MH370 Power Outage Tampering?

Authorities investigating the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have found evidence of a mysterious power outage.

Data reveals a “log-on” request was made to a satellite just an hour-and-a-half into the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The log-on request (known in the aviation business as a “handshake”) was described as “not common” in the report released by The Australian Transport Safety Bureau last week.

It adds a “handshake” can occur for only a few reasons: “These include a power interruption to the aircraft satellite data (SDU) unit, a software failure, loss of critical systems providing input to the SDU or a loss of the link due to aircraft altitude.

“An analysis was performed which determined that the characteristics and timing of the logon requests were best matched as resulting from power interruption to the SDU.”

Aviation expert Peter Marosszeky, from the University of New South Wales, told the Sydney Morning Herald the power outage could be linked to an attempt by hijackers to tamper with cockpit equipment in a bid to avoid radar detection.

He said: “If there was a crew wanting to do something that was rather sinister or there were hijackers on board, they would remove power by opening up the bus-tie breakers and opening up the battery control switch.

More Order's for Bombardier CRJ900

Bombardier Aerospace announced today that a customer, who has requested to remain unidentified at this time, has placed a firm order for 16 CRJ900 NextGen regional jets and has also taken options for eight additional airliners of the same type.

Based on the list price for the CRJ900 NextGen aircraft, the firm order is valued at approximately $727 million USD. The value could increase to $1.12 billion USD should the customer exercise its options.

"Bombardier's CRJ900 NextGen airliner was already recognized for the strength and reliability of its performance and as the most cost-efficient jet aircraft in its class," said Ray Jones, Senior Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Asset Management, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. "With the most recent enhancements to the aircraft, we have raised the bar on performance once again, reducing the CRJ900 NextGen airliner's fuel burn by up to 5.5 per cent compared to earlier-generation CRJ900 aircraft, and making it the ideal tool for operators to develop new markets and increase frequencies."

Delta Fuel Leak

BREAKING NEWS

A Delta Airlines jet was forced to return to the airport in Jamaica shortly after takeoff Monday because of an apparent mechanical problem in one of its engines, the company said.

The MD-88 experienced a pneumatic leak in its No. 2 engine and returned safely to the airport in Kingston, spokesman Morgan Durrant said.

The Atlanta-bound flight had 149 passengers and a crew of five.

Jamaica Fire Brigade spokesman Emilio Ebanks told RJR News in Jamaica that the plane was airborne when smoke was seen coming from it. Durrant says there was no fire.

Delta planned to re-route a new aircraft to Jamaica for the flight to Atlanta.

The Return of People Express

I remember the jumbos coming in to land at Gatwick during the 80's, a distinctive brown livery and wavy line faces on the tail cut a dash at the satellite pier. Nicknamed 'Pony Express' the American airline People Express was perhaps one of the first real budget carriers in the world, they sold really cheap tickets, I mean really really cheap! 

People Express 747 at Gatwick

And now, this 80's airline is set to sore into the skies above again. Using the retro name designed to appeal to those of us who are old enough to remember the 80's and kindle a little nostalgic for an old iconic old brand.

People Express was first launched in 1981, it was, I believe the first in the world to charge extra for things like putting bags into the hold,drinks and snacks and not having free meals like all the other airlines of the time.  

People Express took phone bookings and also accepted on-board payments, making it appear to many as working just like a bus service. During the height of its popularity and success, you could travel from New York to London on an old 747 for less than £90! or $149 one way.

The airline also offered staff stocks so that they were invested in the company and therefore offered better customer service.  However, despite this passion many of the staff would jokingly call company People Distress or Pony Express. It over stretched itself with ambitions expansions was soon in finacial bother. So much so that it was eventually sold to Continental Airlines during 1987.

Now, the name is set to soar again! Promising a return to 'the joy of flying' with similarly bargain-basement prices as the forerunner.  Based in Newport, Virginia, the airline plans to run US national flights, covering routes that currently under serviced by other airlines.

The first flights, costing from $76 /£45 will take off on June 30, travelling to New York's Newark Airport as well as Boston and Pittsburgh, before expanding into Florida and New Orleans. 

There are no plans to make a return to London Gatwick, or any other European destination at the moment, but you never know, the airline industry has a habit of causing a few surprises! 

'With the advent of no-frills pricing, flying became more affordable. Unfortunately, something was lost in the process. The joy of flying.  -   We're not OK with that. You shouldn't be either. You should demand better. Low fares and better treatment.'  claims the new website.  'We're going to treat you like we actually want your business. Because we do. And not just for the low fares, either. You'll see. 'It's time to fly smart. Again.'

Welcome back People Express.

UK Court Case Could Cost Airlines Millions.

Fourteen words said in a London court last week could make your future flight tickets £5 or £10 more expensive!

"This appeal is dismissed and leave to appeal to the Supreme Court is refused."

Those 14 words have established a legal precedent that could cost airlines millions of pounds – and affect your future travels, reports travel journalist Simon Calder. 

In October 2011, Mr Huzar was booked on a Jet2 flight from Manchester to Malaga. A faulty fuel valve meant he and the other passengers eventually arrived in Spain 27 hours late.

Now, every departure from an EU airport, and any flight by an EU airline worldwide, is covered by European passenger-rights legislation known as EC261. The airline must provide accommodation and meals as appropriate, as Jet2 did in this case. When the European law came into effect in 2005, cash compensation was stipulated only for cancellation and overbooking – not for delayed flights. But five years ago, the European Court of Justice ruled that passengers deserved payouts for any flight that arrives more than three hours late: €250 for short hops under 1,500km (e.g. across the Irish Sea), €400 for flights of 1,500-3,500km (such as Mr Huzar's Manchester to Malaga trip), and €600 for longer hauls – though just €300 for a three- to four-hour delay.

The only defence against paying out is "extraordinary circumstances". If ash clouds, absent air-traffic controllers or Amazonian-grade thunderstorms wreak havoc with schedules, no compensation applies. Many airlines, including Jet2, have also rejected claims due to technical defects. But Mr Huzar refused to give up. He took the airline to court, and lost the case, but then appealed to Manchester County Court and won. Jet2 appealed against that verdict, but this week the Appeal Court agreed that mechanical faults comprise an inherent element of running an airline and cannot be used as an excuse.

As we emerged from the court, Mr Huzar told me: "This is just recompense at the end of the day." Jet2 described the judgment as "disappointing" and said it could "have a significant impact on the entire airline industry". The carrier is now appealing directly to the Supreme Court, despite law lord Elias's line.

Read the full article in The Independent. 

Hainan Airlines Starts Beijing - Boston

 A Chinese airline has begun offering the first nonstop service from Boston to Beijing.

Hainan Airlines is offering a least four nonstop flights a week in each direction between Boston and Beijing on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with connections offered to other cities in China including Shanghai.

Flight 481 touched down at Logan International Airport on Friday, becoming the first direct service ever linking Boston and mainland China — and shaving about six hours off of current travel between the two cities. Flight 482 left the Massachusetts capital later Friday and was scheduled to arrive in Beijing Saturday evening.

The Massachusetts Port Authority says the route will meet the strong demand for travel between Beijing and Boston's tourism attractions, higher education institution as well as health care, finance and the biotechnology industries.

A380s Headed for Dubai San Francisco & Huston Routes

Emirates will deploy the big superjumbo Airbus A380 on its San Francisco and Houston routes in December this year.

Currently the Dubai based Arabian gulf airline flies a Boeing 777-300ER every day to both US cities. Upgrading the aircraft type will result in an extra 135 seats to San Francisco and 137 to Houston.  This represents a 38 per cent increase in passenger capacity, including 80 per cent more seats in premium cabins.

Emirates' A380 comes in a three-class configuration, with 14 first class suites, 76 business seats and 399 seats in economy.

Flight EK226 departs San Francisco at 1530 and arrives in Dubai the following day at 1925. Return service EK225 takes off from Dubai at 0850 and lands in San Francisco at 1250 the same day. Flight EK211 to Houston departs Dubai at 0930 and arrives at 1605. Return service EK212 takes off from George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 1825 and lands in Dubai at 1905 the next day.

Emirates senior vice president Hubert Frach said: "Since 2007, we have carried over 2.3 million passengers on the San Francisco and Houston routes, and our flagship A380 will allow us to connect even more people and facilitate trade between these important US cities and the Middle East, India, Africa and beyond."

Asiana Crash Report

It has been nearly a year since the fatal crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 at San Francisco Airport, now federal investigators in the United States if America will determine on Tuesday what caused the accident and make recommendations to avoid another.

The National Transportation Safety Board will release its report on the results of its investigation into the July 6, 2013, crash that killed three people and injured more than 200.

Investigators have already said the Boeing 777-200ER was flying lower and slower than intended when it slammed into the seawall at the end of the runway, spun around and burst into flames.

The board will vote on probable causes of the crash and then make non-binding recommendations, which are keenly awaited in the industry because of the expertise of the board and its staffers.

"We really look forward to seeing that report. We work not in the 'what happened,' but 'why it happened,'" said Michael Barr, who teaches aviation safety at the University of Southern California and has a commercial pilot's certificate. "The why is what's going to prevent the next accident."

The Asiana flight from Seoul was traveling about 119 mph, despite a goal of 158 mph, when it hit the seawall on a sunny morning. The airline acknowledged in documents filed in March that a "probable cause" of the accident was the pilots flying too slow.

Etihad's A380 Cabins

United Arab Emirates carrier Etihad Airways unveiled the new cabins for its forthcoming aircraft last month to an army of reporters and journalists.  The new premier cabins include nine first-class apartments and two three-room "residence" on its Airbus A380 which is scheduled to enter service in December this year. 

Their are numerous innovations forming a mass premium product development the like of which is rarely seen in the aviation industry, especially over the last decade. The new cabins and enhancements will be rolled out on the airline's new A380s and Boeing 787s, which also start to arrive at the end of this year.

The residence, complete with a Savoy trained butler, and first-class apartments are elements of a dedicated premium offering in the upper deck of the A380s. The apartments for first class feature a reclining lounge chair and an ottoman which converts into a lie-flat bed.

Europe's Cheapest

Which Airline is the cheapest in Europe?    And -  No  it is not EasyJet or Ryanair!

Recent research has found the average price for a flight on the cheapest airline in Europe costs just £51.60.   The research conducted by Whichairline.com may be a bit of a surprise to some as the cheapest airline is not Ryanair or EasyJet as you might expect, but little known Pegasus!

Yes, the Turkey-based budget carrier, Pegasus comes out on top in the cheapest list ahead of Ryanair, Wizz Air, Volotea and Air Lituanica when basic average prices per route are compared but the list transforms when the added baggage charge is added. However, even when a 20kg luggage fee is added, it still keeps the top slot,  while Ryanair drops to sixth behind Air Lituanica, Vueling, germanwings and Wizz Air.

The Hunt For MH370 Goes On

The underwater probe being used to look for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was back in the water after its first attempt ended prematurely, said the company that owns the vehicle, Phoenix International. The Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle was about four hours into its second dive mission at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday (2 a.m. Wednesday in Perth, Australia), a source close to the operation told CNN's Brian Todd. On Monday, crews sent the probe toward the ocean floor on what was expected to be a 20-hour deployment, only to have it return in less than eight hours after encountering waters beyond its 4,500-meter (14,764-foot) maximum depth. 

The probe found no debris during its shortened scanning session. The second mission is expected to end Wednesday around 10 a.m. ET (10 p.m. in Perth), the source said. The vehicle was deployed in nearly the same area and is operating at about the same depth as the earlier mission, the source said. The earlier aborted mission doesn't mean anything is wrong with the probe, which is designed to swim about 30 meters (100 feet) above the ocean floor and use sound waves to draw a three-dimensional map of what lies below.

Spirit Tops Most Complaint - Again

A low-cost carrier has been named and shamed as the most hated airline in the US.

Spirit Airlines has received more complaints than any other domestic carrier for five years in a row, according to a study.

Every year from 2009-2013, passengers were three times as likely to have an issue with Spirit than they were the second-place airline.

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High complaints: Spirit topped the chart for grievances over the past five years

The figures were calculated based on complaints - from flights and fares, to baggage and refunds – per 100,000 passengers.

‘As the airline has grown in the past several years, complaints against the airline have skyrocketed,’ according to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund report. 

 

In fact, Spirit received so many complaints, it had to be excluded from deeper analysis of on-time performance, baggage mishandling, and other issues.

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Chart-topper: More complaints have been made about Spirit Airlines than any other carrier in the US

The airline also has its own ‘boycott Spirit’ Facebook page, and a Twitter handle called @hatespiritair.

Southwest Airlines generated the lowest number of grievances, the research found.

The findings added: ‘As the airline has grown in the past several years, complaints against the airline have skyrocketed.’

The report, which analysed consumer complaints filed with the Department of Transportation, said of Spirit: 'Two checked bags, basic meals and snacks, carry-ons, and, often, in-flight entertainment were formerly included in the price of your ticket, but now add-on fees for each of these newly a la carte items can easily add $100 or more to the cost of a one-way ticket.’

US Airway's Porno Tweet

US Airways has offered an explanation and another apology after a pornographic image was shared from the airline's official Twitter account.

The carrier said the photo was sent accidentally to one of its customers who launched a series of complaints against the airline on Monday. The image featured a womanposing with a toy plane inserted in her vagina.

"We apologize for the inappropriate image we recently shared in a Twitter response," Davien Anderson, a spokesperson for the airline, said in an statement emailed to Reuters. "We deeply regret the mistake and we are currently reviewing our processes to prevent such errors in the future."

Airline representatives said the image, which originated from a German amateur porn site, was sent to the airline's Twitter account by another user. Employees in charge of the airline's Twitter account meant to flag the image as inappropriate but mistakenly included it as part of a reply, USA Today reports.

Bomb Tweets To American Continue.

A passenger walks through an American Airlines baggage claim area at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. (Nam Y. Huh/ AP)

In the wake of a 14-year-old Dutch girl’s arrest for tweeting a threat to American Airlines, dozens of copycats took to Twitter to make bomb “jokes” of their own. Eighteen hours after the event, those quote marks remain 100 percent necessary. The tweets still aren’t funny, still not provocative, and still not “political satire” or “protest against the surveillance state,” as many of those commenting on the story have insisted.

Don’t get me wrong: We need both political satire and protests, and there is something self-evidently ridiculous about a teenager getting interrogated for an idiotic tweet. But this isn’t satire, by satire’s very definition. Here’s the Columbia Encyclopedia on the subject:

From ancient times satirists have shared a common aim: to expose foolishness in all its guises — vanity, hypocrisy, pedantry, idolatry, bigotry, sentimentality — and to effect reform through such exposure.

But the “foolishness” these would-be satirists are protesting isn’t foolishness at all. An airline, which had planes hijacked on 9/11, received what appeared to be a terrorist threat. The airline reported that threat in accordance with the Homeland Security Department’s much-publicized guidelines, which urge even private citizens to report suspicious activity as apparently innocuous as “an unattended backpack.” The threatener, knowing the game was up, later turned herself in.

The medium doesn’t matter, nor the fact that the sender was actually 14. At the time of the initial threat, whatever beleaguered social media manager who saw it knew only that he or she had gotten a threat and a response was warranted. That isn’t foolishness — it’s common sense.

That becomes even clearer in contrast to, say, the “Colbert Report” satire recently in the news: A Twitter post reference to a “Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever” may have sparked controversy, but it did expose a specific hypocrisy that deserved ridicule.

Maybe the protest is bigger than that, some have said. Maybe this satire is aimed at the surveillance state, in its overarching, knee-jerky ubiquity. Maybe it’s aimed less at the actual actions of American Airlines and more at the cultural and political climate that made those actions necessary. They’re protesting, in other words, the idea that all threats need to be taken seriously. They’re protesting fear.

More at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/04/15/if-you-think-the-american-airline-bomb-tweets-are-satire-you-dont-understand-what-satire-is/

Air Canada - Never Fair....

(Credit: Senohrabek via Shutterstock)

We’re still fresh into a new year, which makes this an excellent time to join us here in the 21st century. Welcome to it, Air Canada!

In a speedy reversal after a very public episode of Twitter shaming, the airline hinted this week it would now amend its policy on allowing spouses to transfer travel vouchers to each other. Going forward, even married people who don’t share a last name might be able to get in on the voucher transfer. Even them. The enlightenment stems from what happened when Calgary author Chris Turner had a ticket voucher for a flight to New York that he wanted to give to his wife, photographer Ashley Bristowe. He politely tweeted, “Hey @AirCanada — your (very helpful) phone rep tells me I can’t transfer a voucher to my wife pre-flight BECAUSE SHE KEPT HER NAME. Really?” The airline responded, “Hi Chris, vouchers can only be transferred to another family member before travel if they have the same family name” and explained, “This is to prevent fraudulent activity while using vouchers.”

Wanting to prevent fraud is understandable, and Air Canada did note that “Our travel vouchers are transferable, but when cust. wishes to exchange with someone who has a different last name the request is handled post travel with our refund department due to past cases of fraud.” In other words, Turner could transfer his ticket; he’d just have to purchase a $400 ticket for his wife first, and then apply for a refund.

Having a selectively inconvenient system at the expense of one type of family isn’t the brightest institutional policy. It especially doesn’t even make sense for a Canadian business – as Twitter users pointed out, under Quebec law, both men and women keep their birth names after marriage, and they have since 1981. Further highlighting the absurdity of the policy, Turner’s wife observed that “Turner can transfer the voucher to our NEIGHBOUR Kelly who has the same last name, but not his WIFE. Gotcha.”  Meanwhile, as other Twitter onlookers added, married same-sex couples who don’t share a same last name would also be excluded by the airline’s “anti fraud” measures.

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Air Canada continue to upset passengers.

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Turner himself kept at the airline about it, repeatedly noting the professionalism and courtesy of the staff but asking, “You can see how this institutionalizes a lower quality of service to women who kept their maiden names, though, yes?” And WestJet promptly jumped opportunistically into the fray, alerting would-be travelers that “Credits with us are transferable to anyone of your choosing.” 

Soon, the airline was promising to make an exception for Turner and his wife, but Turner told the Star, “It doesn’t change the fact that they are offering an inferior level of service on the basis of the fact that my wife didn’t change her name … They’d dealt with it before, they knew that people found it kind of ridiculous and outrageous — and hadn’t done anything, as far as I could tell anyway, to change it.” But the power of #SurnameGate, as it will forever be known in the annals of Twitter disputes, had not finished working its magic. On Wednesday, Turner tweeted that in addition to making an exception for his family, “they’re planning on changing the policy …replacing the voucher system with another.” 

A vast majority of women still shed their maiden names when they wed, and fewer women are keeping their names now than a generation ago. The negative perceptions around women who retain their names persist – when my family bought a home in 2006, our realtor said we would face opposition from the co-op board because my spouse and I had different names. In New York City. In 2006. A 2009 study revealed a stunning 71 percent of respondents favored women taking their husband’s names.

Yet it’s a big, bright new world of options out there. Being married no longer means just a woman pledging herself to a man and becoming somebody’s missus. For professional and personal reasons, believe it or not, some of them retain their names. Men, meanwhile, marry men, and women marry women, and names don’t always follow a clear-cut protocol. Spouses have different last names from each other; kids have different last names from their parents. For an airline to not get it might seem like a little thing – a small inconvenience – but it’s not. Turner’s fight for his right to transfer his travel voucher was about recognition. It was about respect. It was about acknowledging that you shouldn’t be forced to jump through an extra set of hoops because of your name. Family is not defined by nomenclature – and you can’t be a business, in this day and age, with a family policy if you don’t understand what family means today. You can’t have a set of rules that apply to one kind of family and not others. Well, you can, but you’ll be challenged and, worse, laughed at in public for it. And then maybe if you’re smart, you’ll have to change.