Detroit airport hotel exceeds expectations

by Neil Woodburn on

Airports generally suck.

And that’s why I found myself overwhelmingly surprised last week when I traveled to Detroit for a quick meeting and thoroughly enjoyed myself without actually leaving the airport.

I flew in the night before and booked a room at the Westin Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The hotel is actually located in the McNamara Terminal just across from Gate A36 and next to McDonald’s. Guests walk through a simple doorway and suddenly leave behind the garishly lit terminal and that annoying, angst-ridden atmosphere found in most every airport. In just a few steps I found myself in the middle of a gorgeous, high-ceilinged lobby with fountains, pleasant music, and all the amenities of a high-end hotel. It was like traveling through some type of portal to a world of comfort completely opposite of anything normally found within an airport.

But wait, it gets better. The rooms are great (Heavenly Beds), the bar is relaxing and the restaurant is tasty, albeit expensive. I can confidently say it was the best food I’ve ever had in an airport.

In addition, when leaving the next day, I was able to get my boarding ticket from a kiosk in the lobby and then pass through Westin’s own, private security line back into the airport. If I really wanted to push it, I could have climbed out of my bed ten minutes before my flight started boarding and still made it in time.

Man, I wish all airports had such facilities. Hats off to Westin for really nailing it (although they really need to do something about the cost of those $15 hamburgers).

Near-collision videos show need for updated airport safety technology

by Catherine Bodry on

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released dramatic animation of two runway near-collisions, in order to promote the need for improvements in runway safety. The re-creation was based on radar and flight data recorder information from the planes involved.

The video includes audio from an air traffic controller yelling “stop! stop! stop!” to a United plane as it begins to taxi onto a runway where a Delta flight is landing. The planes came within 230 feet of each other. In another situation, one plane lands while another is taking off on a perpendicular runway. The leaving flight is able to lift off early while the landing flight hit the breaks and stops in the middle of the runway. The planes avoided a collision by as little as 30 feet.

The animations were presented at the annual NTSB board meeting, where the agency reviews its most transportation safety concerns.

Read the full article and watch the video on CNN.com.

Dubai Air Show set to soar in the Emirate

by Abha Malpani on

It is easy to be oblivious to events happening in Dubai, simply because of the number of them happening throughout the year. Most of them are hyped in the media to give you nausea (e.g.GITEX), or they are events that you go to just to be seen (e.g.Dubai World Cup).

One exception is the Dubai Air Show. This year, it will be held from November 11-15 and will host: 850 exhibitors from over 50 countries;140 aircrafts on display across 117 indoor and outdoor pavilions, and a mind-blowing display of fighter planes zooming across the sky, making the event a dream come true for anyone remotely interested in the aviation industry.

Unless you are in the corporate sector, it’s actually quite hard to get hold of passes for the show — they are normally sold out in advance. This year (the 10th), the biannual show will run for the last time at the Airport Expo, and Diana Ross has been invited to perform at the gala dinner. However, unlike other events, unfortunately there is no raffle to win a plane yet (it’s normally easier with computers and cars), but I will not be surprised if they introduce that in the years to come.

In 2009, the air show will move to grounds of Dubai World Central — the US$33 billion, 14-square kilometer aviation hub currently under construction. When that happens, Dubai will yet again add another few superlative tags to its list as then it will be the world’s largest air show, and the aviation hub will be the world’s largest international airport.

[Via Gulf News]

Save a couple of bucks and fly on the holiday

by Grant Martin on

Flying around Thanksgiving and Christmas is typically the most stressful time of the year to be in the skies, both because of the volume of people in the airports and the egregious ticket prices. Since demand is so high to travel over the days preceding and following the holiday, airlines can get away with robbery.

But loads (and demands) are less strenuous during the holidays themselves; people want to be home with their families over the duration and not stuck in some snowstorm in Chicago. So if you’re really tight on cash but want to get home at least for the day to see mom and dad, try flying the day OF Christmas or Thanksgiving instead of the day before.

Perfect example: I want to fly from O’hare to DC to see my estranged Uncle Barish and drop off his fruit cake. Flying from the 21st (Friday) to the 26th will cost 200$. But if I fly from the 24th to the 25th its 150$.

I know, flying for such a short duration is tough. But if you’re a broke college student (or need an excuse to get back to your friends at home), you can always save a couple of bucks this way.

Angry passengers revolt at St. Petersburg airport

by Grant Martin on

Talk about overreacting to a flight delay. Passengers on an S7 flight between Frankfurt and Moscow that was diverted to St. Petersburg threw a fit when they found out their flight was further delayed and revolted. After they blockaded another flight from boarding in protest, “a boy in glasses who had been hired three months earlier” from S7 was dispatched to disperse them. He was promptly clobbered.

The Moscow Times article goes on to include some incredulous commentary, as well as some off-the-cuff remarks from the article’s source. Give it a read, close your eyes and try to picture the entire debacle.

I’ve been through Pulkovo a few times in the last few weeks and will admit, it does kind of suck. Nobody speaks English (much less German) and it can be really frustrating to get anything done. Come to think of it, I have distinct memories of being very angry in that airport, although in my defense I had a broken arm and was heavily medicated at the time. I wonder how I would have reacted in that situation.