Gadling TAKE FIVE: Week of September 6-12

by Jamie Rhein on

There were some rather unusual stories floating around this week–the kind of odd stories that makes one wonder. Consider these:

  • There is a naked hiker in Germany who is going to continue with his naked hiking.
  • There was a fist fight on a plane that caused it to divert.
  • You can buy a car for 10 million dollars and shave your head to make money from Air New Zealand.
  • American Airlines is facing a lawsuit for losing a dead woman’s body.
  • A man who trespassed on Amtrak property is suing Amtrak for a really, really, really stupid reason, and O’Hare is the best worst airport, according to Josh.
  • In Spain, Abha braved hail stones that looked like they beaned a bird on her patio, Matthew told us about Sumo wrestlers suffering from too much pot smoking, and Jeffrey wondered who can be sued for the false story about United Airlines bankruptcy. United Airlines is not bankrupt.
  • If you are looking for a travel deal, in case you missed this one, Grant told us about dirt cheap cruises to places like the Bahamas. It’s a little odd to be thinking about a cruise when Ike is barrelling down on the Gulf Coast, but Grant said, don’t let a hurricane stop you–unless you are going to Texas.

Okay, that’s more than five, but, like I said, this has been an unusual week. It was definitely a good one for the first episode of a new season of Bizarre Foods.

If you are in Texas, Haiti, Louisiana or anywhere else battling out much, much, much wind and water, here is hoping you are being taken care of and have found safety.

Continental Airlines, others suspend flights due to Hurricane Ike

by Jeffrey White on

If you’re flying into or out of Texas today or the weekend, Hurricane Ike is likely to disrupt your plans.

George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston was expected to suspend flights today at 2 p.m. CDT. Hobby Airport nearby is expected to begin suspending flights 90 minutes later.

Continental Airlines, which is based in Houston, is considering canceling service at other airports along the Gulf Coast.

The carrier says normal service in the area, including at Bush Intercontinental, is expected to return on Sunday, the Associated Press says.

Continental is not the only major carrier with affected flights.

Houston is a major destination for United, American, Northwest and Delta, not to mention foreign carriers.

Southwest flies to Hobby, but has canceled all flights there (and also in Corpus Christi and Harlingen) today and tomorrow.

Most carriers are waving fees for travelers flying in the path of the storm so that they can change their itineraries.

Who can United sue for that erroneous bankruptcy story?

by Jeffrey White on

I’m a big fan of Slate‘s Explainer column, which seeks to answer questions that spin off of current headlines. Yesterday the column tackled a subject Grant blogged about recently: the erroneous story reported by several news outlets that United Airlines has gone bankrupt.

United went bankrupt — back in 2002.

Several news services, among them Bloomberg, picked up a 2002 South Florida Sun-Sentinel story and somehow thought it was breaking news. The story spread, and United saw more than a two-third drop in its stock price on Monday.

Slate‘s Explainer asks the obvious question: Who can United sue?

It concludes that there isn’t a clear culprit, though the Tribune Co., who owns the Sun-Sentinel, could be a target, Slate says, as could Bloomberg and Google News, for spreading the bogus report.

United for its part has announced that it is fully looking into the matter.

The article goes on to say that it might be difficult for United to seek damages, since the law does provide some pretty cozy protection for Internet linkers who are not originating a story but simply pointing readers to it — much like I’m doing with this Slate piece.

Go ahead an read it — it’s an interesting take on the legal fallout of this unfortunate media mix up.

New algae-based jet fuel passes aviation standards

by Anna Brones on

Biofuels are a hot item these days; and not only in the automotive industry. Several companies have been working on alternatives to petroleum-based aviation fuels, but as of now, none are available on a commercial scale. But research and development is in full swing, and Wednesday marked another milestone in the path towards alternative aviation fuels when an algae-based biofuel passed the ASTM’s standard for “Aviation Turbine Fuel”.

Produced by Solazyme, the fuel is a bio-kerosene that is in fact derived from algae. According to Scientific American, the fuel is superior to other biofuels because it doesn’t freeze at high altitude. On top of that it has the same density as regular Jet-A, which other alternative fuels, derived from natural gas or coal, don’t have.

But don’t expect algae-based fueling stations at your local airport just yet. Solazyme doesn’t own the infrastructure to produce it on a large scale, and in the end, it’s all about money. “If we had our own equipment we could make millions of gallons,” says CEO Jonathan Wolfson. But the “capital involved in owning that equipment is massive.”

[Via Treehugger]

United Airlines – It’s time to make a really weird commercial (oh, and fly too)

by Scott Carmichael on

Sure, the quality and merits of a TV commercial are a really personal thing, and I’m sure some people reading my article will disagree with my opinion, but this new ad for United Airlines has to be one of the worst airline commercials I have ever seen. It’s Little Mermaid meets Yellow Submarine.

The message United is trying to deliver is that their new international premium cabins with flat sleeper seats are awesome, and that it is time to fly. The message they are actually delivering is that their planes fly really low, and that they apparently know of a top secret island ruled by crab people and tuba playing whales.

Also, am I the only one that is really really tired of Rhapsody in Blue? It’s one thing to take a great American masterpiece and use it for a couple of commercials, it’s another to play it till you want to punch yourself in the face. But like I said; it’s a personal thing, so don’t mind me.

And of course, when they say “flying will never be the same again”, they mean it has finally become a competitive product, and is now potentially on-par with other Transatlantic carriers like Virgin Atlantic and British Airways, who have been offering flat seats in Business Class and First Class for years.