Airline Travel Issues and Hurricanes

The AirSafe.com News has a new post up, Airline Travel Issues and Hurricanes. Dr. Todd Curtis of AirSafe.com reviews some of the steps that air passengers should take if a hurricane or tropical storm approaches. He also provides some useful links, including the FAA Flight Delay Information page where you can easily view delays at a number of U.S. airports.

Here comes hurricane Gustav

The Air Transport Association issued this statement:

“ATA and its member airlines are closely monitoring Hurricane Gustav as it enters the Gulf of Mexico. ATA member carriers serving airports in the storm’s projected path have begun communicating with passengers on policies regarding easing of travel restrictions as well as how passenger travel plans may be affected. And, as in the past, ATA and its members will remain diligent in monitoring weather developments and adjusting operations as necessary in order to serve customers and coordinate fully with federal, state and local government authorities and airports.”

The ATA has a webpage with travel updates and carrier announcements concerning the hurricane.

Less passengers during U.S. Labor Day

The Air Transport Association of America (ATA) forecasts that passengers levels for global travel on U.S. airlines will decline 5.7% during the 2008 Labor Day holiday period versus the same period last year.

High energy prices across the economy, rising airfares and airline schedule cuts are the primary drivers of the overall reduction in passenger volumes expected for this period. Sustained triple-digit fuel costs not only have forced airlines to cut back service – resulting in fewer seats available for domestic flights – but they also have taken a toll on customers’ spending power.

The ATA recommends these tips:

• 24 hours or less prior to departure, visit your carrier’s Web site and print out boarding passes (if possible); check flight status and determine what type of meal service will be offered; be aware of carrier carry-on and checked-baggage policies, and plan accordingly

• Place amenities in carry-on bag, including prescriptions or other medicines and snacks (and for those traveling with children, baby food/diapers) in case of delay

• If carrying liquids or gels in a carry-on bag, pack them in a one-quart zip-top bag and place them in a readily accessible location. Familiarize yourself with the list of TSA permitted and prohibited items

• Remove extraneous metal objects (e.g., coins, keys, pens, cell phone, watch, camera) and place them in carry-on baggage and pack simply for security screening

• Have your government-issued identification and boarding pass ready at the security-screening checkpoint

• Consider purchasing bottled water or other liquids after the security checkpoint

• Tag each bag, inside and out, with traveler name and contact information, and remove all destination baggage tags from previous trips

Aviation New Media Meetup

Courtney Miller and I hosted an online gathering of aviation new media types on Sunday, August 10, 2008. Participating were aviation podcasters, bloggers, and social community people who talked about their current online activities and their plans for the future.

While these communities relate to aviation, they really span a variety of purposes and media types. I don’t think there is a lot of overlap between them in terms of content and style – they’ve all got something different to appeal to aviation professionals and enthusiasts.

One thing the creators of these sites did seem to share was a strong passion for aviation and bringing content to others. It’s all about involvement and community, sharing interests and knowledge, and engaging the audience where possible.

You’ll hear the following on the podcast:

Roger Bishop and Mike Souders from the Indy Transponder blog.

Rod Rakic from the myTransponder.com aviation social community.

Harry Love from the Jetrecord site.

Pilot Will and Daveflys from The Pilots Flight PodLog.

Dan Webb from the Dan Webb blog.

Rob Mark from the Jetwhine blog.

Ted Erickson from the AviationBull blog.

Stephen Force from the Airspeed podcast.

Bill Williams from the Student Pilot Cast podcast.

Dr. Todd Curtis from AirSafe.com and the Conversation at AirSafe.com podcasts.

Court Miller and Max Flight from the Airplane Geeks Podcast.

The session was carried live on the TalkShoe service and is available for download now as Episode 10 of the Airplane Geeks Podcast.

Listen, enjoy, be motivated, and join in.

Max

Pam Ann

A series of video parodies about flying and flight crews by a UK comedian who has been a Flight Attendant for 40 years. She actually did some TV ads for British Air and says, "I often feel as if I am transporting the entire Jerry Springer audience from A to B."




More at PamAnn.com

Aviation New Media Meetup

On Sunday, August 10th at 8:00 pm EST, Courtney Miller and I will be hosting a live, interactive episode of the Airplane Geeks Podcast.

This episode will be devoted to a discussion of aviation-related social communities, such as blogs, podcasts, forums, and especially emerging communities like myTransponder.com. We’ll examine the aviation communities available today, where these online communities are headed, and what we’d like to see from them in the future.

This live “meetup” will be of interest to those who operate these aviation communities, as well as to those who participate in them.

We will be using TalkShoe.com for our interactive episode. This requires a free registration if you’d like to participate in the conversation, but anyone can listen live without registration.

Since we’ll have limited time on Sunday, we’re taking “reservations” for those who would like to join us in a speaking role. For the first ten people who email us with their website, blog, or podcast, Court and I guarantee we’ll get you in. The rest will be taken as time allows. Please email us at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com to ensure you get your air time.

Find the Meetup on TalkShoe at: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/23486
The call-in phone number is: (724) 444-7444
The Call ID is: 23486

You can call into the above number with any land line, or with Skype if you have SkypeOut. As an alternative, you can use TalkShoe’s VOIP client which is a free download after registering at TalkShoe.

Between now and Sunday you can find the latest information at http://www.airplanegeeks.com/live/. Please visit this page regularly for updates.


We hope you can join us and feel free to contact us if you have any questions or thoughts:

thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com
voice mail at (812) 757-4252

Max Flight

The ATA stand on slot auctions

The Air Transport Association continues to speak out against the Department of Transportation proposal to action off landing slots at New York/New Jersey airports. They've found a friend at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey:

“ATA agrees with the Port Authority’s assessment that the DOT’s proposed auction rules are unwise and unlawful. We share the Port Authority’s concerns with the DOT’s slot auction proposal and with its threat to add still more congestion to the region. We are carefully reviewing the Port Authority’s proposed notice,” said ATA President and CEO James C. May. “Instead of providing the infrastructure that we all need, the DOT is trying to hide its failure behind an economics experiment to ration air service. Sadly, this illegal scheme will do nothing to reduce air traffic congestion or to meet the region’s and the nation’s need for air transportation.”

You always know where the ATA stands on the issues!