Tomorrow, Continental Airlines will have to answer to a French court about allegations it knowingly installed an unapproved part on one of its DC-10 aircraft. That small metal strip is partially blamed for the crash of Air France Concorde flight 4590 on July 25th 2000.
On that fateful day, 113 people lost their lives when the fuel tanks of the Concorde caught fire, sending the plane crashing through a hotel just outside the airport. 109 people died on the plane, and four were killed in the hotel.
The court case has taken ten years to prepare, and follows a 2004 investigation that concluded the crash was caused by the strip of metal that had fallen off a Continental plane that took off minutes before Concorde came down the runway. The inquiry reached the conclusion that the titanium strip had blown a tire to shreds, sending debris into an engine, and blowing holes in a fuel tank.
Along with Continental and two of its employees, the court will also hear testimonies from Concorde program officials and the boss of the French aviation institute. According to the court, the Concorde program managers ignored years of problems, including several identical incidents that thankfully did not end as disastrous.
The main objective of the trial is to determine levels of blame for those responsible for the crash. Continental plans to fight the allegations, claiming the engine was already on fire before the plane hit the piece of metal. In the end, it’ll most likely come down to how much was known about the weakness of the Concorde design, and why a simple piece of metal could cause such a catastrophic crash.
The disaster ended more than the lives of the 113 people involved in the crash – it also started the end of the supersonic passenger flight era. After the crash, the entire Concorde fleet was taken out of service for fuel tank upgrades, but she took her final flight on November 25th 2003.
Kulula-air.com is a low-fare 737 carrier based in South Africa. The airline started in 2001 and recently took delivery of a new 737-800 with an unusual paint scheme.
Dubbed “Flying 101” it isn’t the typical Kulula logo-jet.
Someone there clearly has a sense of humor. The entire airplane is covered with details about the plane, including arrows pointing to the more interesting parts.
“The big cheese” describes the captain’s window. An arrow points to the aircraft’s registration, calling it the “Secret code.”
Even the lav is pointed out, with the description, “Loo (or mile-high initiation chamber).”
The black box, seats, stabilizer and rudder are also pointed out and include a bit of clever commentary as well. I think we can all appreciate a marketing scheme that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
So the other day I was on a flight from Boston to San Francisco and I thought you might get a kick out of the following conversation that took place between the flight attendant working in first class and the passenger sitting beside me…
FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Miss did you get a chance to look at the menu?
PASSENGER: Unfortunately
FLIGHT ATTENDANT: (Pauses. Smiles) Will you be dining with us tonight? PASSENGER: I don’t like anything on the menu, I mean clam chowder and steak – gross and gross! FLIGHT ATTENDANT: I’m sorry, but that is all I have tonight. PASSENGER: I mean, all of us are from California. We don’t like CLAMS or STEAK! I want two portions of salad, the dessert fruit plate as my meal, with still water – not sparkling, and red wine – but not with my nuts, WITH my meal, and NO dessert!
FLIGHT ATTENDANT: (repeats the order) Got it! PASSENGER: Wait, can I just have almonds? Oh forget it. I’ll pick out what I don’t want.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT: (smiles, glances at me) And what will you be having for dinner tonight, Sir?
Boston – San Francisco? Oh no no no, Ron, you must be confused, because your flight sounds a lot like my flight, only I worked the New York – Seattle route last night. I mean that was you, wasn’t it, sitting behind the first class passenger who wanted “just a little bit” of ice with Diet Coke, the passenger who looked absolutely disgusted when I placed a drink on her tray table with – count em – one, two, three, four cubes swimming around inside the glass? This, of course, resulted in a request for a spoon, ya know, so that she could scoop out two cubes and then drop them into the palm of my hand.
Yeah…umm…thank you, Ma’am.
Or was that you sitting across the aisle from the first class passenger who decided to change out of his business suit right as we were about to begin the meal service. Remember, him, Mister sparkling water with lime? The passenger that exited the lav wearing jeans who asked if I could hang his gray trousers in the closet, which I did, and that was fine. But then, right before landing, I stood in the aisle holding a man’s pair of pants and felt…well…kind of strange just standing there in the aisle holding a man’s pair of pants in front of other passengers while waiting, waiting, waiting, for him to put away and stow a computer. I mean I didn’t want to give anyone the wrong idea or anything.
ME: Sir, your pants?
PASSENGER: (takes them and lays them across his lap, no response)
Weird, right? I mean you’d think a person would thank a flight attendant for handing them their own pants in public!
Anyway, more wine for you, Ron! Thanks for being so observant. Here, go ahead, take the bottle. You’re my kind of passenger.
Anyone that has flown knows that the cabin crew will make a big deal about having all passengers turn electronic devices off as soon as the cabin doors are closed. Of course, there are always a couple of people that need a little extra reminding. Then there are of course those passengers that need to make a call that is apparently so important, they’ll ignore all requests to turn their phone off.
A 20 year old man from Colorado fits that profile – and his phone call was so important, that it triggered a fight when he refused to turn his phone off. By the time the fight broke out, the plane had taken off from Charles De Gaulle airport, and four American security agents got involved.
With a disruptive passenger on board, the pilot took no risks, turned the plane around and landed back at the airport where the man was handed over to French police officers.
To make matters worse for this idiot passenger, United Airlines refused to fly him back home, and canceled his ticket. The flight ended up being delayed by almost two hours, causing a considerable inconvenience to everyone on board.
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Well, Premium Economy, at least. But we’ve sat in Business Class seats that weren’t this comfortable.
Apparently Air New Zealand has a larger proportion of leisure passengers than other international airlines, so they’ve focused more of their efforts on enhancing the Economy and Premium Economy cabins. We covered the upcoming changes to the Economy section, including the option for passengers to choose the new Skycouch layout when booking their trip, but the Premium Economy redesign may be an even bigger story. It’s surely going to cause other airlines to take a fresh look at their offerings.
Air New Zealand currently offers a Premium Economy cabin that offers a larger selection of meal options at a much higher quality, nearly approaching the level of service seen up front in their Business Premium cabin. It’s likely one reason they were awarded ATW’s Airline of the Year for 2010. But they don’t seem ready to give up the title for 2011. Space Seats
With their new Premium Economy “Space Seats” which enter service in November of 2010, the airline has managed to match their seats to the enhanced meal service. The combination could even rival the business class sections of other airlines.
Premium Economy passengers can reserve a seat based on their requirements for privacy or if they’re traveling with a partner, they can choose a more social arrangement. They do this by installing two different types of seats in the Premium Economy class.
Inner Space
The center seats face outward at a 23 degree angle and are called “Inner Space.” The two armrests in the middle of these seats can be lowered to create nearly enough room for a third person to sit, which could be helpful for a family flying with an infant.
With the armrests up, two people could share a meal or play a game of cards on the center console, with room for at least one person’s legs to fit underneath, like a small table.
Outer Space
The “Outer Seats” also point at a 23 degree angle and face the windows. With the new, larger 787 windows that are coming-depicted in the mockup pictures-these seats will be perfect for those who enjoy looking out. It felt a little like sitting on the front porch in a chair while taking in the view.
Another improvement over the current Premium Economy is the ability to recline without impeding anyone else’s space. And when the person sitting at the window is ready to get up, there’s enough room for the passenger at the aisle to pivot their legs to allow access. The seat width is now three inches wider at 20 inches, but there’s no obstruction, such as a fixed armrest on either side of the seats, so it feels even wider.
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“Otto” Pilot
Since there are now foot rests built into the seats, a stuffed foot rest that Air New Zealand has coined “Otto” which is short for ottoman will be provided. Ed Sims, the project manager on this effort remarked, “We readily anticipate that these will get stolen in huge numbers.”
Just like the rest of the cabin, Premium Economy will feature snacks on demand which allows a passenger to order complimentary drinks or snacks in between meals via the in flight entertainment screen.
The IFE screen is a pull-out, 10.6″ screen that provides more content than the current 8.4″ system, such as an expanded range of kids shows, exclusive offerings and a viewers recommended section. Applications such as hourly updated weather will be featured on the new graphical user interface that was designed by Air New Zealand.
A USB port or iPod connector will allow passengers to view their own content they may have brought with them. This will also be offered in the standard Economy class as well. No word on device compatibility, but the iPod and iPhone are sure to be on the list.
While looking at the innovative seats for each cabin, I couldn’t help but wonder where I’d prefer to sit. I suspect it will come down to who I’m flying with. If I were traveling with just my wife, the center, or “Inner Space” seats in premium economy would be preferable.
If we brought along our two kids, I’d love to try the two standard Economy center seats for us while the kids could take up the outer Skycouch seats for sleeping.
And if someone else is paying for the trip, well, there’s just no other option than to give the Business Premier cabin a try. Because if they consider these seats to be just a step up from their regular Economy seats, then wait until you see what they’ve done with their Business Class seat. We’ll have a review for you next week.
Gadling was briefed on the Space Seat prototype Tuesday at the Hangar 9 facility in Auckland, New Zealand. See it for yourself: