Spirit Airlines: Workin with the commies

by Grant Martin on

Remember that trade embargo that the US has against all of Cuba? The one that forces you to drive to Tijuana to pick up Cuban cigars and the one that prevents you and your family from stopping in Havana on your annual cruise? Yep, that embargo.

We as Americans have been forbidden from trading with the Socialist nation for over forty years now, as our good buddy Fidel Castro kept the country under lockdown and its population in poverty. Our “sanctions,” which have recently come under increased scrutiny, are meant to punish the totalitarian government and encourage democracy in the island nation. How well that’s working is another debate.

But our trade embargo sure isn’t stopping Spirit Airlines from doing business with the Cubans. They’ve been paying the government regularly to use Cuban airspace on their flights over the Carribbean — something that spokeswoman Misty Pinson claims was not premeditated, saying: “Spirit Airlines never had the intention of violating any requirements or laws to carry out its international operations.”

How does your morality buzzer NOT go off when you’re writing checks to Cuba? Aren’t all business transactions with the communist state illegal?

Needless to say, the embattled airline is now coughing up 100G’s in fines for illegal payments to the Cubans. Better to fly around next time.

Photo of the Day (22.04.2008)

by Martha Edwards on

As far as photography subjects go, sunsets and sunrises are about as original as young celebrity starlets ‘accidentally’ showing off their ladyparts in public. In other words? It’s been done before.

But every now and then, you come across a sunset photo like this one from Tarik B that kind of takes your breath away for a moment. It’s just that good, you know? I love everything about this photo, from the surfers in the foreground to the divine-looking orange rays jutting out from the fluffy clouds. Truly awesome work.

Got a photo you think is just as fantastic? Submit it to the Gadling Flickr pool.

Cockpit Chronicles: A three-legged turn

by Kent Wien on

I raced to the phone to check the caller ID. It was crew scheduling. Of course I had to answer. As much as I hoped I wouldn’t be called for an Easter trip, I knew it was likely to happen–It’s part of the job when you’re on reserve.

Camille had two trips to offer me, one of which I had to take. The first was a San Francisco two-day trip. It had an early departure from Boston, arriving at SFO before noon. Then after 10 hours of rest during the daytime, the flight would leave at around 10 p.m. and arrive back in Boston at 6 a.m. I felt like a vegetarian listening to the waitress read off the prime rib specials.

“No thanks!” I interrupted. As much as I like San Francisco, I wasn’t interested in a short layover that required you to sleep during the day before flying an all-nighter back home. Not to mention that the layover hotel was at the airport.

The other trip was the usual Caribbean turn, this time to St. Thomas. But instead of simply one leg down and one leg back, they had us going from St. Thomas to San Juan, Puerto Rico before heading home. Apparently, due to some very strong winds and high seas, a fuel tanker couldn’t dock at a number of Caribbean Islands to supply them with fuel. So we would need to continue on to San Juan to make a quick fuel stop.

The 757 can hold 74,500 pounds of fuel — enough to make it there and back — but we wouldn’t have been able to take all the passengers with us if we filled up with round-trip fuel. So the San Juan fuel stop was arranged for all the flights from Boston and New York to the islands that weekend.

I was the relief pilot alongside Captain Mike and FO (first officer or co-pilot) Mark. I was happy to fly with another set of people I enjoyed. A few of the flight attendants were some of my favorites as well–Roz and Rita specifically.
Before going to work, I managed to spend a half hour taking pictures of my two girls (ages 6 and 2) while they were busy finding Easter eggs all over the house. I think they discovered about thirty plastic eggs before I had to head out the door for my quick trip to the sun and back. I was thrilled to at least get to do a little egg hunting with them, though.

After meeting up in operations, I went off to do the exterior preflight inspection–looking over the general condition of the airplane, checking the tire pressures and brake wear indicators and a few other essential items. FO Mark set up the inside by programming the FMS and testing the fire warning horns. Captain Mike printed out the flight plan and picked up some coffee for everyone. He’s that kind of guy.

Since I was just along for the ride when we took off from Boston, I managed to take a few nice shots of the city.

We each had a one-hour break going down to St. Thomas. I managed to rest a bit, but like most people, I’m never really able to completely sleep in the back of an airplane.

The arrival into St. Thomas went smoothly, as did the entire flight. After landing, I sat in the cockpit and marveled at all the different airlines that fly to St. Thomas. So I snapped a few pictures of Delta’s freshly painted 757 and a USAirways 767. A Gulfstream II taxied in and pulled up to the terminal. There were so many corporate jets all over the airport that I didn’t bother taking a picture of the G-II.

A United pilot asked the tower, “who’s the big-wig in the Gulfstream?”

A kind of unusual question, I thought. He must be able to see something from his end of the terminal as they were getting off.

“Can’t tell you.” Said the controller.

Then another pilot jumped in and said, “Obama.”

I figured it was just a joke, maybe a response to the fact that everywhere you turn lately, you’re seeing the presidential candidates stumping for votes. But I found out today that it was, in fact, Barack Obama in the Gulfstream. A strategic vacation during this lull we’re in for a few weeks before the primaries pick up again, I would think. I wouldn’t be surprised if he swings into Puerto Rico to campaign a bit on the way home.

Of course the only airplane I didn’t get a picture of was that Gulfstream.

Note the new versus old Delta color schemes:


Since we had three flights that day, I kindly persuaded Captain Mike to give me the leg to San Juan.

Which led to this:

Actually it was Mike’s idea that I fly to San Juan. He didn’t have to twist my arm for me to say yes, and luckily I didn’t really have to grab him by his tie. A short hop that was flight planned for 27 minutes, where you hardly have to turn on the autopilot is by far the most fun you can have in an airliner.

The flight to San Juan ended up taking 25 minutes and we never climbed higher than 10,000 feet. If it weren’t so cloudy, we would’ve had an amazing view of Puerto Rico.

Because of the added fuel stop, we were running almost an hour late. We had a few passengers that were trying to connect to the London flight out of Boston, so we did our best to call the company and plead for them to hold the flight. The evening London flight has an arrival slot time that needs to be met, so they were very reluctant to hold the flight. We managed to land ten minutes before the London flight left, and I assume the passengers made it to the London flight three gates away. I sure hope so. The flight attendants let them know that they might not arrive in London with their bags because of the tight connection. They were still willing to give it a try.

I’ll be on reserve for April. The chances are slim that they’ll use me again before my days off start this weekend. So until next month…

Cockpit Chronicles takes you along on each of Kent’s trips as a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 out of Boston.

The three-day Caribbean vacation

by Neil Woodburn on

Most people wouldn’t consider the Caribbean for a three-day weekend, but surprisingly, it’s entirely possible–providing, of course, you can get there on a nonstop flight.

Nonstop Caribbean: Fly Right to the Beach, is a great Budget Travel article which, you guessed it, highlights those sunny tropical destinations that can be reached on a short(ish) flight from either Canada or the U.S. that doesn’t involve a grueling, vacation-ruining stop-over in someplace like Florida.

The article lists those Caribbean destinations which meet the criteria and then succinctly sums up the “must-do’s” and “places to stay.”

With winter in full force in North America, it’s very tempting to pick a nice, warm island, call in sick on Friday and disappear for three days. My only problem is that I live on the West coast where nonstop flights to the Caribbean do exist, they’re just too long for a three day weekend.

Now Mexico, on the other hand….

The less traveled part of the Caribbean

by Neil Woodburn on

There’s so much to love about the Caribbean, and so much to hate.

The “hate” category exists because the Caribbean we have all come to love is now loved by too many; there are too many hotels, too many tourists, and too much development.

But there are exceptions.

Thankfully, the fine folks over at Condé Nast Traveler have compiled a fantastic guide to the less touristy places along the Caribbean side of Central America that “are still under the radar” — such as Corn Island in the photo above. This also includes the coasts of Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.

No, you won’t find the swank, sophistication, and luxury yachts that populate the rest of the Caribbean, but you will find the peace and solace that comes with small coastal villages, empty beaches, and modest accommodations.

This is the true Caribbean, the way it used to be. Visit now before it becomes just another Cancun.