An airport’s worst waiting area: The Penalty Box

by Grant Martin on

Ever been looking out the window of your taxiing airplane as you pull up to the runway? The captain announces that you’re X in the queue for landing, asks the flight attendants to prepare for departure and you slowly creep your way up to the runway. But just as you’re about to make it to the top, the plane takes a hard turn away, makes a few quick maneuvers and comes to a dead stop perpendicular to the runway where you, the lonely passenger, get to watch all of the planes depart out of your side window.

That, my friends, is what we frequent flyers call the Penalty Box. In about ten seconds the captain is going to come over the intercom and say something to the effect of “Well, we just got a call from New York air traffic control and they’ve put us on a ground stop because of congestion in the area. We’re monitoring the situation and we’ll give you an update in ninety minutes.”

It’s like when you’re in line for Space Mountain at Disneyworld, you’ve been waiting for 7 hours, are almost up to the front of the queue, come around the last bend and see another room full of people looking disgustedly back at you.

My only solution for this problem? Go to sleep before you push back from the gate. If ever you wake up during the wait in the box you have no idea how long you’ve been there and just assume that it hasn’t been too long. There’s nothing worse than being awake, bored and idle in an airplane with a whole flight to look forward to.

Going to Europe? New Non-Stop Trans-Atlantic Flights for 2008

by Anna Brones on

Jerry Guo recently wrote about Europe being the comeback kid, and even though that pesky Euro-to-Dollar ratio is not in our favor, 2008 is definitely the year to make your way across the Atlantic. It’s most likely thanks to Open Skies Agreement or maybe even Europeans looking for a bountiful shopping weekend, but even us American travelers can take advantage of all the new direct trans-Atlantic flights.

A little sampling of what airlines are offering the newest non-stop routes to those anxious to make their way to the continent of lower work hours, good wine and charming culture in 2008:

Northwest Airlines/KLM Royal Dutch Airlines: For travelers living in the Pacific Northwest the partner airlines will be opening a new non-stop route between Seattle and London Heathrow starting June 1, 2008. If you are a World Perks member, traveling between June 1 and July 31, 2008 will score you an additional 15,000 bonus miles.

Air France: LAX to London Heathrow starting March 30, 2008. Travel between March 30th and May 24th and you could find yourself with a one-way fare as low as $243 (before airport taxes). They’re even throwing in a complimentary glass of champagne.

US Airways: Summer route from Philadelphia to Stockholm. The thrills of Scandinavia are a non-stop flight away between May 18 and September 26, 2008.

Delta: Salt Lake City to Paris starting June 2, 2008 providing a non-stop between the American capital of skiing and hiking and the European capital of bistros and the Eiffel Tower.

Singapore Airlines: Houston to Moscow and onto Singapore starting March 20, 2008. If Russian Roulette isn’t your forte, continue on for some quality gambling in the Southeast Asian metropolis.

For more options, check out the following article at Executive Travel.

Afraid of flying? Don’t read this story

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Two Cessnas collided in mid-air Sunday afternoon near Los Angeles, killing a total of five people. Both planes carried two passengers each, and another man was killed by the falling wreckage in a car dealership below. One onlooker described the horrific scene:

“There were bodies falling out of the sky,” eyewitness Hector Hernandez told KCBS-TV. “One of them crashed into the top of a Ford Mustang, and another one fell not too far behind that one on the parking lot.”

The area where the crash occurred, about 45 miles southeast of LA, is not controlled by a flight control tower. According to the New York Times, pilots are supposed to use visual flight rules during the daytime to avoid other aircraft when flying in such an “uncontrolled” area.

This story reminds me of one of Dennis Miller’s observations about flying: “They say you’re more likely to be involved in a crash during the car ride to the airport than you are during the flight itself. I guess that’s true. But how often, after two planes collide, are the pilots able to get out and exchange insurance information?”

Sadly, not this time.

Europe’s worst airports

by Jerry Guo on

Last week, I wrote about the worst airports in the states, at least when it came to delays. It’s probably no surprise that not a single US airport made it into the top 10 rankings for best airports in the world, according to the air travel consulting firm Skytrax. But Euro-lovers, don’t think your neighborhood, sprawling mess of an airport has escaped my attention (or that of the New York Times.)

They’ve given the honor of worst European airport hands-down to London’s Heathrow, with dishonorable mentions to Charles de Gaulle outside Paris, Leonardo da Vinci near Rome, and Frankfurt airport.

The irony here is that for Americans, these four airports can seem like walking in the park–on ecstasy. I, for one, would never have thought Heathrow or Frankfurt were particularly bad boys. Granted, I only had 20 minutes at Heathrow to go from an arriving flight from Beijing to a departing flight to New York. And it took me exactly 20 minutes at a full sprint to catch my flight. The airport is notorious for being one of those sprawling messes that take 20 minutes to get anywhere. But Frankfurt was pretty clean and well designed, I thought. Of course, the whole time I was consumed by rumors of a adult movie theater on the premises.

Anyone know if that exists?

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.