Archive for the ‘airlines’ Category
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
I don’t think that the people at LAX are going to fight back against this horrible video from the people at SFO by making a similarly lame commercial attacking SFO. ’Cause, you know, LAX is too big for that. But maybe the few international fliers (perhaps a dozen or two so far) who’ve seen the purportedly humorous vid will maybe begin to think that maybe there’s something wrong with the “Bad Airport” in Los Angeles and then they’ll be more likely to come up to our neck of the woods on their way to some other U.S. destination.
Of course, if foggy San Mateo County is having one of its foggy days, there’s a chance that, due to SFO’s substandard runway separation, any given transpacific flight coming into SFO will divert to Los Angeles anyway.
Coming into SFO from Australasia on a tiny Airbus A320 series – perhaps they used aerial refueling? (Fuzzed-out vertical stabilizer in original.) (Beautiful(?) sulphur yellow skies in original.)
This happy fellow here doesn’t have a choice on which California airport he can go to as QANTAS Airbus A380’s only go to LAX. Oh well.
And the upcoming Fly Girls featuring Virgin America will be based in Los Angeles despite the fact that Virgin America is based at SFO. Oh well.
But at least all the white people in the high school AV club spends a day at the airport style video are one step closer to getting their SAG cards. (Seriously, there are like twenty people featured, including Mayor Gavin Newsom, and they’re all white with one lone exception. Looks more like Sea-Tac than SFO…)
Anyway, who knows, maybe this smarmy production will take off, you know, virally.
Nevertheless, We Are Lessened For It.
On behalf of San Francisco, I would like to apologize to all who reside in Los Angeles County. We just lost our heads, we’ll try to make it up to you all.
Tags: ad, airport, auckland, aukland, australia, brisbane, diversion, fog, i wanna fly through sfo, i wanna go through sfo, lax, los angeles, new zealand, San Francisco, SFO, youtube
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Monday, March 1st, 2010
You know the JetBlue and the Virgin America, right? Let’s review:
“JetBlue Airways is an American low-cost airline…”
“Virgin America, Inc. is a United States-based low-cost airline…”
Well, check out what the suits attending the American Association of Advertising Agencies’ Transformation 2010 convention at the Hilton San Francisco Union Sqaure are paying to fly in from and back to the Big Apple, assuming they’re stuck in the coach section during this Great Recession:
Click to expand
See that? United, Delta, American and Continental all were quoting airfares less than $300, and the ”low-cost airlines” were the most expensive.
Perhaps sexy new Virgin America and JetBlue should be called premium airlines these days?
Just asking…
Tags: 2010, 333, advertising, agencies, air, airfare, airlines, airport, American, association, City, continental, convention, delta, Hilton, jet blue, jfk, low cost, new york, o'farrell, San Francisco, SFO, street, traditional, transformation, transformation 2010, union square, united, virgin, virgin america
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Friday, February 26th, 2010
San Francisco-based Virgin America Airlines has its own “docu-series” starting up on March 24th at 9:30 PM on the CW – it’s called Fly Girls (and it’s not to be confused with the In Living Color/Jennifer Lopez kind of Fly Girls from the 90’s).
Take a look. Meet Mandalay, a local “girl” who’s a Virgin America flight attendant based out of SFO in real life. Listen to her go on about the “romance of aviation” and the benefits of choosing Virgin America, the only California-based airline left by the way.
Barbie, Skipper, and the ”ethnic girlfriends of Barbie“ (or, more politely, a ”mini- United Nations of races and ethnicities“) are coming soon to KBCW-TV channel 44 / 45 and all the CW stations across America. Oh yes, their “real” names (or “reel” names) are Tasha, Louise, Mandy (or Mandi), Nikole and Farrah:
Doesn’t this promo shot from the CW Network of former beauty queen Nikole look just like a Virgin America ad?
This show is going to be something like eight half-hour Virgin America infomercials complete with 30-second commercials for shampoo and cosmetics. Nevertheless, it’s going to be better than NBC’s high-budget San Francisco-based Trauma serial, that’s a given from the get-go. (Wonder if cheeky Virgin Airlines founder Sir Richard Branson will make an appearance or two…)
Just discovered that my aging Trinitron (that could be older than you) actually receives channel 44 so I’ll be sure to tune in to check out the debut.
Excelsior, Ever Upward.
Now, meet the Fly Girls and get more deets after the jump.
Farrah Williams
Hometown Airport: LAX
Must Have Travel Accessories: Lip balm and a camera
Travel Tips: “Be nice to fellow travelers and flight attendants. It makes for a more pleasant experience all the way around.”
Security Checkpoint Tips: “Don’t make eye contact. Strip down quick so you’re not holding up the line.”
Years with Virgin America: 2 ½
Louise Nguyen
Hometown Airport: LAX (currently SFO)
Must Have Travel Accessories: Moisturizer and lip balm
Travel Tips: “While on the plane, always wear your shoes in the restroom!”
Security Checkpoint Tips: “Get in line behind someone who has already taken their shoes off, and who is not juggling a ton of things in their hands, and then do the same.”
Years with Virgin America: 2
Mandy Roberts
Hometown Airport: PHX (currently SFO)
Must Have Travel Accessory: A big, soft pashmina that can be used as a pillow or blanket.
Travel Tips: “Drink an endless amount of water.”
Security Checkpoint Tips: “Wear slip-on shoes with socks, if possible. It’s yucky to wait in line with bare feet on the dirty floor.”
Years with Virgin America: 2
Nikole Rubyn
Hometown Airport: SMF (Sacramento)
Must Have Travel Accessory: Visine
Travel Tips: “Always wear or bring socks with you to walk through security!”
Security Checkpoint Tips: “Don’t wear all of your jewelry to the airport, keep it in small bags and put it on after you get through security.”
Years with Virgin America: 2
Tasha Dunnigan
Hometown Airport: SMF (Sacramento)
Must Have Travel Accessory: Cell phone
Travel Tips: “Don’t forget your common sense at home.”
Security Checkpoint Tips: “Have all of your things in order and pay attention.”
Years with Virgin America: 2
“Fly Girls” is from Collins Avenue Productions, with executive producers Jeff Collins (“Bridezilla 3, 4 & 5,” “The Exterminators”) and Colin Nash (“The Hills,” “The City”) and co-executive producers Larry Bond and Porter Gale.
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Tags: "ethnic girlfriends of Barbie, 12, 2010, 24, 4.4, 45, 6005, ad, advertising, airlines, airport, Alternative Programming, Ambhar Tequila, America, Banana Republic, Barbie, based, bay area, Belvedere Vodka, c. w., cable, channel, Colin Nash, Collins Avenue, Collins Avenue Productions, doc, docu, docu-series, docudrama, documentary, doll, drama, Elevate, Farrah, Farrah Williams, film, filming, flight, flight attendants, florida, fly girls, hometown, hub, info, infomercial, Jeff Collins, Kristen Vadas, la, Lagasse's Stadium, Larry Bond, las vegas, launch party, lax, los angeles, Louise, Louise Nguyen, mandalay, Mandi, Mandy, Mandy Roberts, march, mercial, miami, network, nevada, new york, nichole, Nikole, Nikole Rubyn, Palazzo, phx, Porter, Primetime Fare Sale, Productions, reality, red, red carpet, richard branson, sacramento, San Francisco, Senior Vice President, series, SFO, show, sir, Skipper, smf, stew, stewardess, stewardesses, Tasha, Tasha Dunnigan, teammates, television, The CW, The Hills, TV, TY KU, VeeV, VeeV Acai Spirit, VeeVa La Fly Girls, virgin, virgin america, VX, wednesdays, wifi
Posted in TV, advertising, airlines | No Comments »
Monday, January 11th, 2010
How much would you expect from Amtrak if you paid $145 to board the California Zephyr in Emeryville, CA on January 3rd, 2010 with the expectation of getting to Chicago in a day-and-a-half? Well, what if your fellow passengers called this ride the “Train From Hell” or something?
How did it get that name? Well, the train arrived in Illinois almost a day late a few days back due to it hitting a truck abandoned on the tracks(!) and encountering snowdrifts higher than an elephant’s eye in Nebraska and other typical travel issues.
The number of deaths and injuries continues to be reported as zero. So how does that earn this particular Zephyr the sobriquet “Train From Hell” or whatever?
Amtrak’s CZ on a happier day:
via Patrick Rasenberg
Perhaps Amtrak’s riders took a lesson from the whiny passengers of Flight 1549, famously piloted by CoCo County’s Captain “Sully” Sullenberger? Those particular airline passengers are getting at least $15k-$20k, plus free traumatic stress counseling sessions, plus a refund of their ticket cost, plus upgrades to first class on other flights for the past year, etc., and yet some of them are still whining.
Sometimes when you travel, Things Happen.* Please make a note of this.
Lower your expectations and you’ll never be disappointed…
*People used to die on jetliners – not Beechcrafts nor Cessnas oh no, we’re talking about your Boeings, Airbuses, Lockheeds, McDonnell Douglasseses – people would board and then die, it happened all the time. But how many passengers have died due to jetliner crashes in America since 2001 (which was a bad year, of course)? That’s a Big Fat Zero.
So count your blessings the next time a flock of birds or a pickup or a snowstorm or an Act of God or an Act of Gaia wettens your iPod and/or delays your Journey Through Life.
Tags: 1549, a.i.g., aig, airways, American International Group, amtrak, attorneys, ca, california, chicago, cold, counseling, Damien, delay, drifts, emeryville, flight, food, hell, hotel, iowa, Kreindler, Kreindler & Kreindler, lawsuit, lawyers, LLP, nebraska, passengers, pickup, settlement, snow, son, state, Tess Sosa, therapy, TRACKS, train from hell, truck, U.S., zephyr
Posted in airlines, transit | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
Well, you can read the press release below. Or better yet, check out the refreshingly frank Wikipedia entry on Swiss International Air Lines and/or the prior SwissAir, which followed the Mckinsey & Company’s “Hunter Strategy” for too long. (You can read about that fiasco in B-School.)
Billions of bailout dollars (or whatever) later, the Swiss sort of have a vibrant national carrier again.
Anyway, if you’re flying to Switzerland, this will do. The Airbus A340 jumbo is nobody’s idea of a successful design (what with its surplus of fuel-sucking engines in this Big Twin Era), but it’ll get you there and back, six days a week, as a pampered guest of SWISS CEO Harry Hohmeister (his real name, srsly).
Imagine this bird at SFO:
And British Airways isn’t pleased about this development at all, but oh well.
All the deets after the jump.
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Tags: 2, 2009, 2010, 340, a340, airbus, airport, boston, carrier, chicago, crossair, gavin newsom, Harry Hohmeister, international, International Air Lines, june, los angeles, Ltd, LX 38, LX 39, Mayor, miami, montreal, new york, Newark, non-stop, San Francisco, service, SFO, SFO-ZRH, Swiss, SWISS Business, SWISS Economy, SWISS First, Swiss International Air Lines Ltd, swissair, switzerland, ZRH, ZRH-SFO, zurich
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Friday, April 3rd, 2009
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) woodpeckers are hot in San Francisco these days, what with all the attention they’re getting from City Lights Luminary and craigslist founder Craig Newmark and SFWeekly.
Here’s a female spotted two days back at the ”Blair Witchy“ Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve on University of California land above UCSF. Maybe she’s the life partner of the male Craig recently saw in his backyard located lower down the hill? Could be.
Click to expand
Also known as a ”clape, gaffer woodpecker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, yarrup, or gawker bird.”
Love your polka dots, little Flicker.
Tags: backyard, bird, california, chronicle, city lights, Clape, Craig, craigslist, female, flicker, flickr, gaffer, gawker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, mount sutro, newmark, newspaper, northern, northern flicker, open space, orange, red, San Francisco, sfgate, sfweekly, shaft, shafted, sutro, tree, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, woodpecker, yarrup
Posted in airlines | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
The thing you’ve got to realize, is that sometimes things just happen. It’s not your fault, it’s not anyone else’s fault, it’s just, you know, things happen. Kind of like the time spokesmodel and romance novel cover-boy Fabio got hit in the face with a bird when he was on a roller coaster. Whose fault was that?
That’s something to ponder when you consider the whining of some of the passengers of famous Flight 1549, piloted by Bay Area local Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. You see, they gots to get more money than they’ve gotten so far from U.S. Airways
Of course, the airline isn’t done talking with people yet:
“US Airways Vice President Jim Olson says that an insurance claims specialist is contacting passengers and that they’ll be reimbursed for expenses or losses above $5,000. The airline wants to ensure no passenger is “losing money for the inconvenience or anything lost during the accident,” he says”
But that doesn’t stem the whining. Obviously, this was a traumatic event, but unless passengers want to allege something about defective engines (as Geraldo Rivera seems to be doing) or negligent bird vigilance by somebody, then maybe these passengers should be happy to take the five G’s, file any additional claims and then move on with their lives.
Just saying.
An old story:
A grandmother is sitting at the beach, watching her young grandson play in the water. Suddenly, an enormous wave crashes over the boy’s head, and when it recedes, the boy is gone, washed out to sea. Frantic, the grandmother cries out to God, “Lord, what has my grandson done to deserve this? Please bring him back to me, and I’ll forever be grateful to you!” Moments later, another enormous wave crashes against the shoreline, returning the boy to the beach, soaked but unharmed. He begins happily digging in the sand, oblivious to what just occurred. The grandmother looks at the boy, then raises her head to the sky. She shouts, “He had a hat!”
Today, this tale could be updated by replacing the word “hat” with Blackberry, or cell phone, PSP, whatever.
Oh well.
Tags: 320, a320, a320-214, aa, airbus, airlines, airport, airways, American, B., bay area, bird, button, california, capt., Captain, charlotte, chesley, Chesley b. Sullenberger, chesley sullenberger, co-pilot, Contra Costa, crew, D.C., danville, ditch, ditching, east bay, f-4, f4, facebook, fans, fighter, flight, flight 1540, geese, hero, hudson, II, iii, inauguration, Jeff Skiles, jew, jewish, manhattan, N106US, nc, north carolina, ny, nyc, obama, phantom, pilot, reliability, river, safety, safety reliability methods, strike, sullenberger, sullenburger, sully, U.S., Washington
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Thursday, January 15th, 2009
Airline pilot and local Contra Costa County webmaster (www.safetyreliability.com!, that’s his URL, srsly) really pulled the fat out of the fire today by properly ditching his crippled Airbus 320 into the Hudson River. Will he make an appearance at the upcoming Obama Presidential Inaugural Celebration or State of the Union address? (Signs point to YES.)
This former USAF fighter pilot will be soon be the talk of his small East Bay hometown: Danville, CA . [Update: It's happened already - the MSM has staked out his family's "spacious house" and talked to the neighbors, so the fam is hiding out in the dark, sustaining themselves on take-out fast food delivered by friends. Well, here he is, the man with "twinkly, fatherly eyes"]
www.safetyreliability.com The eye twinkling here is assisted by on-camera flash catchlights and Photoshop’s unsharp mask (USM) function, set at 20, 60, 0. Click to expand
Did he or co-pilot Jeff Skiles of Oregon, Wisconsin press the Airbus 320 “ditch button?” Maybe. That jet certainly floated like a cork for a while. Apparently, “pressing the guarded “DITCHING” button causes the pressurization system to send a “CLOSE” command to:
- the outflow valve,
- the emergency ram air inlet,
- the avionics ventilation inlet and extract valves,
- the pack flow control valves
thereby making the aircraft fuselage as watertight as possible and hopefully enabling it to stay afloat long enough for everyone to get out before it sinks.” The More You Know… Hey Boeing, do you have something simple like this?
It appears ”Sully” did a masterful job all around, especially when you consider the fact that the temperature of the water was “likely much colder” than 20 degrees(!), per WCBS. (You know, some captains don’t always go the extra mile for passengers when the ship is going down.)
N106US from less eventful times, in its old livery. Via Drewski2112 Click to enlarge.
And speaking of safety, has any large (100 passengers or so and up) commercial jet airplane gotten in a crash that killed a paying passenger in America since the end of 2001? I can’t think of any flights where that’s happened. Good for us. The trend is our our friend, isn’t it? Of course, the fashion these days is having large jets with just two engines (instead of three or four). When you’re heading into a flock of birds, it would probably be nicer to have more engines than less, but this kind of thing is a fairly rare occurance.
Now, San Francisco’s SFO has had its fair share of birdstrike victims, including Virgin America Flight 837 (yes Air Colbert, named after Stephen Colbert) and, speaking of Virgin Airlines, a Virgin Boeing 747 back in 1995. Let’s hope the growing geese population of the Bay Area doesn’t start hanging out at airports. But let’s leave that issue for another day.
Today, it’s three cheers for old-school, safe, reliable, Facebook.com cover-boy, possible nominee for U.S. Senate representing New York Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III!
[Update: For some odd reason, a colossal number of people are searching Google right now using the terms "sullenberger jewish?" and "wesley sullenburger jew." I don't know the answer, but the question itself must be, in the words of famous local playwright Josh Kornbluth, "Good for the Jews".]
Tags: 1540, 320, a320, a320-214, aa, airbus, airlines, airport, airways, American, B., bay area, bird, button, california, capt., Captain, charlotte, chesley, Chesley b. Sullenberger, chesley sullenberger, co-pilot, Contra Costa, crew, D.C., danville, ditch, ditch switch, ditching, east bay, f-4, f4, facebook, fans, fighter, flight, geese, hero, hudson, II, iii, inauguration, Jeff Skiles, jew, jewish, la guardia, lga, manhattan, N106US, nc, north carolina, ny, nyc, obama, phantom, pilot, reliability, river, safety, safety reliability methods, strike, sullenberger, sullenburger, sully, U.S., Washington
Posted in airlines | 20 Comments »
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
From yesterday, here it is at SFO: a brand spanking new Emirates Boeing 777-200 LR (Longer Range) straight out of Dubai, on a non-stop flight that lasted almost two-thirds of a day. Click to expand:
Captain Marc, after having flown part of the flight in from the United Arab Emirates:
And this was the reception, starring His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline:
Gina Antonini, until recently a star athelete at UC Berkeley, addressed the crowd on behalf of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is into the idea of Green Flights. What made this flight green? Lots of things, including a continuous decent over Northern California:
San Francisco International Airport Director John Martin, the aforementioned HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, and Steve Kava, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Chief of Staff, all fielded questions at the presser:
And look who’s asking questions – it’s pugnacious New York Times aviation repoter Joe Sharkey, who seemed to be in pretty good shape despite the efforts of the Brazilian aviation system to kill him a few years back. (For now and forever, Nobody Leans on Sharkey’s Machine.)
The mood was jovial, despite the concerns expressed by Mssrs. Matier and Ross, Ashley Harrell and KGO-TV:
Speaking of which, Emirates released a pretty emphatic statement this afternoon:
“Emirates is in full compliance with the laws of the city of San Francisco, the state of California and the United States. Emirates is also in compliance with the Human Rights Commission.
Emirates does not discriminate in hiring in any way, including hiring based on sexual orientation, hiring of single pregnant women or hiring based on weight. We require our cabin crew employees to undergo a medical evaluation to confirm their ability to meet the requirements of the physically-demanding job, but we do not discriminate in hiring based on the results of those findings. Our hiring process is based purely on job qualification.
Emirates is committed to fair practices in employment and hiring in all countries in which we operate. We look forward to serving the Bay Area community.”
Boutros M. Boutros
Senior Vice President, Media Relations, Sponsorships and Events
Emirates Group
So, smiles everyone, smiles!:
Let’s say good bye to Boeing’s big twin…
…as it travels up through Canada, over the pole and down Russia way.
Thursday’s flight is already fully booked, so it looks like EK225 / EK 226 will be a success at SFO.
And if that pans out, maybe we’ll see the A380 superjumbo back at SFO on a regular basis.
Will Dubai become the Hub of Everything? Only Time Will Tell.
More nitty gritty after the jump.
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Tags: 200, 772c, 777, 777-200, 777-200LR, arab, boeing, EK225, EK226, emirates, er, extended range, green flight, long range, longer range, San Francisco, SFO, united
Posted in airlines | 2 Comments »
Saturday, November 29th, 2008
If you fly First or Business Class on Emirates, a mechanical robot will be happy to pick you up and take you to SFO for free. You’ll know he’s ready for you when the yellow light embedded in his forehead turns on.
At least that’s the way things seem after seeing this creepy MUNI bus ad.
Click to expand:
Of course, things could be worse.
Tags: ad muni, bus, chauffeur, emirates, hat, light, San Francisco, yellow
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