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For your entertainment: Thirty seconds of airport luggage conveyor-belt hijinks!

This is what happens when the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, along with US Airways, puts four planes worth of luggage onto one baggage carousel at the same time.

Video from:
Friday, March 2, 2007
US Airways # 773
Philadelphia to Las Vegas

Thanks to Consumerist.com editor Ben Popken!

Rent an iPod inflight, catch up on Sabado Gigante
Here’s an airline that’s thinking outside the box: For about $5, Mexican discount airline Volaris will rent you an iPod loaded with Mexican TV shows and popular music. (American sitcoms y musica gringa coming soon.)

If Seinfeld ran an airport
Airport food is notoriously overpriced, but at least there’s food available, which is more than you can say for the departing planes. The latest entrant into the in-terminal dining segment: Cereality, the restaurant chain devoted entirely to cereal. Benet Wilson reports that a mini-version of the chain with limited selection opened at Newark Airport. A full-fledged restaurant, with 40 cereals and 40 toppings, opens at Chicago O’Hare (terminal 1, concourse B) soon. The idea is brilliant: Near-universally-liked food, HUGE profit margins.

Very superstitious, writing on the tail
Brussels Airlines’ logo consists of 13 dots that create a “B.” Superstitious passengers refuse to fly with the airline because of that number. Airline adding a 14th dot. Oy.

View the Opryland Glacier from your riverboat cruise ship?
Much like Nepal tourist advertising recently pictured photos that were actually in Peru, Tennessee’s promo materials were discovered to feature photos of mountain bikers in Alaska. Maybe Elvis is alive and well and living in Kodiak.

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The hubbub about the proposed passenger bill of rights last week is still alive and well, if my e-mail inbox is any indication. Several readers have written, asking for more information, or ways of supporting the cause of such a bill. (Let’s call it the PBOR for short, giving it that official-sounding government-ese acronymic flavor, and cutting down on my typing…)

The draft PBOR is posted here and at the angry passengers’ blog. A petition is available, too, if you want to show your support.

Congress is taking the PBOR seriously, and I think that’s a good thing, but even if such a bill passes, would it be enforceable? How do you determine blame? And if so, what are the penalties?

Most of the goals that the PBOR sets out are rules or requirements, but the only penalty that’s referenced is for flight cancellation or delay of 12 hours or greater.

For example: “Establish procedures for returning passengers to terminal gate when delays occur so that no plane sits on the tarmac for longer than three hours without connecting to a gate.” No doubt, that’s a reasonable goal, but whom do you blame, and what are the consequences, if this doesn’t happen?

I sat on the ground for hours once at O’Hare, flying back from Philadelphia, after a snowstorm wreaked havoc on Chicago aviation. (This was the same day, in 2005, when the Southwest plane went off the runway and into the streets of Chicago.) The 737 I was on was parked for hours on the outskirts of the airport, waiting for a gate to open. The rear toilets overflowed. It was one of the few times that I wished I was at a European airport like Frankfurt, where every other flight is parked out in the middle of nowhere and passengers are bused back to the terminal. There was no bus for us. Just a long wait, until another gate opened up. But with so much snow falling, few aircraft actually left their gates.

So who was to blame? The airline? The airport? The weather?

The problem with any such legislation isn’t the determination of what the desired outcome should be. It’s the determination of who is to blame when that outcome isn’t reached.

Related:
- Update: How to support the Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights
- Do we need a passenger bill of rights?

The war on runway safety
Bangkok’s new Suvarnabhumi Airport hasn’t worked out as everyone hoped, with cost overruns, insufficient bathrooms, and shoddy workmanship. But now, by virtue of its failure to renew its safety certificate, it’s officially unsafe. Runways have been plagued with cracks and debris. (You’ll be pleased to know that the airport is still operating as normal. Nice. Wouldn’t want to let safety get in the way of the schedule!)

The war on skycaps
Skycaps at Boston’s Logan Airport have filed a class action lawsuit against American Airlines. The suit alleges that the airline’s policy of charging $2 per bag for curbside check-in is cutting into the skycaps’ tips. Indeed, many people assume the fee goes to the skycap, but it actually goes to the airline. The fees exist at plenty of other airports and with plenty of other airlines. Will more skycaps organize and sue?

The war on horse meat
I really don’t know what to make of this. “American Airlines and Delta Air Lines said early Thursday afternoon that they had suspended transport of horse meat to overseas markets – mainly France, Belgium and Japan – where it is consumed.” Horse butchers are angry. It’s a long story.

The war on fusion cuisine
Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture will soon travel the world, inspecting Japanese restaurants and certifying their authenticity. I realize that this is as much cultural nationalism as it is a marketing device, but it’s moronic. California rolls aren’t authentic to Japan, but they’re a standard of sushi restaurants in America. Deal with it. It’s a globalized world, and the notion of a “pure” cultural product is a sham. And it’s been a sham for some time. We’ve been globalizing for hundreds of years. (The spice trade, anyone?) But if the Japanese taxpayer wants to pay for this culinary boondoggle, have at it. (Thanks Dr. Vino!)

The war on broken in-flight entertainment
I get as irritated as the next guy when the audio-video system is broken on a long flight, but attacking the staff is probably not the way to go. Customers on board several Qantas aircraft that have been experiencing technical trouble with their video system “are becoming openly abusive and threatening” to flight attendants in flight. Not cool. Better bring a book.

The war for Delta
US Airways really, really, really, really, really wants to buy Delta. They’re now offering to raise their offer by another $1 billion if the creditors agree to postpone a meeting to discuss Delta’s in-house restructuring. Wake me up when this is over.

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Upgraded: Electric power at JFK Airport
More power, Scotty! Through an agreement with the Port Authority, Samsung will be installing electrical charging stations in each terminal of New York’s JFK Airport. Each of the 50 8.5-foot poles will have four separate outlets, suitable for charging your laptop or cellphone. (via NewYorkology)

Downgraded: Hilton Suites Phoenix
Opera soprano Alison Trainer is suing Hilton Hotels for subjecting her to a week of bedbugs at the Hilton Suites in Phoenix. “She looks like a piece of wood that has been attacked by termites,” said Trainer’s attorney, Kenneth J. Glassman. But why would she stay in the hotel — or even in the room — for a full week once she started noticing she had multiple bites in the morning?

Ms. Trainer’s roommate at the Hilton Suites Phoenix

Downgraded: Loyalty card kickbacks
Ron Lieber of the Wall Street Journal runs the numbers for his 2006 spending and loyalty point earnings. He values his rewards at $4,850. And that’s DOWN 78% from his previous year’s earnings? Yowza, nice work! But the takeaway: In the past year, it’s gotten harder to get a solid “return” on your credit cards, with banks less and less likely to give 5% rebates on everyday purchases.

Upgraded, I guess: Palmdale, California
Palmdale, 70 miles from Los Angeles, it has added “LA” to its airport name. I always think this renaming of airports to employ the big city’s name amounts to deceptive practice. (”Chicago Rockford International Airport”? Sorry, folks, Rockford isn’t Chicago. It’s 90 miles away.) But the plan seems to have worked, if the goal was to attract airline service and/or reduce load on LAX. (See here for a skeptical account of Palmdale’s chances.) Delta and United are both hoping to start service to the airport.

Upgraded: Avis rental cars; Downgraded: Private time
Avis is working with Autonet Mobile to create in-car mobile wireless hotspots. For $10.95 a day, a unit in the car creates a local hotspot for use with regular wi-fi cards. The signal, in turn, is transmitted along a cellular network to hit the big pipes on the internet. It’s a nice service, if you’re going to be using your laptop from your car. But jeez, do we really need to be THAT accessible?

Downgraded: Snowglobes
Sure, liquids are prohibited. But don’t forget, that includes snowglobes. Sigh.

Downgraded: Flour, sugar, eggs, Philadelphia
Hot tip: If you really need to transport flour through airports, don’t carry it in a condom. But if you DO arrest someone for carrying flour through an airport in condoms, don’t keep her in jail for three weeks, like Philadelphia did. The flour “mule” will sue. And you’ll pay her handsomely. (Thanks to Benet Wilson)

Upgraded: This blog?
Voting for the Bloggies is open. Vote early and often for your favorite blogs, as long as you vote by January 10. Shameless self-promotion aside: May the best blogs win!

This is a new one for me: Several airlines are refusing to fly into Bristol because they’ve lost faith in the safety of the runway. They’re afraid their planes will slip off the newly repaved surface in the lightest rain. After several days of boycott, the airport decided to close.

EasyJet was the first to cancel its flights. XL Airways was next, and British Airways followed suit shortly thereafter. Others joined in later.

Four planes have experienced “incidences on that runway in wet weather.” One aircraft skidded off the runway. The affected airlines are offering to reroute passengers through other airports, until Bristol’s runway is re-grooved.

But perhaps most interestingly: Not every airline refused to land at Bristol before the airport managers threw in the towel. For example, Continental’s Newark-Bristol flights were still on the schedule today. And European carriers like Ryanair and flyBe never stopped flying into the airport.

So why were these few airlines willing to take their chances? Why, when so many other carriers cut their schedules short?…

(For the latest status, click here for the Bristol Airport website.)

(Update 1/8/06: The airport has reopened following overnight work to add drainage grooves to the runway. How nice.)

The TSA is taking a page from airlines like Ryanair or US Airways, which offer advertising opportunities on everything from tray table tops to barf bags.

Yes, the TSA is soliciting proposals to slap advertisements inside those gray bins you put your laptop, keys, baby, etc., into. I guess my earlier post “TSA: Not cash-flow positive yet, but working on it” was more prescient than I thought…

Hat tip to Benet Wilson’s recent blogging and reporting on the subject.

The fact that a government agency is whoring itself out like this is pretty sad. But who would really want to advertise inside a TSA bin? Considering that the moment when you’re unpacking your stuff into/out of bins is 1) relatively short, and 2) not the happiest time in your life, is that really a place an advertiser would want to be?

Begin speculating on potential bin advertisers in comments!

News for travelers who like to pick up a bottle of hooch or perfume at the duty-free shop:

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is trying to standardize airport rules around the world, making it universally legal for people who buy liquids after security. Benet Wilson reports:

ICAO recommends that member countries allow duty-free liquids that have been packed in a sealed plastic bag that is tamper-proof and shows proof of purchase at an airport shop or aboard an aircraft on the day of departure. And best of all? ICAO wants the new recommendations to cover departing and transferring passengers.

A good start, indeed. Anything that lets you buy things at an airport and then actually carry them on a plane is good in my book.

Related:
- Duty free liquids allowed on board, except when they’re not
- Update: Munich Airport responds to questions about its duty free policy
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While passengers in the United States keep dumping their water bottles and sacrifice their four-ounce bottles of shaving cream or hair gel, Japan and China are installing machines that actually test for liquid explosives.

Japan has already rolled out liquid-explosives detectors at airports and train stations, though the machines “will be put to use in the near future.” No word on when that future date might be.

China is vowing to roll out similar machines and have them fully operative by the time the 2008 Summer Olympics kick off in Beijing. The machines are built by NUCTECH and run approximately $200,000 each.

The TSA is instead testing “backscatter” x-ray machines, which can detect liquids on a person through a “virtual strip search.” But these machines can only detect what’s on your person, not what’s in your luggage.

China and Japan are implementing technology to make flying safer and less of a hassle. Why isn’t the U.S.?

Just a few months ago, it seemed that the trend in airports was to remove power outlets from the terminal area, while simultaneously rolling out services like wi-fi, which, obviously, required electricity. Brilliant.

Thankfully, the trend seems to be reversing. Chris Elliott, in the NYT, reports that airports are wising up to the needs both business and leisure travelers who increasingly depend on electronics to make their time in the airport more livable.

Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport recently converted some of its pay phones into free laptop recharging stations. […] And Eppley Airfield, near Omaha, just wired its snack bar in the north boarding area with new sockets.

Or take Indianapolis, which has gone a step further and gotten a sponsor for their outlets.

Most airports are putting off the installation of sockets until they renovate their terminals, but the awareness of the problem is at least trickling through to airport managers.

But not every airport is on the traveler’s side. Consider the visual evidence, such as these sockets at SFO with locked covers. Obnoxious in their own right: charging stations like this one, which charges $2 per half hour for the privilege of plugging in. What do our $3 to $4.50 per segment landing fees get us, if not the chance to plug in for a few pennies of electricity?

For those looking for free airport power, let me once again plug (sorry) Jeff Sandquist’s Air Power Wiki, the user-built directory of free airport power sockets. Consult it before you spend $2 for a half hour of juice.

Related:
- Power sockets, sponsored by Chase
- New site roundup
- The mystery of the disappearing electrical outlet

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I was going to write a post on improving your travels this Thanksgiving weekend, or during the holiday season more generally, but CondeNast Traveler’s Wendy Perrin has already done most of the heavy lifting and offers six good tips. I’ll add my comments and addenda in italics:

1. Check in online.
Indeed. Check in up to 24 hours in advance. And use this opportunity to pick better seats, if they’re available.

2. Check bags curbside.
If you’ve checked in online, some airlines and airports have dedicated bag check-in areas for passengers who have checked in electronically. In Chicago O’Hare terminal 1, for example, that desk is near the far left end of the terminal (if you’re dropping someone off by car, it’s at the last Terminal 1 entrance door).

3. Label your luggage with your name and address, inside and out.
Indeed, and also put a copy of your itinerary inside the suitcase. If the tag falls off on the outside, they’ll look for identification on the inside. Adding the itinerary helps them know where to look.

4. Follow the TSA rules for carry-on luggage to the letter.
Print the TSA’s rules (PDF) and bring them with you, in case you get into a dispute over whether something in your possession is permitted through security or not. After all, screeners aren’t necessarily consistent in their knowledge of the rules.

5. Don’t wrap gifts. TSA might unwrap them.

6. Wear easily removable shoes.

And here are a few extra:

7. Not all security lines are equally busy. Some airports have less-popular security lines, either in an adjacent (but connected) terminal, or at the far end of a terminal building. A few of these “shortcuts” are listed here. They can shave a few minutes off your airport hassle.

8. If you’re traveling with a laptop, download your airline’s timetable. If you’re making connections, having this information on hand is invaluable for approaching a customer service agent and getting booked onto alternate routings.

9. If you have elite status, and your airport has an elite-access line for security, this is the time to use it. Even if you’re traveling on a different airline than the one you have elite status with, you may be able to use the elite line. (Terminal 2 at Chicago O’Hare is an example of this.) A lot of infrequent travelers are passing through America’s airports this week, and some will forget to take off their belt, remove some coins from their pockets, etc. The elite line has the seasoned veteran flyers, and it’s bound to move faster, even if it’s the same length as the general-admission line.

Safe travels!

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A few weeks ago, I expressed dissatisfaction at the seemingly arbitrary restriction placed on duty free liquor purchases at Munich Airport. (On October 13, the duty free shop refused to sell me a liter of anything, saying that it wasn’t permitted for flights to the United States.)

I wrote an e-mail to the Munich Airport, asking why this was the case, considering that there was no German or European law that I could find requiring such strict limitations, and since the TSA’s published rule only required duty free purchases to be made “after security,” which this was. (Although, as is common for U.S.-bound flights, there was another redundant — and mind-bogglingly slow — security check at the entrance to the gate area.)

This past Friday, a representative of the Bavarian State Ministry of Commerce, Infrastructure, Transportation, and Technology responded. In German. (I had written to them in English, with the notation that I intended to publish their reply on this blog.)

Luckily I can read German… so here is my translation of the relevant bits:

At the time of your inquiry, only the TSA placed any restrictions on duty-free goods, including the “delivery at gate” procedure. Implementation of such a process was not possible for the shop’s managers. A separate duty free shop solely for the United Airlines and US Airways gates does not exist at the airport.

Since then, the EU-wide regulations governing the transportation of liquids and the purchase of duty-free goods have taken effect. With the implementation of these rules, duty-free goods may once again be purchased.

Click here for the complete reply in the original German (pdf).

I’m sorry, but this still doesn’t explain the intra-European variation between airports. If the TSA’s rules were so clear, then the procedures should have been standard. Other airports were not requiring delivery of liquids to the gate. This sounds like buck-passing by local airport officials or state bureaucrats.

Thankfully, at the end of the day, the standardization of rules across the EU means that such incidents may be less frequent. And you’ve got it in writing, Munich allows duty free purchases for flights to the U.S. That’s good.

But the EU guidelines remain a minimum requirement. Any airport, and any airline, can impose stricter rules regarding carry-on bags. Here’s hoping they don’t.

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