Check out this amazing timelapse video made by United Airlines. It shows the retrofitting of their first class cabin from their old seats to their new lie-flat sleeper seats.
Of course, United Airlines is years behind on most other International airlines of the world, but it is still good to see them update their cabin and use thew power of Youtube to show the process.
It is just a shame they had to use the same music for the clip that they have used since 1976 for virtually every single commercial (and even the boarding music). Yes, it’s a fantastic piece of music, but surely the time has come for something as refreshing as their new seats?
Twenty years ago today, on June 4, 1989, Chinese army troops stormed Tiananmen Square in Beijing to crush the pro-democracy movement. Hundreds – possibly thousands – of people died. This video of Tank Man remains one of history’s most iconic moments.
…and today we have a good collection of Gadlinks. Check these out:
Summer is here! I know we all want to trim our waistlines, but at least once this season you can binge a little, right? On RC Cola, clams, garlic, pierogi, or lobster, perhaps? BootsnAll offers a great list of summer food festivals to indulge ourselves in.
Welcome to Gadlinks! This is the inaugural post of what will be Gadling’s daily trip around the travel blogosphere. Aaron and I will be bringing you the newest and coolest travel news, updates, anecdotes, and insights from the world wide web. Just think of us as your very own travel link forum. You can count on us every weekday evening. Who needs the morning paper when you have Gadlinks?
Hooray for Hump Day! There’s plenty to be thankful for when it comes to our midweek travel news.
V Australia is now teaming up with Virgin America to offer seamless cross-Pacific travel. As if Virgin wasn’t cool enough for introducing bringing the hip RED entertainment system as well as fleet-wide WiFi to the skies.
Times are tough for travel. That’s why Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced yesterday that entrance fees at 147 national parks and monuments will be waived for three weekends this summer. The weekends are June 20-21, July 18-19 and August 15-16. Free? Really? You’ll know where to find me.
Just like Cliff Muskiet, the uniform freak, I have a thing for airline uniforms. I think most flight attendants do. In fact, inside my guestroom closet hangs three different uniform styles from two different airlines. I’ve saved it all – the pants, the skirts, the dresses, the jackets, the vests, the blouses, the wings, and even the blue tie I snapped around my neck and the epaulets I wore on both shoulders with the pleated Bermuda shorts and high heels at Sun Jet International Airlines. Talk about embarrassing. I still own everything except for the silky red and blue scarf I wore thirteen years ago when I first got hired to fly for the airline I currently work for. Oh how I wish I still had that scarf. I wore it off to the side, tied in a knot around my neck. That simple scarf made the conservative navy blue polyester uniform appear sexy and feminine.
“I loved that navy blue coat dress we wore years ago,” said Cady, an ex flight attendant who is also my very best friend.
Personally, I prefer the look of the white starched blouse paired with the navy blue knee length skirt and fitted blazer, even though I always end up wearing the uniform dress. As a commuter, I have to pack what’s easy.
Now my all time favorite airline uniform is worn by the flight attendants of Air France. Though they look great, I’m not quite sure how I would actually feel about serving drinks while wearing the big red bow at 35,000 feet. Delta looks fantastic in navy blue with just a hint of red. However the white bell sleeves, while stylish, seem like they could easily get dirty. That could be a problem for me. I’m a bit of a mess when I get stuck working in the galley, and a dirty uniform is an ugly uniform. Emirates‘ uniform is pretty nice – that is if you look good in Khaki and don’t mind wearing a head scarf. The worst airline uniform has to be First Choice Airways. I mean seriously, pink?
As I began writing this post, I wondered what others thought about all the different airline uniforms, so I posed the question, which airlines have the best uniforms, on twitter.com and here’s what a few people had to say…
Flyingphotog: ” I think Virgin Atlantic’s uniforms are awesome. They’ll make you turn your head. Well… at least if you’re a guy they will. US Airways f/a uniforms are super-boring.
Paulrobichaux: “I really like Delta’s red-dress uniform. very classy looking.”
HeatherMark: “I love Delta’s red wrap dress. The fabric doesn’t look breathable, tho. Those Virgin girls always look fabu, too.
Wkali13: “I’m partial to Delta’s uniforms. They always look so professional.”
CBI28: “best uniform: Air France-I love that dress with the red bow. Worst-First Choice in Britain, a.k.a. the pink flamingos”
Mathew: “Best – Quantas long haul. Worst is Virgin Atlantic & United Airlines
Brajit: “AAs uniforms are dowdy. Skybus uniforms were AWFUL! “
AKnickerson: “Worst? Don’t know. But best: Korean Air. They are gorgeous! Very chic!”
Clipperkid747: “I like Lufthansa uniforms. They do look classy.
Tlonyc: “Got to like the laid back look of Southwest, but not as much as Delta. United and US Airways at the bottom.”
Stgabriel08: “if you are including foreign airlines, thumbs up to Emirates and Thai Air, thumbs down to Singapore Air”
Tyflyguy: “my vote for worst uniform HAS to be Southwest.”
FlightattdntJen: “oh God!The old Air Canada green ones: HIDEOUS! Affectionately named by passengers as the “vagina dress” Yay for new ones!”
Okay, for the record, I have never heard of the vagina dress, but now I must see it, so I emailed Jen and asked her to send me a photo. She said she would.
So why all this talk about flight attendant uniforms? Because Olympic Airlines’ flight attendants and pilots are getting new uniforms and you can help choose the final design. You’ve got until June 7th to vote, so click here to go to the website and pick your favorite uniform design. A few voters will even be chosen to win airplane tickets to destinations in Greece and abroad! Warning: the website is not in English. But good luck anyway!
For those of you still with me, I hope you enjoy this youtube video featuring airline uniforms of yesterday and today…
Photo courtesy of (two flight attendants) Dmytrok, (flight attendant in red) Sagado Corazon
Last night on The Tonight Show, Jay Leno’s musical guest was James Taylor. Before Taylor played, Leno told the story about why he picked Taylor to do the honors of Leno’s last show farewell. He said that as he was moving to California to give himself a shot at big time show business, he played James Taylor’s song, “Sweet Baby James.” The line “With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go” seemed apropos. [song after the jump]
Leno’s nostalgic look at a song significant to his life as he traveled from his past to his future by traveling to a new place, reminded me of my own traveling from my past to my future song.
When a friend and I traveled across the U.S. for three months–mostly by bus, after our two-years in the Peace Corps the song “America” by Simon and Garfunkel captured our emotional state the most. I remember looking out the bus window watching the scenery roll by while listening to that song with a shared Walkman and two pairs of headphones.
Neither of us had any idea what was ahead for us, but we were looking. Three months of interacting with the physical America helped with our direction. I ended up in Albuquerque, New Mexico and she headed to Washington, D.C. Since then, we’ve both traveled elsewhere.
Of all the experiences I’ve had in life, nothing was more strong than that move back to the U.S. from The Gambia, looking for a place to land where I would feel comfortable and thrive. Simon and Garfunkel were fitting companions on that journey.
By the looks of the hug James Taylor gave Jay Leno after he sang, Taylor’s song helped Leno find his way.
Have any songs helped you find your way as you’ve traveled to a new destination? Metaphorically or physically, it’s all part of the the traveler’s path. For more songs that have inspired us at Gadling, here’s our series Sounds of Travel. One of Annie’s songs was “America” as well.
And, here’s James Taylor singing “Sweet Baby James” in 1970. He’s traveled a bit himself since then.