Guru, you’d welcome additional variety.
As a courtesy, we’ve often reclined our seat as little as possible unless the person in front of us reclines theirs. So, perhaps we weren’t as uncomfortable with the idea when it was revealed that Spirit Airlines was installing “pre-reclined” seats. Using the term pre-reclined to describe a seat that does not move is like calling a door you’ve removed from its hinges pre-opened.
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The ash cloud getting you down? Remember, as Bob Ross said…clouds are very, very free. A special shoutout to regular listener Steven Frischling, of the Flying with Fish blog, who compared the delivery style of the Briefing with the Joy of Painting. Perhaps we should rename the Briefing to the Joy of Flying.
The previous eruption of the Icelandic volcano which has been disrupting air travel for a week now was in December 1821 and continued until January 1823. Hopefully it will quiet down much sooner this time. The cloud seems set to disperse enough to permit aviation to resume tomorrow in Ireland, Scotland, and Northern England. A new ash cloud which is heading toward Europe may keep London’s airports closed, however. French airspace has reopened, but the reopening will be gradual and controlled. Lufthansa has already resumed some limited service and extra planes are flying to bring home stranded passengers.
The Cunard Line, according to their press release site, is sold out for the next four sailings, April 22nd and 29th, and May 8th and May 21st. USA Today reported that the cruise industry is, of course, not affected by the current ash cloud. The Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 is the only ocean liner that offers regular service across the Atlantic.
Senator Charles Schumer, who publicly criticized Spirit Airlines for their announcement that they would begin charging for carry-on bags, has secured the commitment of five airlines that they will NOT follow Spirit in this practice.
This is your latest Volcanic Update. The closure of most of European airspace continues. Today, out of nearly 25,000 flights, only 4,000 are expected to operate. Closures include Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, most of France, most of Germany, Hungary, Ireland, northern Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, north Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the UK.
European airspace continues to be shut down as conditions in the skies continue to remain dangerous. The following areas will likely have all flights cancelled: Ireland, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, the north of France…
