The final days of a Boeing 747 – from king of the skies to a pile of rubbish

by Scott Carmichael on

The Daily Mail has an interesting article on the final resting place of a Boeing 747. The Jumbo had been in service for 35 years and covered over 55 million miles but took its final trip to Cotswald airport in the UK.

In just two days, experts from Air Salvage International turned the mighty beast into a pile of twisted metal. The owners of the jet (Dubai Air Wing) first made sure that anything of value was removed from the plane, and all parts taken out will be tested to see if they are in good enough condition to be resold as spares.

The final job of this 747 was probably its most interesting one – transporting horses around the world. The plane was one of just a few dedicated horse carriers, flying the four footers to major equestrian events. In the final photo of the article, you see the small pile of debris which was once a 747 – and once flew British Airways passengers around the world.

Icelandic ash stranded you in the US? Beware of a visa overstay!

by Scott Carmichael on

The Iceland volcano disruption is causing unprecedented disruptions in air travel all around the world – but your problems could become even worse if you are here in the United States on any kind of Visa or Visa Waiver that is about to expire.

The Visa Waiver program allows you to be here for 90 days – and overstaying that period will result in all kinds of hassles if you ever plan to return. I have personally witnessed someone being sent back to Europe because they had overstayed by 3 days several years ago.

There is no blanket exception for travelers impacted by the flight cancellations, so you are on your own to apply for an extension. Do not assume everything will be alright – even one day past your 90 days can result in a future deportation or entry refusal.

To apply for the extension, you will need to contact a local U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services facility. A guide on how to extend your visa status can be found here. Even though the normal procedures do not permit Visa Waiver status to be changed, exceptions are being made for people stranded due to the volcano. If you are not able to contact a local office, make sure you have a copy of your I-94 arrival-departure form, as you’ll probably have to put together a letter once you get back home.

The official statement sent to foreign embassies in the U.S. can be found here. I recommend printing this information for future reference.

Stranded travelers have days to wait

by Sean McLachlan on

More bad news for travelers stranded by the volcanic eruption in Iceland–the cloud of ash has spread across a wider swath of Europe and it will be days before it dissipates.

The volcano is still churning out large amounts of ash, and with the current wind patterns meteorologists say the cloud will probably stay put until later this week. Even after the skies become safe to fly again, nobody is sure how long it will take to deal with the tremendous backlog of passengers.

Yesterday only 5,000 flights flew within Europe, out of a scheduled 22,000. These flights were between the few remaining nations lucky enough to still have clear airspace. The cloud has affected international flights too, with the majority of flights to Europe from the United States having been canceled.

Those countries that have closed down their airspace entirely include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Those with partial closures and severe delays include Italy, Norway, and Spain.

Yesterday the European Union asked KLM and Lufthansa to run test flights to see if the engines would be damaged by the ash. All eleven airplanes made it to their destinations safely and are being examined for damage. KLM said its initial tests show no problems, and the airline Ukraine International has declared that after its own safety tests it was resuming service.

From a personal point of view, I don’t hold out much hope of seeing my wife fly back from England anytime soon. The best bet seems to be for her to take the Eurostar from London to Paris, and then another train back to Madrid. But with thousands of other people jostling for tickets, and the trip costing more than 300 euros with no guarantee that she’ll be reimbursed, it’s a pretty poor option. In the meantime she’s visiting friends in Oxford and would be cheered up if you looked at her photos from our Ethiopia travel series.

Gadling readers have spoken – Spirit Airlines carry-on bag fee is a bad idea

by Scott Carmichael on

Several days ago, we asked you for your opinion on the Spirit Airlines carry-on bag fee. As a quick refresher – the airline is planning to charge up to $45 for each carry-on bag that does not fit under the seat in front of you. This is in addition to their checked bag fee.

The whole plan has triggered a lot of responses, from both sides. Some people are (justifiably) annoyed that airlines don’t pay much attention to oversized bags from passengers that take up too much space. Others (correctly) point out that when airlines started to charge for checked bags, passengers had no choice but to carry stuff on board.

Still, nothing makes a point better than some cold hard numbers in the form of a survey – a whopping 5,425 of you took the time to respond (thanks!). The results are pretty clear – 93.2% are against the fee and a mere 6.8% think it is smart.

Of course, 5,425 Gadling readers won’t be enough to convince Spirit Airlines that they making a stupid mistake, but if enough passengers do indeed decide to fly someone else, the message will eventually get through to them.

Travel chaos continues in Europe

by Sean McLachlan on

Hundreds of thousands of travelers remain stranded for a third day as flights stay canceled across northern Europe. Ash from an erupting volcano in Iceland continues to blow eastward and numerous countries have limited flights or have closed their airspace entirely.

The following countries have no flights operating: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

These countries have limited service with severe delays and numerous cancellations: Belarus, Croatia, France, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, and Serbia.

Questions are arising about how this is going to affect an already struggling airline industry. Some sources are estimating that the airlines are losing $200 million a day, with several companies already talking about laying off employees or putting them on unpaid leave. There has been no public discussion of reducing executive bonuses.

The Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in southern Iceland is still spewing out ash, although Icelandic vulcanologists are saying at a lower rate. Clouds of ash are hazardous to jets because they can make their engines stall, as happened with two flights in the 1980s.

Ferries and trains such as the Eurostar are reporting record ticket sales as people look for other modes of transport.

As I mentioned in the post about delays on Friday, my wife Almudena, who took many of the best photos in my Ethiopia travel series, is trapped in the UK. Her story is typical of countless other travelers. On Friday, British Airways told her they had rescheduled her flight for Saturday morning, but a few hours later the flight was canceled. UK airspace is now closed until at least 1 am local time Sunday. So at the moment I’m a single dad, she’s given up hope of getting to her meeting in Toronto and went to visit friends in Oxford, and our son is drawing pictures of mom flying over an erupting volcano. I have a feeling a lot of European kids are drawing pictures like that right now.