A photo history of in-flight entertainment

by Neil Woodburn on

In-flight entertainment has come a long way over the years.

Today, the most common advancements seem to all involve WiFi–staying connected while in the air is the number one goal for travelers these days and most airlines are doing what they can to accommodate this as rapidly as possible.

Entertaining passengers trapped in a metal cylinder traveling thousands of feet in the air has been a priority ever since commercial flight began so very long ago. In honor of the industry continually moving forward in this regard, Time Magazine has published a short photo essay titled, Technology in the Sky. It kicks off with a wonderful black-and-white photograph of German passengers in 1925 watching the first in-flight movie (while sitting in whicker-back chairs).

The essay then moves forward in time showcasing various technology and luxuries such as cockpit intercoms, noise-cancellation headphones, on-demand movies, and more. Although the more recent photos are rather boring (the Airfone!) the older ones are pretty cool and worth a few moments of your time.

Woman tries to open emergency exit — midflight

by Grant Martin on

Ever wonder what happens when you open the exit door while you’re in the air? I know that the thought has crossed my mind once or twice while I was sitting in the exit-row seat.

Well, you can’t. You’ll notice that emergency exit and cabin doors open inward, meaning the air pressure from inside of the plane is going to be pushing hard out on the door at 30,000 feet. Meaning it’s going to be near impossible for you to pull the door open. That and you’re going to make the crew really mad at you.

Apparently, a woman on an American Airlines flight headed for Dallas yesterday didn’t realize this and had to be subdued by the crew until they could divert to Houston. The Age reports that after landing in Houston, six passengers got off (because it was their final destination) and the rest of the plane went on their merry way to Dallas.

It’s nice to know that not any nutjob can open an emergency exit at altitude and suck us all out of the plane, isn’t it?

The A380 makes its maiden voyage

by Grant Martin on

Earlier this Thursday, after numerous delays and management changes at EADS, the A380 finally made her maiden commercial voyage under the emblem of Singapore Airlines.

MSNBC reports that it was a landmark experience, with the short flight between Singapore and Sydney holding 455 passengers and about 30 crew members. Most of the seats were auctioned off on Ebay with the proceeds going to charity while some of the most expensive suites were going for over 100k.

Its going to be a while until the average westerner gets the pleasure of riding an A380; Singapore Airlines has unlimited rights to fly the bird for the next 10 months. After that, Emirates is the next customer. I suppose we’ll see a few on the SE Asia – USA routes that Singapore has license to, but the budget get-me-to-asia-as-cheap-as-possible traveler like myself will have to be patient.

As to the performance future of the A380, analysts still vacillate. Most still predict that the market calls for medium-long range super-efficient jets that will cut costs all around, something that the 787 is still crushing the competition at. I personally look forward to flying both jets, but have a feeling that in the end I’ll be spending more time on the 787.

Airport information: Making the best of a long layover

by Neil Woodburn on

Stuck at the airport?

Go find yourself an internet café at the terminal and pop on over to Expedia where you can read Harriet Baskas’ column, Stuck at the Airport.

The pull down menu on the homepage lists 65 airports across the world. Each link dishes out a bevy of information about the airport starting off with a short history (boring!) and then jumping on to the more important facts such as maps, local transportation information, location of internet kiosks, listings of which carriers serve which terminals, food (including “Best of” suggestions), business centers, bars, and shopping.

Baska also has some pretty cool ideas for those really long layovers. Her coverage of LAX, for example, offers the suggestion of taking a free shuttle to the nearby Crown Plaza Hotel. There is a 24-Hour Fitness located next door and for just $10 you can work out and then take a shower before returning to the airport.

Pretty cool. If I was a regular business traveler, I’d download this information to my PDA and carry it with me at all times just in case I get slapped with that dreaded, long layover.

Airline safety survey kiboshed by NASA

by Grant Martin on

NASA appears to be sandbagging on reporting the results of a survey they conducted a few years back on airline safety. Their data, which is taken from phone interviews across 24,000 pilots, apparently suggest that the number of “incidents” in airline travel are significantly higher than reported by the FAA.

Asked to reveal the data to the AP, NASA politely declined, stating that revealing the findings could damage the public’s confidence in airlines and affect airline profits.

Since when does safety take a back seat to airline profits? Does anyone else see the airline lobby at work here?

I’m well past the conspiracy theory and into the complacent stage in my life where this sort of stuff doesn’t bother me anymore. Perhaps its because I’m still confident in the general safety record of the industry. As the MSNBC article concedes, there is only 1 fatality in about 4.5 million departures. I suppose I can take my chances for now.