How much are those Heathrow landing slots worth?

by Grant Martin on

Now that Open Skies is in full effect, carriers left and right are scrambling to take advantage of all of the sweet landing slots in the EU’s congested airports.

Case in point, London‘s Heathrow Airport. Most travelers flying into the United Kingdom prefer landing at Heathrow because of better connections and proximity to London via the Tube. But landing slots at LHR are all full, so whenever one opens up, competition is hot to fill it in. Similarly, carriers want to hold on to their high-value slots to make sure that any competition doesn’t come in and snatch up some capacity.

So what do you do when you can’t book enough passengers to justify flying in and out of your slot? This case might show up if, say hypothetically, you’ve been cutting capacity like crazy to save cash and demand is low because travel is so expensive. Sound like any economy you know?

In that case, what do you do with your landing slot? Well, according to BMI, or British Midland Airways, you keep flying. Without passengers.

British Airways did the same thing earlier this year to try to preserve landing slots and we figured that the subsequent disgust with their MO combined with the price of fuel would be a deterrent for other carriers to do the same thing. But I guess those slots are just too valuable.

Why not at least auction off the empty seats on the aircraft? I know that you have to pay flight attendants if you have passengers onboard, but I feel like you can make enough to pay a few employees and offset the price of jet fuel a bit. But I guess that would make too much sense.

Plane Clean Air Filter

by Justin Glow on

Here’s a nifty little device — the Plane Clean Air Filter from pb Travel. The blue device — priced at $19.99 — attaches to the air nozzle on most planes, and is capable of “removing viruses, bacteria and other particulate matter from an air stream.” Could this be redundant? Perhaps.

According to ABC News, stale, recycled air isn’t the cause of most airborne sicknesses. In fact, they claim that “most larger planes now have special systems that filter out germs and let some outside air in.” So what is the most common cause of sickness among regular fliers? Your fellow travelers, actually. “The closer the passengers are to you the worse it is for you if they have some sort of illness like a simple cold,” Dr. Philip M. Tierno, Jr. of New York University Medical Center told ABC news.

To stay healthy, wash your hands often with an antibacterial sanitizer, avoid using the seat-back tray table, and stay hydrated. I’m sure having a Plane Clean Air Filter wouldn’t hurt either, even if it is for piece-of-mind alone. [via]

Ringtones Right From the Cockpit

by Jonathon Morgan on

Do you dream of piloting an aircraft? Now you can be one step closer to the cockpit — with your phone!

Seriously, this guy is selling ringtones created from real cockpit noises. “The tones I have created are actual aural warning alerts heard in the cockpits that I have access to in my line of work. They are rarely if ever heard in public. I have cleaned up the sounds where I can and they really sound great on your typical cell phone. When used as ringtones these alerts WILL definitely get your attention and of those around you.”

Yes, they “WILL,” because they’re some of the most obnoxious sounds on the planet. I’m sure they’re designed that way for a reason, and — while flying a plane — are very useful. But be warned: by choosing to put these on your phone you are willingly and deliberately alienate anyone within earshot.

That being said, if you really want to be alerted to phone calls by actual airplane noises, head over to the website where you can sample the sounds of “WHOOP WHOOP PULL UP” (what you’d hear just before impact), “Boeing 757/767 Master Caution,” “BINGO-BINGO” (the low fuel warning from an F-16) and many, many more.

At the very least, as noted on the site, “they are sure to garner attention.”

[via Neatorama]

How To Stop A Hijacker

by Jonathon Morgan on

Shortly after an Air Mauritania flight took off on Thursday evening, it was hijacked by a gunman. But thanks to a rough landing, forewarned passengers were able douse the hijacker in boiling water, tackle, and restrain him.

The turning point came when the pilot realized the gunman, Mohamed Abderraman, didn’t speak French. Using the plane’s public address system, the pilot then alerted the passengers — in French — to his plan to take the plane down hard. After warning women and children to move to the back of the plane, the pilot broke abruptly upon landing, then quickly sped up — throwing Abderraman off-balance, and giving the passengers the chance they’d been waiting for.

Abderraman wasn’t a terrorist, but instead wanted the plane to fly to France so he could request political asylum. Upon arriving at Gando airport outside Las Palmas — the plane’s original destination — he was arrested by Spanish police.

That’s one quick-thinking pilot, and a plane full of heroic passengers.

Pee Before You Board Your Plane

by Adrienne Wilson on

Tonight I’ll follow in Iva’s foot steps by providing you with news on bowel movements in the world of travel. In case you were still wiping the coal from your eyes when you read that a woman and her flatulence grounded an American Airlines flight headed into Dallas I suggest you go back and re-read the post here. It’s true. It wasn’t that she had uncontrollable gas; it was her trying to cover the malicious odor up by lighting matches. Now what ever gave her the brilliant idea to light matches on planes?

Okay, so now that I’ve got your mind on odors, flatulence and other bodily functions lets talk about peeing on planes. You must be wondering by now what troubles peeing on planes can cause airlines? According to Jaunted, China Southern Airlines is encouraging passengers to take a leak before boarding their flights. Why? Apparently somebody out there had enough time to calculate how much energy is used when you flush and that equals as much as a car driving about six miles. And of course all that flushing is causing tons of energy and money to be wasted when you could have gone before your flight. My question is who thinks of this stuff? Every time I head into a lavatory now I’m going to picture a car driving down a six-mile stretch of some desert like road with yellowish and orange hues of color. Great!