Russia to produce new Sukhoi jets

by Grant Martin on

Is airframe production the mark of a successful country? The US has Boeing, Europe has Airbus, Canada has Bombardier, Brazil has Embraer. Even China’s trying to get in on the business with the China Comercial Aircraft Company, even though that’s going to take a couple ten years to get rolling.

Russia’s flagship producer, Tupolev, not unlike their progress as a democratic nation, has been pretty lethargic. Much of their production has been in the commercial sector while very few new aircraft designs have surfaced.

Under a new commercial wing of The United Aircraft Building Corporation (UABC), however, things are starting to turn around. UABC, Russia’s new manufacturing congolmerate (which will soon run Tupolev as well) is now employing Sukhoi Corporation to start production of a new series of medium range jets.

The first, dubbed the Sukhoi Superjet 100’s, are already well underway. First test flights were just complete this week and the company has an aggressive production schedule that includes initial deliveries later this year.

Their plan is to directly compete with medium range aircraft — those like Bombardier’s CRJ’s or Embraer’s E-Jets — but mostly in the Russian market. Reducing dependence on foreign airframe manufacturers (not unlike China’s plans), will therefore make their economy stronger.

Don’t expect to be flying on any Superjets in the near future though. Most of the initial orders have gone to Russian carriers and even then it’s going to be a few years until all of those orders are fulfilled. Until that point, I’m still happy flying on Tupolev 154.

United Airlines abolishes minimums to mileage earning

by Grant Martin on

The day of airline corner cutting is upon us. United Airlines just announced that they reduced the minimum miles that you can earn on a flight to the actual flown distance. Let me explain:

Until now, most fares that you booked that were under 500 miles as the crow flies were automatically rounded up to earn 500 miles for each flight. The perk was created to award the poor saps who have to fly short distances frequently over the course of a year — for example, if you had to fly from Detroit to Chicago and back every week for work, its only about 250 miles one way or 500 round trip. Rounding up though, you would get 1000 miles/trip, meaning every 25 itineraries you would be able to redeem an award for a 25,000 mile ticket.

Similarly, if you’re connecting from Flint – Detroit – Chicago, you would get 500 + 500 miles.

But under these new rules, you would only earn miles as for the exact distance you flew. So on the first Detroit-Chicago itinerary you would get 250 miles one way and on the second route you would get 40 + 250. Cool huh?

United is the first legacy carrier to break rank and start scooping into its mileage program. I wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of the carriers slowly fell, much as they all did with the extra bag policy.

Expect mileage accrual to change July 1. Between now and then you can check out United’s new policy here and weep at the loss of another great frequent flying perk.

Credit for the ironic picture of the day goes to Jason McHuff on Flickr.

Anti Jetlag Diet — another way to prevent jet lag?

by Grant Martin on

People are always trying to figure out ways to get around jet lag, the discomfort felt after traveling several hours on an aircraft. With symptoms as varied as loss of appetite, nausea, headaches, fatigue, irritability and depression, I suppose they have a reason to study the phenomenon.

Jet lag affects everyone, which is part of the reason that it’s so difficult to diagnose and treat. Everyone seems to have their own way to combat it and a variety of holistic, word-of-mouth and downright ridiculous methods are out there to get you through your ordeal.

Take the Anti Jetlag Diet. Invented by Charles Ehret, a scientist at Argonne National Laboratories, just outside of Chicago, the diet claims to relieve the stress of jet lag by preparing your body for the new time zone that you’re about to be in. Travelers are recommended to eat in a feast and famine style for several days before departure, gorging oneself one day, then eating trim the next — all on a adapted schedule that should hopefully integrate with your destination time zone (once you get there).

The thought is that by preparing the body for food cycles properly prior to departure you’ll have more ease adapting to the new system.

But will it work? I dunno. I’ve always felt that jet lag cures were like weight loss pills: it’s more in the body and mind than some trick or medication. Lots of sleep, physical activity and a gallon of coffee per day work just fine for me.

I guess what scratches me the wrong way about antijetlagdiet.com is how much they stress their ties with Argonne Labs, who are not generally commercial entities (think Sandia or Los Alamos). It makes me think of all of those weight loss pills that were “developed by doctors” but not approved by the FDA.

But hey, I’m just a kid who writes articles. Someone give the anti jet lag diet a try and let me know how it goes — especially if it works well.

Dept. of Transportation: Airlines should auction off flight slots

by Jeffrey White on

Auctions are coming to the New York area — but probably not the kind you’d want to attend.

The Dept. of Transportation has announced that it plans to hold a series of “slot auctions” at Newark Liberty International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport. What are slot auctions? Slots amount to the number of planes that can either take off or land at an airport. An airport sells its slots to airlines, which then own a particular time, which they subsequently incorporate into their flight schedule. A Continental flight departing Newark at 4:40 p.m. is one such slot owned by Continental.

What the DOT wants to do is to give airlines a certain amount of slots at JFK or Newark — 20 a day, according to the current proposal. The DOT then wants to force airlines to auction off a certain amount of their slots above that threshold. At Kennedy, the DOT is proposing that airlines make 10 percent of their slots above the benchmark available to auction, with the money going to improve congestion or to auction off 20 percent of their additional slots and keep the money for themselves. A similar proposal is afoot for Newark. In either case airlines can bid on their own slots.

What does all this mean? Admittedly, it’s confusing. The Associated Press reported yesterday on the plan and other measures that DOT is proposing, all of which the Air Transport Association is fighting.

However, it comes down to this: The government is trying to make changes that will ultimately relieve congestion at the two airports that are pretty much the worst for on time arrivals and departures, while sponsoring a little more competition in these busy markets. Seems like passengers could stand to benefit from that.

Free drinks on Wednesday Virgin America flights

by Grant Martin on

Nothing beats the mid-week travel blues like a good bevvy when you’re up in the skies. Whether it’s straight up Jack Daniels with a dash of Tobasco sauce or straight shots of Skyy vodka, a little bit of spirits always helps take the edge off a flight. Just ask Kato Kaelin.

Virgin America knows this well, having served the likes of Richard Branson, Playboy bunnies, Victoria’s Secret models and rock stars. So they’re kicking off a promo offering free drinks on select Wednesday flights for the next five weeks.

Flights 313 from JFK to LAX, 1839 from SFO to LAX, 1777 from SFO to LAS and 1852 from LAX to SFO will all be participating in the promotion.

Furthermore, if you flash your boarding pass at select destination hotels, you can score a few more drinks and special room rates. These include the W Hotel in San Francisco and The Venetian out in Vegas.

So stop by the airport bar on the way to your Wednesday flight coming up, grab some pretzels and get thirsty. Flying Virgin is a real treat and you’ll be extra happy when you get free drinks and start chatting with the hottie in 7C. Check out Gadling Flies Virgin America to read more about the perks.

Make sure you also check out the promo page where you can get exact flight times, see all of the participating partners and read the 38 pages of fine print.

Debauchery at 35,000 feet?


Just ask these girls…