TGIF Video #4-- Change is Delta

Yay! We survived another week! To celebrate, here is a video from Delta Airlines, from their 2007 rebranding. It talks about all of the various changes they've made to become a stronger carrier post-bankruptcy.

WN BIDS FOR F9!!!!!!!!

I never thought this would happen, but Dallas based Southwest Airlines put in a bid for Denver based Frontier Airlines!

They said that each carrier would remain independent brands, but it should be interesting to see how this plays out!

http://www.blogsouthwest.com/blog/southwest-bids-frontier-airlines

Here are some quotes from Southwest's Executive VP, Ron Ricks.

Q. Obviously, we are in a tough economic environment. What makes this the right time for Southwest to seek to acquire Frontier?

A. We have always prepared in good times to weather the bad times and to be able to take advantage of a good opportunity, like this one, when presented to us. We have the cash, access to capital, and collateral that allows us to take advantage of this existing opportunity and synergies between Southwest and Frontier. We believe this is an opportunity to expand our network with legendary low fares, add jobs into Southwest, and boost competition in Denver as well as other cities with our low fares and high quality Customer Service.

Q: Final thoughts?

A: From a Customer perspective, nothing today changes at either carrier. This is merely a preliminary step in the process. There are many details to be worked through, but we are excited about the opportunity to submit a bid. We see a strong fit between our Company cultures, a mutual commitment to high quality Customer Service, and our similar entrepreneurial roots. We are confident that our bid, if successful, will boost low-fare competition and benefit consumers in Denver and other cities our expanded network will serve.

"Grey One"...errr..."Silver One" to be painted.

Southwest's "Silver One" 25th anniversary logo jet is set to recieve the standard Canyon Blue paint job. They are repainting it, because they don't think that it's current paint job is not doing it justice....and they are very correct in that assumption! It used to look cool when it was actuallysilver, but now that it's grey...it looks ugly! I understand why they changed it, it was because it took a lot of money to maintain the metallic color, so they painted it with a shiney grey color. That color faded, so they decided to put it into the standard Canyon Blue color scheme. It will carry a special decal to remind us of their 25th anniversary.

TGIF Video #3 -- The Best Care in the Air

Sorry for bringing this in a day late, I have been really busy with other stuff, but I will try to update this blog as often as I can!

This week's video is from Kansas City's favorite airline --Midwest. This was from before their MCI hub, when they were known as "Midwest Express".

It has a really cheesey song, but it's still a good ad!

Gary Kelley on CNBC -- Earnings reports

Southwest Airlines Co. CEO, Gary Kelley on the Q2 earnings.

My luggage tag collection

I collect pretty much everything with an airline logo on it, and one of the biggest items which I collect are airline luggage tags! Every time I go to the airport I always walk around the ticket counters and pick these up!

Here is a small part of my collection of luggage tags. First is my collection of domestic (US & Canadian tags)

Next is my collection of International & special luggage tags.

All of these luggage tags are special because they are ones I usually don't see, and all of them were given to me by friends, relatives, teachers and airlines.

The ones on the botttom are plastic luggage tags, and the three on the left are from Southwest, the Skybus one is signed by their former CEO, Bill Diffenderffer, and then I have a Delta one with their new logo.

The row above that is filled with airlines that are no longer with us: America West, Song, and Trans World.

Above that are two luggage tags that are pre-9/11. On top of those are my very special luggage tags, because they are from airlines I don't usually see, or they are really unique. The Virgin America tag is in that collection, because it is signed by former VX CEO Fred Reid on the back!

Then the top row is really special to my collection, because they are from airlines that are really hard to get in the United States-- Cathay Pacific, and Pakistan International. Then the blue tag to the right of the PIA one is probably the most unique in my collection. It is from the Original Frontier Airlines!

The Leaders: British Airways CEO Willie Walsh

An interview with BA CEO, Willie Walsh.

It is pretty interesting. He discusses his former job with Aer Lingus, and BA's current state.

TGIF Video #2 --Proud to bear the name American

Last Friday I brought you a commercial from my favorite airline--Southwest. Today I will share a video from another one of my favorite airlines, that is also based in Dallas--American!

It is one of the commercials they aired shortly after 9/11.

JetAmerica = Dead

While we were all expecting this day to come, and unfortunately it didn't come 2 days ago (otherwise I would've won the pool! lol, jk!)

I'm not really surprised about this though...a part of me wanted them to work out, but an airline that offered $9 fares, delayed start-up dates, and had slot-issues...umm...not gonna work!

Sorry to everybody who bought tickets with them! I guess you'll have to find a new airline to fly with!

Here is a quote from John Weikle, CEO of JetAmerica

"We are reluctantly suspending our public charter operations effective today...Finalizing the slots required to support our charter program at Newark has taken longer than expected and we have decided to suspend our flights in order to refocus on different markets."

I really wanted to see a ULCC work in the United States, but I guess not! (I really wish we had an American version of Michael O'Leary!...now that would be interesting!...I am not saying Mr. Weikle would be that person, but one day we should have one!)

http://consumerist.com/5317303/jetamerica-crashes-and-burns-business-plan+wise

If we could pretend to have your attention....

The safety information demonstration is presented on every flight....do you always listen to it???

I know that not all of you pay attention to it, but if you had these flight attendants on your flights, you certainly would!

Dave the rapping flight attendant's safety demo!

The safety demo presented by "Charlie and his two angels" - lol

Thanks to Sal for telling me about these videos!

"Mickey"

No...I'm not talking about the mouse! I'm talking about my hometown commercial airport, MCI! (among some of the locals it is known as "Mickey"!)

Every once in a while I will try to bring you guys some of my thoughts on various airports I have been to, where I will talk about ease of use, my thoughts about the airport, and the best locations to spot! This is my first report like this, and it will be over Kansas City International Airport (MCI/KMCI) .

Kansas City International Airport

Located in Missouri, 20 minutes away from Kansas City, MCI is a great airport. It has a "drive to your gate" design, which makes it one of the highest ranking airports in the country, in terms of ease-of-use.

The experience:

Checking in usually takes no time at all, and after you check in you walk to security, which is at most a 45 second walk from the check in desk!

Here is the view of when you step through the doors of MCI...your at the desk!

Security at MCI is very efficient, and it doesn't take too much time to go through security....but the TSA in Kansas City aren't always the friendliest people in the world!

Once you are in the gate area....you're on your own! There are VERY LIMITED food options! A couple of years ago there was NOTHING post-security, but now the airport has added little stations that sell food and beverage items, which are very expensive! (but what else is new? everything post-security at almost every airport is very expensive!)

I haven't visited all of the terminals yet, but a couple of years ago there were no bathrooms post-security, and to go to the restroom you had to get outside of security, and go through it again! I know that this has changed in some of the gate areas, such as the Southwest gates in terminal B, but I am not sure about the other airlines.

Shops, Terminal + Thoughts:

The shopping options at MCI are not very good....but who seriously goes to the airport to shop? There are several stores that offer the basics, like candy, magazines etc...oh, but you can find "The Wizard of Oz" items in various shops throughout the airport! --even though MCI is technically not in Kansas (it's in Missouri!)

The terminals at MCI are very easy to navigate....they are just big semi-circles! They are designed really nicely, and have huge windows in areas which provide a very good view of aircraft movements! The tile on the floor is especially nice! It isn't the cheap and disgusting tile you would see at every other airport, it is a nice shade of blue, and looks very professional!

As an airline geek, I do have to say...this airport sucks! This is a very spotter un-friendly airport! This is one of those airports that doesn't seem to like people who like aviation. There are no good spotting locations, and if you do go spotting, you will probably be approached by security. I really wish that they set up a program like some other airports have, to help promote aviation among the community. (I think LAX and YYZ have programs like this) But the movements here aren't good anyways...unless you are into seeing a bunch of Southwest, Midwest, and regional jets! ....although that seems to be a majority of the traffic, we do get aircraft such as the 757 from UA and AA, as well as MD-80s, 737s, and A320s from other airlines as well...

As you can see from this picture, it isn't always busy.

Even though spotting isn't the easiest or the best at this airport, the baggage claim areas have huge windows where you can watch planes taxi by! The windows cause discoloration of photos, and have really bad reflections, but if you are watching planes for the fun of it, it is still a good location!

The MCI Difference

I feel that there is one thing that Kansas City International Airport has that no other airport in the US has.....the best people! I have never run into a disgruntled employee at MCI, and everybody is very helpful. A good example of this was a couple of years ago I was coming back from a trip on Delta, I accidentally left an item on the aircraft, and didn't realize it. As I was walking out of the airport, a Delta employee came up to my family and handed the item back. I don't even know how he knew it belonged to us, but I was really happy that they made the effort and was able to return the item!

Kansas City International Airport also has "ambassadors" and there are a lot of them located throughout the airport. They are there to make sure everybody gets where they are going, and to assist anybody who needs help. They are really friendly, and are really fun to talk to! I've seen other airports with similar programs, but the people at MCI are a lot more friendly!

Conclusion

Overall Kansas City International Airport is one of the best I have ever been to! While to an airline geek, it sucks due to lack of interesting movements, it is still an amazing place. It is probably the easiest to use airport in the entire US, and the people are very nice.

Hopefully you enjoyed reading my thoughts about Kansas City International Airport! I will try to do more of these in the future, and if you want to write a report about your favorite airport and have it posted on here, contact me at ual757@gmail.com

YX EMB-190!!!!

The Midwest/Republic (in YX colors) has been spotted in Lisbon!!!!

It is on delivery inspection, so the rudder is missing! But I think that it looks good! (despite how I feel about how much they've changed in the past few years....but what can I do?)

Here is a link to a picture of it! --I couldn't post the picture on here, sorry about that!

http://www.airliners.net/uf/view.file?id=536976049&filename=phpqHuFkL.jpeg

United breaks Guitars

Every other travel related blog has posted this....so I guess I will also!

United Airlines passenger David Caroll had his guitar broken on a flight from Halifax to Chicago. He claims he and other passengers saw it being thrown around by the baggage handlers at ORD. United has said they wouldn't pay for the damages to the $3,500 guitar, so he created this catchy song about it! :)

Thanks to Rithvik for sending this in!

JetAmerica delays start date

JetAmerica has delayed the day it is going to begin its date of operations.

If you guys don't know about JetAmerica...here is a brief summary of what they are. They are a start-up airline that plans to offer nine seats for $9 on each flight. Their flights will be operated by Miami Air, and they are planning on selling seats as a public charter until they can become a fully independent part 121 carrier.

Anyways, Jet America was originally supposed to start July 13th, but now it is pushed to August 14th.

Why did they do that??? Well, they were having some slot issues with Newark.

Here is what they said in an email sent out to all of their customers who are affected:

Dear JetAmerica Customer, First, we thank you for your support in purchasing a ticket on Sun America d/b/a JetAmerica ("JetAmerica"). Unfortunately, however, you are receiving this notice to inform you that due to landing slot issues in Newark, that we are going to have to delay our first flights 30 days until August 14th.

When we started planning your flight months ago, we were not required as an Indirect Air Carrier to have landing and takeoff slots at Newark's Liberty International Airport; however, due to recent policy clarifications, even Indirect Air Carriers now have to have slots into and out of Newark. We just found out about this on May 30th and have been working hard to acquire the slots from the FAA and other airlines; but, as of today, not all the paperwork has been prepared for our signature guaranteeing our arrival and departure slots in July and early August.

I guess my plans of flying into the ever-so-interesting town of Toledo, Ohio for $9 before school starts are ruined.... :|

Nobody serves our republic like Republic!

While the old Republic Airlines of the 70's and 80's is history, the new Republic Airways is growing and making a ton of changes! They have a route network that can now serve our country a whole lot better because they recently bought out two of my favorite airlines: Midwest and Frontier!

While I didn't have many feelings for Frontier (besides loving their humorous commercials!), their buy out of Midwest really affected a lot of my friends.

A couple of my friends had parents who used to work for Midwest Airlines, and they were laid off due to the tough economic environment.

I've really seen Midwest go through some really drastic changes that I never thought would be happening. I never expected them to partner with Republic and to get rid of their 717s, but I guess that is what they need to do in order to survive.

A couple days ago an announcement came out that they will start using the EMB-135!!! Seriously? I'm sure it would look nice in the YX livery, but I am very sad to hear that they went from The best care in the air using a fleet of MD-80s and 717s, and now all they are using is a bunch of regional jets!!!

I really hope that Republic can fix YX and F9, and let them remain independant and strong brands!

TGIF video #1 -- Remember what it was like before there was sombody else up there who LUVed you?

Every Friday I will try to bring you a cool video.

I had to start off this with a video from my favorite airline -- Southwest! (if you couldn't tell by the banner at the top, I am a total Southwest nut!)

This is one of their early commercials from 1972, and it is one of my favorite airline commercials of all time!

Hello

Hey everyone!

This is my blog! I will be updating it shortly, but it will mainly be about aviation!

I will share what I know, and hopefully you all will provide me with some insight on the airline industry too! :)

I look forward to posting more on this blog!

-Jaspreet