Don’t you think?
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Oh, and white clouds.
Archive for the ‘airlines’ Category
OMG, LAN Airlines Gave Away Hundreds of Round-Trip Tickets to South America at a Random Oakland Restaurant Last Night?
Thursday, January 24th, 2013Yes.
Yes it did.
Just look at these happy patrons over at Jack London Square’s Bocanova restaurant.
Thusly:
And thusly:
Man, if I had knowed, I would have loaded up the Land Cruiser with eight souls and headed on over there.
And then I’d have been off to Sud America to see Paradise Falls or to party like an impossible-to-fire BART spokesmodel or to do something, man.
Damn!
Well-played, LAN Airlines.
Well–played, Edelman PR
All the deets after the jump.
If You Fear the Beard, Then You Should Fly the Beard: Look What Virgin Air Did to the San Francisco Giants A320
Friday, January 18th, 2013
Virgin America Makes a Deal with Uber Cab – Earn Air Miles While on the Ground, or Something
Thursday, September 13th, 2012Sorry Lyft. It turns out that it’s Uber what’s “revolutionizing personal transportation” these days. See below.
I’m a cowboy/ With a pink ‘stache I ride/ Wanted/ Dead or alive:
All right, now back to Uber. I think they’re legal now. Good for them!
(But Virgin, please don’t let San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee find out about the whole “Silicon Valley’s Airline” thing – you know, he’s having a bad year.)
“Virgin America Hitches A Ride With Uber: First-ever Uber Frequent Flyer Partnership Offers A Seamless, Connected Travel Experience From Ride To Roll - Silicon Valley’s Airline Offers Elevate® Frequent Flyer Benefits to New Uber Users
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept.12, 2012 — Virgin America, the award-winning California-based airline, announces today that it has partnered with Uber, the company revolutionizing personal transportation, to offer Virgin America’s Elevate® frequent flyer program members the ability to earn Elevate points when they complete their first ride with Uber. As of today, Elevate frequent flyer members who are new to Uber can sign-up (on the Uber website or through the Uber app) with their Elevate membership number and will be awarded 800 Elevate reward points upon completion of their first Uber ride. To celebrate the partnership, as of today, Virgin America and Uber will also be giving one winner a week a free domestic roundtrip on Virgin America and $500 in Uber ride credits until October 2, 2012. More information on the “Ride with Us, Roll with Uber” sweepstakes*, official rules and other details are available at: http://vgn.am/VXuber
“As two companies known for looking at ways to improve and reinvent the travel experience, we’re pleased to partner with Uber to offer travelers a new option for ground travel that fits their busy, connected lifestyles,” said Luanne Calvert, Vice President of Marketing at Virgin America. ”Our new partnership with Uber provides our frequent flyers with a more connected, seamless travel experience – from the air to the ground.”
The latest partnership with Uber offers Virgin America’s tech-forward guests more options for ground travel during their business trip or leisure getaway. Uber harnesses the latest technology to provide an innovative on-demand car service that is unique in the marketplace. Since its launch in 2007, Virgin America has grown a passionate following of flyers for its topnotch guest service and unique amenities. The airline’s Elevate frequent flyer program was among the first U.S. loyalty programs to offer dynamic reward pricing – with the ability for guests to redeem reward points for any unsold seat – on any flight, at any time. Earlier this summer, Virgin America announced a suite of enhancements to its Elevate program – including new Elevate Gold and Elevate Silver status levels with a host of traveler perks and enhanced social rewards for virtual check-ins. Elevate program details can be viewed on the airline’s website at: www.virginamerica.com/elevate“
And then, all hail VA, etc, after the jump
Two Words That Don’t Belong on the Same Press Release Headline Together: “JetBlue and KaBOOM!”
Thursday, August 16th, 2012You know, like this:
“JetBlue Airways and KaBOOM! Embark on their 15th Playground Build Together”
Speaking of which, do you know how long it’s been since somebody in America got on a big jet plane and then died from an aviation incident?
It’s been 11 years.
It’s been 11 years since a pilot above Lon Guyland destroyed an Airbus by treating his rudder pedals like a StairMaster machine.
KaBoom:
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But that was all the way back in 2001.
A pretty good record, non?
When I was as young as you, Gentle Reader, Boeings and Airbuses and McDonnell Douglases and Lockheeds would fall out of the sky all the time. Engines would fall off, planes would crash into each other, terrorists would hijack and whatnot, but the past decade there’s been nothing.
Oh, I know what you’re thinking, but that was a propeller plane, not a jet.
Oh, I know what you’re thinking, but that was a little jet, one of them tiny corporate jets, or a “regional” jet, not a “big jet plane.”
Oh, I know what you’re thinking, but that was a airport worker what got killed, not a passenger.
Oh, I know what you’re thinking, but that was a flight leaving Brazil, not a flight leaving or coming to America.
Oh, I know what you’re thinking, but that was an accident what occurred before 2002.
A remarkable record, IMO.
But even so, “JetBlue Airways and KaBOOM!” probably shouldn’t be so close together on the same press release.
Took my chances on a big jet plane
Never let them tell you that they’re all the same.
December 3rd, 2011 was San Francisco’s DAY WITHOUT CLOUDS – A Jumbo Sky Filled with (Quiet) Jumbo Jets
Sunday, December 4th, 2011Yesterday, owing to the unusual winds what blew away* the fog, I saw jumbo jets above S.F. in places where I normally don’t, but I couldn’t really hear them. (I guess jets have gotten a lot quieter these days.)
Like this low-flying United Air 747-400 near the Ferry Building – you could hardly hear it:
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*I suppose – cf. yesterday’s Blue Sky Red Bridge from Burrito Justice
Kicking it Old-School With Allegiant Air Out of Oakland International – Super Old “Super 80″ Aircraft
Friday, December 2nd, 2011There I was monitoring recent Zeppelin activity over the 415 and what do I see but an old-school Allegiant Air McDonnell Douglas DC9 / MD80 / MD85 / MD90 / whatever flying out of OAK.
See?
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You can buy a used jetliners with ancient low-bypass engines for as cheap as $4,000,000 and then start up an airline? Did not know that.
Anyway, these kinds of planes are old, baby.
But you can fly to Phoenix, AZ for $32* so I guess that’s some consolation.
*Plus fees, baby. Lots and lots and lots of fees.
Down with the landing gear
Up goes the useless prayer
A Remarkable Safety Record: No Passengers Have Died in an American Jetliner Crash the Past Ten Years – We Made It
Friday, November 18th, 2011Well we made it. We’ve gone ten years without a passenger dying on a commercial jetliner flying above America, or coming to America or leaving from America. (Now that doesn’t include regional jets – I’m talking about jet airliners, narrow-body or wide-body, made by Airbus, Boeing, Lockheed, or McDonnell Douglas.)
The last day passengers died was November 12th, 2001 on American Airlines Flight 587.
Of course, we’ve had some close calls since then, like with that shoe bomber guy or with Sully Sullenberger and his famous water landing.
Military flights, well that’s a different story. Capt. Christopher Stricklin punches out (and lives to tell the tale) 200 feet above Idaho:
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(And this no-deaths record doesn’t include smaller aircraft like regional jets or turboprops or private airplanes.)
Needless to say, this streak of good luck hasn’t happened before. Back in the day, back in the 1960′s, 1970′s, 1980′s and 1990′s, people would die on big jets all the time.
But not anymore.
Hurray.
The Hollywood Hills, as Seen from the Trip Down to LAX
Wednesday, September 7th, 2011Here they are.
Do you see the big sign?
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