American Preparing to Expand International 757 Flying
American is putting a true premium cabin on 18 757s so it can start doing more long haul international. What new routes might we see?

United Stock Tanks on False Bankruptcy Rumors
It was a seemingly small mistake. A 2002 bankruptcy article on United was republished as current, and then all hell broke loose.

Singapore Airlines Actually Reducing Fuel Surcharges
Singapore Airlines has made a move to lower fuel surcharges. It’s surprising, but is it an important move?

Advertising on Bald Heads
One airline has decided to offer cash to those who would advertise the airline on the back of their heads. Is this ridiculous or brilliant?

Aircraft Interiors Expo’s Focus on Weight
There was one consistent message throughout the Interior Expo, and it was all about weight. Why does it matter and will it change any time soon?

I had the chance to spend a day at the first running of the Aircraft Interiors Expo in the US this week, and I have to say, it was pretty interesting. I mean, it’s not all glitz and glamour as you might expect. Sure, there was a red carpet there, but . . . ok, maybe not.

When people think of aircraft interiors, they probably think of cool seats, but there’s a lot more than that. They have fasteners, carpets, and everything else to comes together to make up the interior experience. So as you can imagine, a lot of this would be boring to those not working in the industry (and probably boring for them as well), but there were a couple of cool products I saw that I thought might catch your interest.

aerokid – integrated infant/child seat
Parents will love this one. Lufthansa Technik has come up with a built-in child seat for aircraft. If there’s no kid in the seat, it looks nearly like any other seat. But if there’s a child, it folds down to reveal a fully functional child seat that also expands into a bed, like a bassinet.

So with this, you won’t have to lug that bulky seat through the terminal to take to the plane. This is a brand new product, and nobody has committed to it yet, but I think it’s got some potential. Sure there are issues. I mean, how do you accurately predict how many you would need on a plane? You can never get it right, but you can certainly improve the travel experience for some. We’ll see if anyone is willing to give it a shot.

Relaxor in-seat massage
I had a lot of fun talking to these guys at the show. First of all, I think it’s clear they should not go into aircraft seat decoration. Can you imagine an entire plane with leopard-printed seats? Yikes. But hey, it caught my attention, and that’s what they wanted.

These guys focus on in-seat massage. They’ve got units in seats in premium classes on a few airlines (eg Emirates, Etihad, etc), but nobody has put it in the back yet. And is that really a surprise? Nah. But maybe one airline will decide that they can get people to pay for it, so they will. Sounds like one of those coin-operated bed massages in cheap motels. All I know is that it felt good, and it probably helps with blood flow on those long flights. I doubt we’ll see it onboard anytime soon, though I’d like to be pleasantly surprised.

Nintendo Travel Network
If you’ve ever been to a Seattle Mariners game, you might have seen something like this in the Nintendo Fan Network. The idea is that you would download the Travel Network on to your DS. It will stay there until you turn the unit off at which point it would disappear and you’d have to reload. The airline would put a server on their aircraft that would allow anyone with a Nintendo DS portable video game system to interact with it. It could display the time left in-flight along with a map, it could allow you to stream movies, or it could even let you shop.

Nintendo says they have 75 million DS units out there, so there could be plenty of usage opportunities. I worried about the size and weight of the server, but they said it could be as simple as another DS broadcasting the information. This seems like a pretty easy way for an airline to enable a wide variety of inflight entertainment without having to invest much in the product. Of course, most of the people who own the DS aren’t likely your most frequent fliers, but it’s still a fun thing to think about.

Another year, another September 11. It’s hard to believe it’s been seven long years since that date became infamous, and it’s incredible to think how much has changed since then. There are plenty of tributes to those who lost their lives, but there’s always room for another, especially one that remembers the crews who died doing their jobs.

Last year, I decided it would be good to help build on Holly Hegeman’s tradition of publishing the names of the flight crews killed that day, and this year is no different. So, please read through the following names and remember what they went through seven years ago.

American 11 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
John Ogonowski, Dracut, Mass., Captain; Thomas McGuinness, Portsmouth, N.H., First Officer; Barbara Arestegui, flight attendant; Jeffrey Collman, flight attendant; Sara Low, flight attendant; Karen Martin, flight attendant; Kathleen Nicosia, flight attendant; Betty Ong, flight attendant; Jean Roger, flight attendant; Dianne Snyder, flight attendant; Madeline Sweeney, flight attendant

United 175 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
Victor J. Saracini, Lower Makefield Township, Pa., Captain; Michael Horrocks, First Officer; Amy Jarret, flight attendant; Al Marchand, flight attendant; Amy King, flight attendant; Kathryn Laborie, flight attendant; Michael Tarrou, flight attendant; Alicia Titus, flight attendant

American 77 (Washington/Dulles to Los Angeles)
Crashed into the Pentagon
Charles Burlingame, Captain; David Charlebois, First Officer; Michele Heidenberger, flight attendant; Jennifer Lewis, flight attendant; Kenneth Lewis, flight attendant; and Renee May, flight attendant

United 93 (Newark to San Francisco)
Crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Jason Dahl, Colorado, Captain; Leroy Homer, Marlton, N.J., First Officer; Sandy Bradshaw, flight attendant; CeeCee Lyles, flight attendant; Lorraine Bay, flight attendant; Wanda Green, flight attendant; Deborah Welsh, flight attendant

I spent yesterday at the first Aircraft Interiors Expo here in the US, but I’ve got a busy week ahead. So, you’ll probably see my report from the show early next week. For now, let’s talk politics.

I’m guessing that most of you are following the presidential election in the US this year (even if you don’t live here). The candidates will gladly go on and on about the economy and Iraq, but you rarely hear them talk about the subject near and dear to our hearts . . . aviation.

There should be more airtime for something like this, because it impacts millions of Americans. Are we going to build a new air traffic control system? Will there be a push for a passenger bill of rights? What will happen to the security screening process and the TSA watch list?

Like I said, this impacts you a lot.

If you want to keep an eye on things, you’ll want to read Evan Sparks’ Aviation Policy Blog. Yesterday, he had a post with links and commentary on Obama’s aviation policy and it’s worth a read.

As he notes, he has yet to be able to get a hold of McCain’s policy, but he’s trying. If he gets it, I’ll post it here as well. For now, you can read his post on what Popular Mechanics is saying about the policies of both candidates.

I had to go to LAX three times this weekend to pick up and drop off some friends, and while I was there, I saw a few flashing signs noting some of the terminal shifts that have taken place lately. What’s going on? This is all to make more room for Virgin’s expected expansion.

In short, most of the airlines in Terminal 3 are moving elsewhere so that Virgin America and V Australia can move in and grow. I spoke with Abby Lunardini at Virgin America, and she told me that they will only take three gates to start. I can’t imagine V Australia will need a full gate for their flights when they start this winter, but even if they do take one, that still leaves two empty gates for Virgin America to expand in to if they want.

So, here’s where everyone else is moving. AirTran moved to Terminal 6 on Sept 5 while Frontier moved on Sept 8. Spirit and Sun Country will also move to Terminal 6, though both airlines are reducing or eliminating flights to LAX in the coming months. Midwest will move to Terminal 4 with American. The latest LAX map reflects all these changes.

Alaska and Horizon will continue to operate out of the six gates on the west side of Terminal 3 (marked in blue on the map at left), but Virgin America and V Australia will now take three (maybe four if V Australia has its own) of the six gates on the east side (marked in red on the map at left).

Virgin America says that they are “planning to update the space and help re-establish views of the runway and cityscape.” That’s what will happen before they move in. They are also “working with LAWA on the Phase 2 renovation, which will focus on creating a more guest-facing experience using innovative and sustainable design principles (with a bit of a retro twist back to the terminal’s original 1961 design). Now that’s something I’d love to see, but I do wonder how much effort Virgin America should be putting into this when they need to focus on running their business.

The move to Terminal 3 for expansion purposes isn’t a bad idea with everyone else reducing service at LAX, but I am curious to see how they use the new gate space. They act like they’re in expansion mode, but it was recently announced that they’d be operating charters for Myrtle Beach Direct Air. Abby tells me that they’re in an 18 month agreement on that one. It’s surprising that they don’t have a place within their branded operation to put that airplane, but it could be telling about the state of the business right now. So where will we see them use their new gate? They’ve talked about Miami and Chicago/O’Hare flights, but nothing has been announced. They could also try and connect the dots by flying to Vegas, though that’s a pretty crowded market. I suppose we’ll find out soon enough.

Virgin America has yet to move in, and I’m still waiting to hear a final date from the airline I’ve now been told they’ll switch at the end of October. I’ll keep you posted.