In defense of Southwest’s new boarding procedure

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Justin blogged a few months ago about the nightmares that the new Southwest Airlines boarding procedures were apparently causing. Some travelers were freaking out, and seemed to be pining for the days when you had to arrive at the gate four days early just to make sure you didn’t get a middle seat.

So I feel like a veritable voice crying out in the wilderness when I say that, having just returned from a couple flights on Southwest, I like their new boarding procedure. It goes like this. Those who check in the earliest online are assigned a number from A-1 to A-30. When all those numbers have been given away, they switch over and assign numbers from B-1 to B-30, and the system continues until everyone has a number, which is printed on your boarding pass.

When boarding begins at the gate, all those with “A” passes line up in order and board immediately. When they are all on, the “B” people then line up, and so on. It’s actually quite efficient, and it obviates the need for standing in line for hours at a time.

So, hooray for Southwest. Now if only I could get a whole can of soda.

How budget airlines make their money: The art of bumping a 2 cent ticket up to $120

by Neil Woodburn on

So, how do they do it? How do all those European budget airlines make a profit charging less than a Euro per seat?

Last summer, Times journalist Mark Frary decided to find out for himself by purchasing a 1 pence Ryanair ticket from London’s Stansted Airport to Berlin. Sounds like a steal, right? Not exactly. Like so many other deal seekers on budget airlines, Frary ended up paying far more than that initial 1 pence. How his final cost netted out at £61.84 ($121.15) provides fascinating insight into an amazing business plan that is succeeding despite naysayers predicting otherwise.

Interestingly enough, the wild price of Frary’s final bill did not come from the most common source of increased ticket prices on budget airline: baggage fees. This is where the airlines really clean up. Passengers on Ryanair, for example, can check up to three bags. The first, however, costs £5 ($9.80) while each additional bag is £10 ($19.60). In addition, there is a 15 kg (33 lbs.) checked bag allowance. If a passenger exceeds this weight, they pay £5.50 ($10.78) per kilo–which can add up very quickly. And don’t even think of transferring your heavier items to your friend’s baggage at the airport either. Ryanair’s Terms and Conditions clearly state, “No pooling or sharing of baggage allowances is permitted, even within a party traveling on the same reservation.”Frary was smart and kept his baggage to a minimum. He did fall prey to, however, to a variety of other fees and services–some of which can easily be avoided (e.g., don’t order food onboard) while others can not. Despite all this, budget airlines are still a great deal cheaper than normal airlines, providing you have the brains and discipline to avoid be taken advantage of.

The Ticket
The ticket itself: £0.01 (2 cents)
Credit card charge: £ 1.75 ($3.43)
Flight change: £ 24.00 ($47)

Taxes and Fees
Government passenger duty: £ 5.00 ($9.80)
Airport passenger service charge: £ 7.30 ($14.30)
Insurance and wheelchair levy: £ 3.48 ($6.82)

Baggage
Checked in suitcase: £ 7.00 ($13.71)

Food and Drink Onboard
Bottle on water (500ml): £ 1.80 ($3.53)
Pringles and Mars bar: £ 2.60 ($5.09)
Ham and cheese baguette: £ 4.00 ($7.84)

Miscellaneous
Two lottery scratch cards: £ 2.90 ($5.68)

TOTAL £61.84 ($121.15)

Investigators reveal cause of British Airways crash (hint: it was engine failure)

by Aaron Hotfelder on

We reported several days ago on a British Airways flight that crash-landed into Heathrow Airport on January 17. Now investigators have revealed the cause of the mishap, which resulted in no fatalities and was the first ever crash of a Boeing 777.

Just a few miles from the runway, at an altitude of about 600 feet, the pilot attempted to increase engine power to prepare for landing, but the computer-controlled engines didn’t respond. An attempt to do the same thing manually also failed, and in less than a minute, the plane skidded onto the runway. Several passengers were hurt– one seriously– though investigators are saying that the damage would have been much worse if not for the capable performance of the flight crew, especially co-pilot John Coward.

Now investigators are trying to discover whether this same sort of engine failure could occur on any other of the almost 700 Boeing 777s that are currently in operation.

That would be bad.

Actual Snakes on a Plane

by Anna Brones on

It’s happened before, both in a movie and in real life, but somehow snakes keep squirming their way onto planes, this time on a Vietnam Airlines flight from Bangkok to Hanoi.

On Thursday, authorities at Hanoi’s Noi Boi Airport discovered thousands of non-venomous snakes that had been shipped as cargo in 60 boxes. According to the Associated Press, Trinh Ngoc Thanh, Vietnam Airline’s spokesman, said that the boxes had been declared as carrying live fish. Unfortunately for the snakes, who had been packed in ice water, many died en route. Those who had made it alive were transferred to the Wild Animal Rescue center in Hanoi.

This isn’t the first time that Vietnam has had a snake shipment problem. Last month authorities found 1,540 pounds of dead snakes on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok. Besides raising questions about cargo inspection at the Bangkok airport, it also points at an important wildlife issue; Ptyas Mucosus, the scientific name for the snakes, are a protected species, thereby implying illegal trade.

In any event, for those of you traveling through Southeast Asia, it might be a good idea to keep Samuel L. Jackson’s number on hand. He did do an impressive job dealing with those on-board snakes in the movie…

Inside of airplane “more beautiful than I ever imagined”

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Abha’s post from a couple days ago– “India’s rich pay to live like peasants“– reminded me of a story about essentially the opposite situation. An Indian businessman is selling plane tickets for a flight that never leaves the ground.

Why would someone want to buy a ticket for a permanently grounded flight? Well, maybe you’d pay the £2 too if you’d never been on an airplane before. The Times Online has the story on these “flights to nowhere” that are exposing some Indians to the “pleasures” of air travel:

“All they want is the chance to know what it is like to sit on a plane, listen to announcements and be waited on by stewardesses bustling up and down the aisle. In a country where 99% of the population have never experienced air travel, the ‘virtual journeys’ of Bahadur Chand Gupta, a retired Indian Airlines engineer, have proved a roaring success.”

One young teacher relished her fake plane ride, saying, “It is much more beautiful than I ever imagined.”

There’s probably a lesson to be learned here somewhere.