Dance to soothe turbulence fears – Airplane tip

by Gadling Staff on

One problem many fliers share is a fear of turbulence. If you fly, you’re bound to experience it at some point — but airplane turbulence doesn’t have to be scary! Bring an MP3 player aboard and, the moment the air gets bumpy, turn it to your favorite track and get groovy!

You’ll likely get some looks from the other passengers, but hey — you get to have fun and forget the fear.

When you dance in place — or “chair dance” — the dips and jolts all seem like part of the experience, and they become less noticeable. It’s tried and true advice. Don’t be skeptical; try it on your next flight!

150,000 airline seats involved in another Japanese recall

by Scott Carmichael on

More bad news for Japanese companies today, as Yokohama based Koito Industries admitted to falsifying test results from its line of airplane seats.

According to the Japanese transportation ministry, the entire testing department at Koito was involved in the scandal, and it may have been going on since the mid 90’s.

During the investigation, officials discovered that Koito skipped entire tests, and used data from past tests instead. In addition to this, they manipulated computer screens so they would show false figures during tests observed by the government.

The false information can have potentially catastrophic results – results of fire resistance and strength were falsified on as many as 150,000 seats installed on planes from 32 airlines.

According to the Koito site, they sold seats to airlines like Continental, JAL, ANA, KLM, Singapore, Virgin Atlantic and SAS. Whether those airlines actually received seats involved in this recall is unknown.

Of course, the timing of this recall is terrible for the Japanese – as they are in the middle of their embarrassing admission of how Toyota handled their safety issues. Make no mistake – 150,000 airline seats in need of potential improvements could turn into a major problem for those airlines involved, especially if the recall means seats need to be replaced.

As of right now, there is apparently “no cause for concern” – the Japanese transportation ministry has approved the continued use of the seats after consulting the Federal Aviation Administration.

Update: Initially, this article had listed Air Canada as a current user of Koito seats (based off information from the Koito site). The airline contacted us to let us know that they removed all Koito seats in 2008. None of the seats in the Air Canada fleet are currently from the troubled Japanese company. Thanks to Air Canada for that correction.

Plane Answers: The Frontline episode regional airlines don’t want you to see

by Kent Wien on

I’ve always been a big fan of PBS’s Frontline. It’s obvious that they study a subject before they report on it. And as any pilot knows, that can be a rarity in the often hyped television coverage of the airline industry.

Frontline has tackled specific airline subjects in the past and I’ve always found them to be accurate and insightful. I’m looking forward to the episode tonight called “Flying Cheap” that may just expose the disparity in pay and working conditions at the regional airlines.

Major airlines have long used separate carriers as a firewall of deniability while playing them off each other to secure the lowest bid. They control the scheduling of these companies, but leave the maintenance and operational responsibility to the regional.

A few carriers, such as Delta and American wholly own and have control over their regionals, but they still contract with other small airlines to some extent.

After the response from last week’s Plane Answers about the NTSB reaction to the Colgan 3407 accident in Buffalo, it will be interesting to see if this PBS Frontline episode spurs enough public interest to cause some changes. PBS has provided an eleven minute excerpt below of the show that may give you an idea of what direction the program is taking tonight.
From the Frontline press release:

In “Flying Cheap,” FRONTLINE investigates the deadly airline crash of Continental 3407 in Buffalo, NY, and what the crash reveals about dramatic changes in the airline industry. The rise of the regionals and arrival of low-cost carriers have been a huge boon to consumers, and the industry insists that the skies remain safe. But many insiders are worried that now, 30 years after airline deregulation, the aviation system is being stretched beyond its capacity to deliver service that is both cheap and safe.

Frontline examines the rise of low-cost regional carriers-who now account for more than half of all domestic US flights-and asks: Is the aviation system being stretched beyond its capacity to deliver cheap, safe service? Watch on air and online beginning Tuesday, February 9 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings).

In the eleven minute excerpt from tonights program, there’s a gem of a quote from Roger Cohen of the Regional Airline Association, the group that lobbies on behalf of these smaller carriers involved in code sharing.

When confronted with the low pay and how it represents an untenable economic position for the junior pilots, Roger, who looks like he recently came back from an extended Caribbean vacation, defends regional pilot pay with this:

“I just checked the web this morning-you can get a hotel room near the Newark airport for $50 a night.” He proudly claims.

Roger doesn’t realize that, at $21,000, this would represent between 20% of a line-holder and 50% of a reserve pilot’s potential take-home pay. At these rates, even a crash pad looks too expensive and the crew lounge becomes far more tempting.

I had to run some numbers. On a typical one hour and fifteen minute flight, a Dash 8 burns $2,900 worth of fuel. A copilot in his fifth year at Colgan earns $29 an hour, or $36.25 on that flight. (Source: Airlinepilotcentral.com) Maybe it’s time to rethink that pay scale. Management doesn’t realize that if they gave this pilot the tools (and incentive) to fly just 1% more efficiently, they could nearly double that copilot’s salary.

But that just touches on pay. Be sure to watch the excerpt below to catch a VP of operations at a regional that comes up with an innovative way to falsify records in order to get a pilot to fly past his FAA mandated sixteen hour duty day:

While not every regional airline pilot earns these kind of wages or flies with this kind of pressure, tonight’s episode just might highlight a few companies that have been driving the pay and working conditions lower for much of the industry. Every pilot I know will be watching. But maybe passengers should take a look at this, as well.

UPDATE:

PBS has posted the entire Frontline episode, “Flying Cheap” online to view here.

Do you have a question about something related to the pointy end of an airplane? Ask Kent and maybe he’ll use it for the next Plane Answer’s Plane Answers. Check out his other blog, Cockpit Chronicles and travel along with him at work. Twitter @veryjr

Leave the plane with more bags than you came with – Packing tip

by Kyle Ellison on

With baggage fees constantly climbing, travelers are having to get creative to skirt unwanted costs. One unconventional method involves actually leaving the plane with more carry-on bags than you boarded with.

How is it possible? Simple:

  1. Wear extra clothes while entering the plane (layers of t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, jackets, shorts beneath pants, etc.).
  2. Pack an empty duffel bag in your allowed carry-on.
  3. Once you reach cruising altitude simply shed the extra clothing into the empty bag on a trip to the lavatory.

Peculiar? Undoubtedly. Effective? Highly.

American Airlines to remove free blankets – wants $8 to keep you warm

by Scott Carmichael on

Well, I hate to say that it is now “official”, but American Airlines really has entered into the territory of the low cost carrier – by charging for their blankets.

The new charge goes into effect on May 1st, and is just another fee facing passengers.

According to the airline, they are introducing the fee based on “customer surveys”. Unless that survey asked passengers for ways they’d like to receive less service for the same amount of money, I’m not sure where they got the kind of input that would force them to remove free blankets.

Of course, removing free blankets wouldn’t be so bad, if the airlines managed to keep the temperature on their planes at a comfortable level – alas – even though you are sitting inside a computer operated fly-by-wire jet plane, technology still has not evolved enough to keep the cabin comfy.

The new charge will apply to flights two hours and longer from the US to Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Central America. Shorter flights don’t get blankets, and long haul flights are apparently safe (for the time being). I guess the time has come for us all to bring our own Snuggie?

As always, we love to hear from our readers, so what do you think?

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