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Downgraded: Boeing’s onboard computers
The Boeing 787, which has yet to actually fly, has been declared susceptible to hacking by passengers, because the planned inflight internet computers are “also connected to the plane’s control, navigation and communication systems.” Great. Boeing promises to fix the security gaps before the plane actually alights.

Upgraded, mostly: British carry-on luggage rules
After the alleged liquid bombing plot, British authorities limited carry-on luggage severely. Now, things are starting to get back to normal. Most — but not all — British airports allow two carry-on bags again. If flying to London, Heathrow and Stansted all two bags. Gatwick and Luton allow one. The BBC has the list.

Upgraded: The Evil Eye
Better not look too shifty and suspicious at airport security. The increased use of behaviorial profiling, known as SPOT (Screening Passengers by Observation Technique), hopes to capture more genuine baddies and let the innocents pass through security unharmed. The problem, of course, is that you might just set off someone’s hackles unintentionally. Is it working? “Since January 2006, behavior-detection officers have referred about 70,000 people for secondary screening, Maccario said. Of those, about 600 to 700 were arrested on a variety of charges, including possession of drugs, weapons violations and outstanding warrants.” That’s 1% accuracy, folks. Nothing to be too proud of, yet. But it beats frisking nuns.

Downgraded: The Concorde
Upgraded: Tort law
Allstate Insurance has to pay out nearly a million dollars to a homeowner whose home was damaged five years ago by a low-flying Air France Concorde.

Downgraded: Airline blankets
Mmm… airline blankets… Reader J opines on his new blog about the fact that United doesn’t clean their blankets between flights. Yuck, indeed. Not to be an overly jaded buzzkiller, but that’s nothing new. Ditto for the pillows. Look for the plastic-wrapped blankets for maximum freshness. The pillows? Good luck.

(image)

This was on “Mythbusters” the other night, but I couldn’t find a clip in English. So, here it is dubbed into Portuguese, instead. Why the heck not.

If you’re impatient, the final minute of the video has the payoff.

(If you’re reading this via the feed and can’t see the video, try clicking here.)

Reminds me of Maho Beach in St. Martin, located right at the end of the runway. Below you’ll see the photo I took of the awesome warning sign located just outside the SXM airport fence.

Upgraded: The jurisdiction for Southwest’s Fashion Police
Good to see that the memo that Southwest doesn’t have a dress code made it to every employee. Oh wait… “Southwest Airlines said it will apologize to a passenger who was told he would be removed from a flight if he didn’t change clothes, the second time in recent months the budget carrier has been forced to do so.” The shirt read “Captain Jack Hoff: Master Baiter.” Har har har. Those t-shirt auteurs… such cunning linguists! Well, considering how Southwest “apologized” the last time, we should expect a fare sale with a saucy name soon. But what will they call it? “The ‘No shirt, no shoes, no assigned seating!’ Sale” ?? “The Happy Hands Sale” ?? Speculate in comments.

Downgraded: Urns
The Indianapolis Airport was shut down and evacuated because a funeral urn hadn’t been screened properly and the owner couldn’t be found. Talk about adding insult to injury for the family of the deceased. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened with those newfangled security systems that somehow keep hitting the media but don’t actually show up in widespread use at airports. Or maybe it would happen anyway. This is the TSA we’re talking about, after all.

Upgraded: Olympic fever!
Looking to visit the Olympics in Beijing next summer? Over on Peter Greenberg’s site, Mike Day rounds up the ways to get tickets, get a room, and get around. Don’t forget your asthma medication.

Upgraded: Erosion
A 2002 flood created a new canyon in Texas in just three days. And then it took five years to open it to the public!

Upgraded: Quieter hotels
Longtime readers know that one of my pet travel peeves is the noisy luxury hotel, often courtesy of a crappy door with a giant gap at the bottom, allowing in all the noise from the hall. I’m happy to read that soundproofing materials are selling well as hoteliers build new facilities. Better walls, yay! But no mention of better doors. Nice try, people! The Door Wars are still on!

Upgraded: Bio-air-travel
Air New Zealand, Boeing, and Rolls-Royce engines will test a biofuel-powered 747. If you smell french fries in the wind, look up to see if a jumbo jet is passing by.

Not to be outdone by Lufthansa’s recently-floated but still very much tentative proposal to create a bunk-bed cabin in economy class, Air New Zealand is reportedly considering an alternative economy-class sleeper configuration. “Sleeping pods.”

Air New Zealand strategic development general manager Nathan Agnew said the airline wants to introduce an entirely new type of economy cabin when it takes delivery of its fleet of Boeing 787-9 and 777-300ER long-range jets from 2010.
[…]
Cabin crew already sleep in pods during long distance flights, usually hidden away at the rear plane or in the ceiling space above the passenger cabin.

“Given that a lot of our long-haul flying is overnight, it might actually be preferable for our customers simply to have something like that rather than have a seat,” Agnew said.

Because eating in a pod might be difficult, passengers may be served a meal at the airport before the flight, allowing them to immediately go to sleep once on the plane.
[…]
Agnew said airfares would be similar to current economy fares.
[…]
Agnew stressed that it was still a theoretical concept with no guarantees that Air New Zealand would ultimately provide them in its new planes.

Interesting that design for crew seating, which often is found in narrow areas above or below the passenger cabin, is filtering back into passenger seating concepts.

Here’s a Boeing promotional image that shows giddily-happy flight attendants cavorting in the crew pods, having their own slumber party… with room service! The captain has turned on the pillow-fight sign! (Would that it were so.)

The Air New Zealand pod idea has potential — maybe even more than the bunk-style hive-like Lufthansa seats. But pods could get claustrophobic, and challenges remain. You might get one meal out of the way at the airport, before the flight, but on long flights, you need a second meal, too. How will you eat it? And you need to find a way to balance the desires of those who want to do nothing but sleep or watch movies, not to mention work, with the desires of those who want to mill about the cabin periodically.

Regardless, it’s good to see another airline rethinking cabin layouts seriously.

Related:
- Lufthansa considering bunk-bed style sleeper seating in economy class
- Coffee, tea, or sleep?
- Dare to dream: First class designs we’ll probably never see
- Boeing.com: Flight Crews Get Comfy on Boeing 777 Long-Haul Routes

Upgraded: Seat pitch regulation?
Chris Elliott notes that European regulators are considering rules to require minimum seat pitch, though it’s not clear what that minimum would be. Some of the ultra-cheapo carriers have legroom below 30″, which is horrendous. (Skybus-esque, for an American equivalent.) The reason for the regulation? Deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, a.k.a “economy class syndrome.” Maybe they should invest in this guy’s airline seat design while they’re at it.

Upgraded: Free wireless calling
Looking to cut down on the cellphone minutes? T-Mobile (aff) customers can sign up to make unlimited free calls with a compatible cellphone, if they’re in range of a T-Mobile wireless HotSpot or if you enable your home or office wireless router to link up with your phone. Brilliant. I’m a T-Mobile wireless customer myself, and I’ve been extremely satisfied with their service, both in terms of their network and their customer service. A few years ago, when wi-fi was less common in hotels, I sometimes traveled with a router and plugged it into the hotel jack, creating my own in-room hotspot. With T-Mobile’s new service, I’d strongly consider carrying a cellphone-linked router with me once again.

Upgraded: Paris Wi-Fi
Another city goes wi-fi. This time, it’s Paris. David Ourisman reports on the new arondissements electroniques.

Upgraded: American Airlines to London… Stansted?!
With open skies a reality between the US and Europe, airlines have been announcing new and expanded routes across the Atlantic. American Airlines announced a route from New York-JFK to London-Stansted, the airport that Ryanair made famous. This is interesting, since it’s the first (corrected below) a major network flight between the US and the more obscure Stansted Airport. (Maxjet and Eos fly there, yes, but American’s use of Stansted is big.)
Update: Joe Brancatelli writes in to point out that American Airlines has actually flown to Stansted in the past, with a Chicago-O’Hare to London-Stansted flight that launched in 1992. So now, with Maxjet and Eos eating American’s premium-cabin lunch on the London route, American makes its (triumphant?) return. Thanks, Joe!

Downgraded: Check-in? (or is that Upgraded?)
Jared Blank picks up on Spanish airline Clickair’s promise to eliminate the need for check-in. No real details, but it reminds me of train service, where you get on and have your ticket punched by the conductor. I’m too tired to figure out how it might work, but first come, first served seating is nothing new, and “shuttle” flights have existed for years, so there’s no reason this couldn’t work on heavily-traveled, high-frequency business routes.

Downgraded: Alitalia
Could Alitalia be downgraded any further? Already plagued by bankruptcy, strikes galore, and general incompetences for years, the Italian flag carrier is killing its frequent flyer program. And from its ashes will be reborn a new program, but you’ll only keep your miles if you fly the airline twice in the first half of 2008. Gary Leff has the story. I share his disdain.

Upgraded, in theory: Designer airlines that may never fly
From a Newsweek article on how the ultra-rich are finding ways to burn through their substantial cash: “Brands like Versace, under new leadership, are moving beyond red-carpet dresses into areas like interior jet and auto design. Last year Donna Karan went a step further, researching the launch of a branded airline.” Donna Karan Airlines?? Would the name of that airline perhaps be DKJFKSFO? DKDFWPHX? Yeah, sure. The ultra-rich don’t fly commercial. Good luck with that venture…

Upgraded: American Express’ Starwood card
I’ve long been a proponent of the Amex credit card that’s linked with the Starwood Hotels program. Several e-mails in my inbox have alerted me to the recently upgraded bonus offer: Get 10,000 bonus points with first purchase, and (here’s the upgrade) 15,000 bonus points for charging $15,000 in the first 6 months. Nice bonus, if you can get it. Click here for the latest bonus offer. (aff)

Upgraded: Boeing’s 787
With much fanfare, Boeing rolled out its first 787 Dreamliner yesterday (on 7/8/07, har har har). The plane has a lot of potential to revolutionize air travel, and I’m excited at the prospect of actually flying in one someday. Sure beats the regional jets I’ve sat in lately… MSNBC’s photo page of the 787 rollout is here.

Speed round of Upgrades and Downgrades
Upgraded: Zeppelins! (Beware if Christopher Walken is on board.)
Downgraded: Airport showers at LAX.
Upgraded, as much as possible: Regional jets.
Upgraded: Latin America; Downgraded: Easter Island.
Downgraded: Traveling bulldogs.
Downgraded: Business class meals at the hands of a NYT food critic. Shocking.

When free drinks aren’t welcome
Why would there be an uproar over an airline giving a customer a free bottle of wine? When that customer is a celebrity who just left rehab for alcoholism. A well-meaning Qantas flight attendant gave a bottle of red to singer Keith Urban, who apparently declined. But come on: give the flight attendant a break! Unless the airline is giving CIA-style background briefings about the passengers in the cabin, you can’t be expected to know the ins and outs of every celebrity’s (or every passenger’s) personal life. In fact, I was quite content to be blissfully unaware of Mr. Urban’s specific addiction before this imbroglio. (Thanks Dr. Vino!)

Group hug: Mergers and partnerships
JetBlue merging with Delta? Rumored, but unlikely. Brazil’s TAM and Germany’s Lufthansa? Not a merger, but a codesharing partnership. United is getting in on the hot codesharing action with TAM, too. Lufthansa also joined up with El Salvador’s TACA, already a United partner. Are the Star Alliance invitations far off? And keepin’ it Star, is Singapore Airlines buying China Eastern? They’re buying a piece, but how big will that piece be?…

Can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em?
British Airways, apparently in a response to the all-business class service from startups like Eos, Silverjet, and Maxjet, is considering rolling out all-premium service between unnamed European and American cities. Premium economy in the back, business in the front. No straight-up economy, and no first. (Thanks, Benet!)

Countdown to 7/8/07
Boeing has started assembling its first 787 Dreamliner, a plane manufactured in prefab pieces around the world and bolted together at the Everett factory. The debut is scheduled for July 8. 7/8/07… 787… har har har.

American updates website, makes it more like Southwest
American Airlines revamped their website, giving you an overview of the different fares you can book. The layout will be familiar, if you’ve ever booked on Southwest. Or Air Canada. Or Qantas. Or Ted. (Does anyone ever actually book tickets at the Ted site?)

Yapta comes alive!
Yapta, the service that tracks fares after you’ve bought, mentioned here last week, is now live.

Alaska Airlines downgrades their upgrades
If you used miles to upgrade flights on Alaska Airlines, you’ll have to buy far more expensive tickets in order to do so. Thumbs down. Gary Leff has the full scoop.

The New York Times’ Joe Sharkey, who was on board the Embraer jet that collided with the ill-fated Gol Airlines Boeing 737 over Brazil, has a firsthand account of the incident today. It’s a worthwhile read, in which he describes the moment of impact, the sight of the sheared-off winglet, the passengers’ serious but unpanicked demeanor, and the pilots’ focused (and ultimately successful) efforts to wrestle their damaged plane to a runway they didn’t realize existed. Go read the whole thing.

Since Sharkey wrote the piece, the cockpit voice recorders of the doomed 737 have been found, so we’ll hopefully learn soon what happened exactly, and how the larger plane could be taken out by the smaller one.

On his own blog, Sharkey has come under vituperative attack, largely by Brazilians, it seems, for expressing concern about the Embraer’s pilots who were held for questioning, and not expressing sufficient grief at the loss of the 155 passengers in the Boeing.

Give the guy a break. He’s clearly shaken up after a brush with death, and he’s grateful to the pilots who safely landed a plane that was starting to come apart. It’s only natural to think of things through the lens of your own experience.

Previously:
- How could this tragedy have happened?

(image: AP via NYT)

Lost privacy
If you’ve used hotels.com to book a room, your credit card information may have been stolen. The company should be contacting you if you’re affected. Yay.

Lost kids
Parents’ nightmare: United Airlines put an unaccompanied child on the wrong flight (sent him to South Bend instead of Taiwan), and left the South Bend-bound child at O’Hare. No word on whether their bags arrived in the proper city.

Lost marbles
Singapore cab driver converts his vehicle into a mobile karaoke unit. I wonder if his repertoire includes Sammy Hagar’s “I Can’t Drive 55.”

Lost fight
Virgin America says it won’t start flying until 2007, because Continental keeps filing objections with the Department of Transportation. Virgin promises fares 30 to 50 percent less than competitors on cross-country flights. Where have we seen this before?…

Lost lunch
Nervous about flying? Ever frightened when you’re coming in for a landing during serious crosswinds? This video of Boeing 777s and 747SPs doing test landings somewhere in Brazil might make you feel better about the ability of airliners to land safely in less than ideal conditions. Or it might just make you shout “holy crap!” repeatedly, like I did last night.

(image: ABC, via Honolulu Star-Bulletin, which describes how a former Eastern (and later Delta) L-1011 was destroyed in order to serve as a set piece for the TV series “Lost”)
tags: travel