Air Canada is Set to Ban Pets in the Cabin

by Martha Edwards on

Air Canada is set to become the first Canadian airline to ban pets from riding in the cabin of its aircrafts. This news comes after one passenger had a severe allergic reaction to the the presence of a cat in a seat near her. Unfortunately, because the air on flights is recycled, allergic reactions often won’t go away simply by moving the pet to another seat away from the allergy sufferer.

Meanwhile, Air Canada‘s competitors, particularly Westjet, are taking advantage of the ban by attempting to woo pet lovers.

I’m an animal lover but I kind of agree with Air Canada — it’s not fair for allergy sufferers to bring your pets in the cabin. It’s also not really fair to make animals suffer in the belly of the plane, but I think pets suffer from any journey, no matter where they are on the plane. Here’s my solution: leave Fido at home or drive.

Hilarious Hand-Written Airline Complaint

by Justin Glow on

According to Snopes, this is an actual, hand-written complaint from a customer flying on Continental Airlines flight 888 either to or from Houston, TX. I’ve transcribed the handwriting below as best as I could, though the end is still a bit confusing. Even so, this is hilarious. Whoever wrote this was obviously bored and quite annoyed, as they took the time to hand write the complaint as the events took place — complete with a few drawings to better illustrate the situation.

Dear Continental Airlines,

I am disgusted as I write this note to you about the miserable experience I am having sitting in the seat 29E on one of your aircrafts. As you may know, this seat is situated directly across from the lavatory, so close that I can reach out my left arm and touch the door.

All my senses are being tortured simultaneously. It’s difficult to say what the worst part about sitting in 29E really is? Is it the stench of the sanitation flued that is blown all over my body every 60 seconds when the door opens? Is it the woosh of the constant flushing? Or is it the passengers asses that seem to to fit into my personal space like a pornographic jig-saw puzzle?

I constructed a stink-shield by shoving one end of a blanket into the overhead compartment — while effective in blocking at least some of the smell, and offering a small bit of privacy, the ass-on-my-body factor has increased, as without my evil glare, passengers feel free to lean up against what they think is some sort of blanketed wall. The next ass that touches my shoulder will be the last!

Putting a seat here was a very bad idea. I just heard a man groan in there! This sucks! Worse yet, is I’ve paid over $400 for the honor of sitting in this seat!

I am picturing a board room full of executives giving props to the young promising engineer that figured out how to squeeze an additional row of seats onto this plane by putting them next to the LAV.

I would like to flush his head in the toilet that I am close enough to touch, and taste, from my seat.

Does your company give refunds? I’d like to go back where I cam from and start over. Seat 29E could only be worse if it was located inside the bathroom.

I wonder if my clothing will retain the sanitizing odor…what about my hair!

I feel like I’m bathing in a toilet bowl of blue liquid, and there is no man in a little boat to save me. I am filled with a deep hatred for your plane designer and a general dis-ease that may last for hours.

We are finally decending, and soon I will be able to tear down the stink shelf, but the scars will remain.

I suggest that you initiate immediate removal of this seat from all of your crafts. Just move it, and leave the smoldreing brown hole empty, and [something] a good place for sturdy/non-absorbing luggage maybe, but not human cargo.” (thanks, Corporat)

via digg

Globalism and the Microcosm of an Airplane

by Neil Woodburn on

It’s not so often that I find travel authors penning a piece for Opinion section of newspapers, and yet, there was Pico Iyer’s name on an article in the LA Times Opinion section titled Globalism at 35,000 feet.

Pico takes a stab at one of life’s greatest mysteries: why would anyone pay $1,500 an hour to sit in a comfortable seat and be fed average food. And yet, this is what is done by those flying in First Class. Pico attacks this bizarre mindset of how all laws of common sense are suddenly tossed out the window when one takes to the air. The prices charged to separate from the masses are ridiculous and would never be considered when one’s feet are firmly planted on the ground. Or would they?

What happens in the air, is also what happens on the ground, Pico points out. An airplane is simply a microcosm of life with the middle class riding in Business and the Upper Class riding in First. That leaves the rest of us stuck in Coach. In fact, Pico likens First Class to a gated community “in which people from other classes are not even allowed to visit their restrooms.” Coach is the slums and shantytowns of the airplane where the huddled masses (and huddled they are) mire in their cramped surroundings and bad food (if they get any at all).

He takes the analogy a step further by pointing out that national carriers from the countries on this planet with the highest quality of life standards (Singapore, Australia, New Zealand), treat their Coach customers with far better service and amenities, thereby narrowing the divide between the classes and injecting some civility and self-respect back into the trodden masses.

Pico’s article is short, but he nails a wonderful idea here that can be carried on much further. The fresh baked cookies a friend in First Class walked back to me in Coach one time, is nothing more than a G8 Nation shipping aid to a third world country–in this case, me!

Photos: First 787 Has Left The Building

by Justin Glow on

A sharpshooter over at Airliners.net got some spy shots of the new Boeing 787 as it made its first appearance outside of the hanger. I don’t know enough about airplanes to say this looks much different than, say, a 777, but I’m sure some of you out there will be interested! I know The Cranky Flier was, which is where I found the lead. “It almost looks like the love-child of a 777 and a 757,” he said. Whatever you say, CF. Thanks!

Click here to check them out!

Pilotless Commerical Airlines on the Way?

by Neil Woodburn on

“This is your captain speaking. You are currently flying at 30,000 feet. I, on the other hand, am at ground level enjoying a beer at my favorite bar.”

The thought of pilotless commercial airlines might be a bit tough to swallow, but according to a recent article by Tyler Brûlé, this is the future we have to look forward to.

Of course, planes such as the Predator are already flying without pilots; pimply faced kids in Nevada trailers are joysticking them all over Iraq and Afghanistan for the army.

Commercial use, however, still has a few hurdles to jump over. How does a “cockpit-free” airline, for example, deal with the PA announcements while in flight, speculates Brûlé. Will it be a recorded message that will freak out the passengers as though HAL himself is flying the plane? Or will it be a trailer full of Nevada phone sex workers softly cooing into the PA system to buckle up while safely on the ground.

Personally, I think they should pump in sound bites from the old Airplane movies. That, would make flying far more enjoyable in my book!