The Cranky Flier

Browsing Posts published in February, 2007

Last Chance to Help Cranky Win a Travvy

February 28, 2007 CF No comments

This is the last day of voting for the Travvy awards, so please head on over to Upgrade:Travel Better to cast your vote if you haven’t done so already.

Voting ends at 6p Central Standard Time today, February 28. For the time-zonally challenged, let me spell that out for you. You can vote until the following times in the following areas:

Kalaupapa, Molokai – 2p
Prudhoe Bay, Alaska – 3p
Barstow, California – 4p
Paradise Valley, Arizona – 5p
Elk Grove Village, Illinois – 6p
Fishers, Indiana – 7p
Boston, England – midnight
Ljubljana, Slovenia – 1a (March 1)
Lusaka, Zambia – 2a (March 1)
Baghdad, Iraq – 3a (March 1)
Kabul, Afghanistan – 430a (March 1)
Beijing, China – 8a (March 1)
Uluru, Australia – 930a (March 1)
Auckland, New Zealand – 1p (March 1)

Remember, click HERE to vote. This is your last chance . . . .

Travvies none

A380 Coming to LAX

February 28, 2007 CF 2 comments

I know where I’ll be on March 19. Airbus has buckled under the pressure from Qantas and LA World Airports and announced it will bring an A380 to LAX on the same day it brings one to JFK.

The initial announcement said that Airbus would bring the plane to JFK, Dulles, and Chicago/O’Hare on behalf of Lufthansa. Well, Qantas wasn’t too happy about that, and they wanted to see the plane come to their huge LAX operation. Meanwhile, LAX said that Airbus had promised the airport the first visit in the US if they completed the upgrade work necessary to allow the A380 to operate. Well, they did, and now they’re getting their way.

I haven’t seen any details, but with any luck they’ll land on the north runways. I’ll be sitting at In ‘n Out watching if that’s the case.

A380, Airbus, LAX - Los Angeles, Lufthansa, Qantas none

A Concorde Go-Around

February 28, 2007 CF No comments

There are thousands and thousands of videos on the web showing airplanes landing, taking off, going around, etc. Generally, even I don’t find these that interesting to watch, but this one is great. It’s a short, 32 second video of a Concorde descending in a crosswind and then aborting the landing and going around.

There’s something incredible about watching that plane just hang in the air as if being held by a string before you see smoke belching from the engines as the airplane begins to climb again. I miss that plane.

Concorde none

LAX Meets Hollywood – Bradley Terminal Goes Under the Knife

February 27, 2007 CF No comments

I’d guess that just about everyone in Hollywood has some sort of work done before they turn 25, and the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) at LAX is no exception. Yesterday, ground was broken on a renovation project almost 23 years after the terminal opened.

TBIT, as shown on the left (thanks Virtual Earth), was part of the LAX makeover to prepare for the 1984 Olympics that included adding the upper level roadway and constructing Terminal 1. Over the years, it has been the object of hate of many an international traveler. The terminal is dark and crowded, there aren’t many shopping or dining options, and the lounges were inadequate.

Personally, I have many fond memories of the terminal. I can remember waiting at the end of the ramp on the arrivals level for family to come back from exotic trips. As a little kid, that ramp seemed to stretch on forever. I also remember flying to far off places like Denmark and Brazil from the terminal. And in high school, I spent hours and hours in the Traveler’s Aid booth helping people who spoke every language imaginable. Even with those memories, there is no question in my mind that a lot of work needs to be done.

This renovation will focus on a couple area, according to the press release. The biggest project is the installation of an inline baggage system so that the massive x-ray machines will be removed from the floor and put into the background. This will open up a great deal of room for customers in the lobby area. There will also be a general rehab of the interior and a new gate added to handle the A380. Lastly, the 16 individual airline lounges will be replaced with only four. There will be one for Star Alliance, one for oneworld, one for SkyTeam, and one for all unaligned airlines. By the time it finishes in 3 years, the project will cost over $700m.

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about LAX losing service to places with far superior facilities, like San Francisco. This has been especially noticeable among Asian airlines. So will this new project fix the problem? No way.

This is like putting a bandage on a cut artery. It may help reduce the blood loss in the short term, but the patient is still going to die without additional help. The other terminals at the airport are still inadequate, and there is no plan for expansion. In fact, the Mayor has agreed to a plan to reduce capacity if it gets too high. His whole plan to regionalize air travel in the LA area isn’t going to fly when the only options are Palmdale and Ontario. Those may serve niche markets but they’re hardly going to relieve LAX in any large scale.

There needs to be a much larger comprehensive plan for renovating and expanding LAX.

LAX - Los Angeles none

American Tries to Capitalize

February 26, 2007 CF No comments

Who wants to guess that last Thursday’s announcement of American’s “New York Initiative” was coincidentally timed shortly after JetBlue’s problems? Me neither. I can’t imagine it was a coincidence.

New York has been a battleground for a long time. Besides JetBlue’s substantial flying, Delta has tried to grow its JFK operation into a major transatlantic gateway, despite the decrepit state of its terminal. Meanwhile, American has continued to grow domestically and in Latin America from both LaGuardia and JFK. Over on the other side of the city, Continental has the built the largest operation of all, making Newark a major domestic and European hub.

So what exactly is American trying to do this time? According to the press release, they will “demonstrate its commitment to New York with additional routes, enhanced offers, and promotions.”

Once you get below all the fluff, what exactly are they going to do? First they talk about all the stuff they have done already. This includes a variety of premium class promotions and the new terminal which is very nice but cost way too much money. They’ve upgraded to the 767-200s that fly to LAX and SFO and they’re installing new business class seats on their long haul widebodies. Ok, so what are they going to do going forward?

Well, much of it is schedule-oriented. They’ll start flying from LaGuardia to Cincinnati and Louisville as well as from JFK to Las Vegas. They’re adding additional flights from LaGuardia to Raleigh/Durham and from JFK to San Francisco, Port-au-Prince, and Caracas. Also, flights to Atlanta will be upgraded from regional jets to mainline jets.

But wait, there’s more.

They’re opening a new lounge at JFK for international First and Business class passengers. And they’re going to spend a bunch of money on advertising.

In other words, they’ve cobbled together a bunch of things they’ve done and now they’re going to put it into an advertising campaign. Sounds like a good plan in light of JetBlue’s troubles. Still, this market is a tough one with all the competition. It will be interesting if they can actually grow their share with these moves.