Tag Archives: Flights

The End of Delays Pietro Place

The End of Delays?

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The End of Delays Pietro Place

The End of Delays?

How about this for a nail biter?  To cut down on the inevitable airline delays, air traffic controllers are starting to use time instead of distance to space out airplanes.  While this doesn’t mean that the really silly game where they tell you that the flight takes an hour longer than it really does, and without that ridiculous announcement from the pilot that we have been “held up a little bit but will try and make the time up,” is going away, this is a good thing.

Incidentally, what is that “make the time up” thing? Is he going to fly 1,000 mph instead of the usual 650 mph?  How does that work?  Or is there a short cut from LA to Boston that I didn’t know about?  You know the deal…if you go over Memphis and catch the magic jet stream, it only takes two hours.  Nope.  Actually, they are working on reducing delay time in a smart way.  The idea is if you space airplanes by time instead of distance, you can actually optimize and improve timing for landings and take offs.

At Heathrow in London, they started to use this system.  Typically, planes are spaced three to seven miles behind each other depending on the airplane.  They have begun experimenting with minutes rather than miles.

The results are remarkable.  Most of the Europeans have already authorized air traffic to adopt time-based spacing by 2024.  The FAA is working to jump on the European band wagon.  Bottom line, what used to seem too close is no longer too close anymore.  Analytics and headwinds are all thrown into an algorithm and out pops spacing by minute.  Good news for everyone in the future although I am not quite sure how I feel about being that close to the jet in front of me.  In the meantime, don’t think that the announcement from the pilot stating,  “There are 18 planes in front of us but we should be set for takeoff in the next 30 minutes and with “luck” we should catch up to get you there on time,” are going away.  Incidentally, what’s the luck thing?  Yikes.

Alaska Airlines Pietro Place Peter Jones

The Revolution

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The Revolution

You know that moment when some unbelievably smart person figured out that a suitcase with wheels actually could be turned so that the wheels went on the widest part not the narrowest part?  It was one of the great game changers in travel.  Then the bag moved to a 4-wheel option and you could maneuver your bag like a Mini Cooper through a city; holding it tight to your body but always upright in a busy airport.  Yet still, you have the hassle of either being the first person on the plane, paying the extra bucks for first class, or sweating that your bag is going to get dumped down below in the hold where you will have to “check and pay”.  The worst of all nightmares since you may never see the bag again. The cost of bag check-in on a budget flight can often be more than the flight itself.  Then there is that resentment of all of the people who got on before you that stuck their bags in the overhead bins.

Now there’s a solution and it’s a revolution. Overhead baggage compartments are being redesigned and refitted as we speak with a view to increasing the depth by a few more inches so that the bags can be pushed in vertically on their sides.  It is literally doubling the possibility for carry-on baggage.  Alaska Airlines is leading the way.  Partnering with Boeing, Alaska were the first people to understand that change was not just a good idea, but a necessary idea.  The sacrifice?  Two inches of head room.  There is even room on top of the bags to put tiny bags, coats, or you name it.  The time that it takes for an airline to be fully ready to fly and passengers to be comfortably seated with bags all set, is projected to greatly decrease.  In other words, departure times are going to improve!  Yay!  Tempers won’t get frayed (as much) and flight attendants won’t have to break the bad news to a disgruntled passenger who simply cannot bear the thought of checking in their bag.  All great news.

Now the re-fit begins.  Pretty soon there will be sleeping compartments up there too!

The Revolution Alaska Airlines Pietro Place Peter Jones

Europe’s Tourism Revival

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While I’m en route to Israel and Jordan, I have a few flight flashbacks and overseas observations that I’ve been excited to share with you….

First: Europe’s Tourism Revival!

Good news for Europeans. The majority of European destinations saw a significant increase in visitors for the last part of 2015. Top of the pops was Iceland, a personal favorite of mine (check out my Iceland videos here), which saw a 30% increase in visitors. This is something, incidentally, that we noted here at ACIS at our Global Teacher Conference in January. It has sold out already and this is during the peak of the winter months with little sunshine but the possibility of the longshot aurora borealis. Positive gains were noted in Montenegro, Ireland, Croatia, and pretty much the whole of former Yugoslavia. Probably helped by a weak Euro and cheap flights. The continent of Europe is in a robust vacation mode and it looks as though 2016 will see a continuing trend.

With so many of you taking to the skies, I want to hear from you! Comment away and I’ll respond!

Europe’s Tourism Revival Pietro Place Peter Jones Europe’s Tourism Revival Pietro Place Peter Jones Europe’s Tourism Revival Pietro Place Peter Jones

Basement Bargains Abroad

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There is good news out there for international travel. The RyanAir, Southwest airline, Easy Jet model has moved into long haul. You get food of course, but instead of departing from a major hub like Boston, you fly from Providence and the price difference on a transatlantic flight to Germany can be over $1000.

No way! Yes!

And here’s the deal. If you think airlines you’ve never heard of, like Condor, are going to force British Airways or Lufthansa to change their fare structure, think again. The big guys are figuring that you don’t want to fly from an airport that’s 30 miles from where you originally wanted to fly to, even for bargain travel. And the chances are that you didn’t check the routing thoroughly enough on Expedia. If you want to fly from Boston to Frankfurt, that’s what you’re going to get, prices from Boston to Frankfurt. So you’ve got to be smart and outsmart the technology, which is going to auto-populate and drive you to the bigger hubs.

Furthermore, business class is cheap on these airlines; baggage fees are waived and the booze is still free. So drink up, enjoy the Euro and look for Condor expanding beyond Seattle, Las Vegas, Ft. Lauderdale and Baltimore. And in case you’re looking for nonstop from New York, Chicago or LA on second-tier airlines – good luck, you’re not going to find them. Happy Travels! Oh, and guess what, the secret’s out Condor is actually owned by Lufthansa.

How desirable is where you live, from an airline point of view?

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There are hubs, and spokes, and then there are places that used to be hubs, but now are back waters. It’s not that where you live is not a desirable place but, from an airlines point of view, it’s a not a desirable place. Take Key West, for example; that seems pretty desirable. Who wouldn’t want to live there? Catch the sunsets, drink the tequila, and sit on the white sand while, in the distance, Cuba beckons. But 43% of Key West flights have been removed – disappeared, gone forever, along with Cleveland, Milwaukee, and La Crosse, Wisconsin.

The other day I was trying to fly from Boston to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Practically impossible. Not just difficult to get to, involving multiple stops, but over $600 round trip, compared to $300 round trip to Philadelphia. What’s happening?! Are airline executives angry about your bucolic country style living and just want to punish you? It’s all about shrinking flight schedules, boosting prices, consolidation. And none of it is good for us.

The truth is, it’s good for the airlines and the rental car companies. Smaller hubs have taken big hits and the smaller aircraft have been removed from the fleet. If you want to fly from Harrisburg to Boston, be prepared to pay top dollar and be inconvenienced with terrible connections. It can even be cheaper to take an Uber! It even encouraged me to drive the 6 hours, because by the time I rented the car from Philadelphia, it really provided me with no great benefit. This is the world of giant airlines; 8 have merged into 4. And smaller hubs have been removed or reduced down to practically nothing. The good news is that if you live in Seattle there are 25% more flights than there used to be. Westward ho!

The new world could mean a move back to cars (and trains if you’re lucky). Or just simply uprooting your entire hippy family from Key West, Florida and moving to midland Odessa, Texas, where there is a 20% increase in flights. That’s gonna be a great fit for you!

It’s not all doom and gloom, of course. Practically every hub in Hawaii has increased service, which brings me back to Key West, Florida. It’s just simply too close to Miami for anybody but the rich and famous. And Orlando, as a megahub, shows increases across the board. Disney just beat out the sunsets.

Image credited to: http://www.barnabu.co.uk/

A Season to forget

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The clocks moved forward, the snow is gradually disappearing and warmer days in the Northeast are coming. But what a winter this has been – and what havoc it has wreaked on the airline industry and the poor passengers who fly on their planes. Flights have been cancelled for mechanical and weather-related issues, you name it and it’s happened. It all added up to a very un-pretty scene of disgruntled passengers and airline employees desperately trying to be nice. There are always those un-nice ones that secretly do this for a living, because they hate you so much. But during the dreaded storms of February, they were often left without options to be nice with. It’s helpful to know why the flight got cancelled: a mechanical problem means that the airline will cover your accommodations. A snowstorm?….hope you brought your sleeping bag because that means you’re sleeping at the airport. Bottom line is to stay calm and try to figure out what’s going on as fast as possible.

So what is the real cost factor for the airlines on a cancelled flight, and what are the driving forces that cause one flight to cancel and another to fly? There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal by Scott McCartney. Here’s the lowdown: To cancel a 50-passenger regional jet can cost as little as $1,000. But cancelling a journey over the Atlantic can cost as much as $43,000. And a typical domestic narrow-bodied jet costs around $15,000 to cancel. If cancellations are caused by uncontrollable events like weather disruptions, the costs go down – it’s an act of God and you have to sleep at the airport.  No hotel vouchers for you!

And the food can cost as much as $13,000 for a wide-bodied international trip. That’s $40 on average, per meal. Are you kidding me?! Despite the high average I can tell you – what they serve in business and first class sure doesn’t balance out the cost of the lousy meals served in economy. To be sure, business class passengers get all the perks – they might even get your plane if there is something wrong with yours. They’ll take an airplane that you might be on, with a whole bunch of “less important people” and switch out your plane, just so these guys can get to where they’re going!  Airlines don’t like to cancel these business travelers – they’re frequent travelers and they will complain. I know. Hey, that’s life in the fast lane.

Knee Defender

The Device that Changes Flying

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So how do you really feel about being stuck in the middle seat of an economy section on a full flight with nowhere to go? Exactly – it isn’t fun.

Now there is an “anti-seat-downer” device called the Knee Defender that is being sold online and in retailers. By having the Knee Defender, you can walk onto a plane and know that the person in front of you cannot put their seat back to disrupt you. Just a few weeks ago, a flight was diverted to an alternate airport because of an argument that ensued between the person with the device and the person in front who wanted to recline their seat back.

knee defender

So where do you stand? For me, I must confess that I have become a less pleasant person when somebody on a three hour or less flight decides to throw back their seat, choking off my space. This either causes me to create an inconvenience to the person behind me or have a horrible experience for the next three hours.

I have tried, I must confess, the knee trick. With my knees, I would give a nudge here, a knee kick there, and a nasty stare as I go to the bathroom. But all I really wanted was the person in front to turn around and say, “Hey, is it cool to put my seat back?” On some budget airlines, they have solved this issue by locking the seats. It’s all about reasonableness.

It is that strange thing that happens when people get on airplanes in overcrowded situations. Normal, rational people begin to inconvenience other people by grabbing any piece of real estate they can with their elbows and sometimes even sticking their bags over in your foot position. My two cents is that this is not a luxury experience. We are all in this together and if we work as a team, everybody’s life will be made less unpleasant over the two or three hours that we have to endure bad food, bad service, an overheated cabin, and a journey that, if we could take a high speed train, we most certainly would.

Am I thinking of getting a device? No. Do I have some sympathy for the people who try to defend their position? Absolutely. And the jury is out on this, incidentally. Even my brother’s girlfriend seems to think that it’s okay to throw your seat all the way back on a short flight. Not to offer a knee jerk reaction necessarily, but breathe, do yoga, or anything. Just please do not put your seat back.