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justforbooks · 3 years

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On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549, an Airbus A320 on a flight from New York City's LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte, North Carolina, struck a flock of birds shortly after take-off, losing all engine power. Unable to reach any airport for an emergency landing, pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles glided the plane to a ditching in the Hudson River off Midtown Manhattan. All 155 people on board were rescued by nearby boats, with a few serious injuries.

This water landing of a powerless jetliner became known as the "Miracle on the Hudson", and a National Transportation Safety Board official described it as "the most successful ditching in aviation history". The Board rejected the notion that the pilot could have avoided ditching by returning to LaGuardia or diverting to nearby Teterboro Airport.

The pilots and flight attendants were awarded the Master's Medal of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators in recognition of their "heroic and unique aviation achievement".

An NTSB board member called the ditching "the most successful ... in aviation history. These people knew what they were supposed to do and they did it and as a result, no lives were lost." New York State Governor David Paterson called the incident "a Miracle on the Hudson." U.S. President George W. Bush said he was "inspired by the skill and heroism of the flight crew," and praised the emergency responders and volunteers. President-elect Barack Obama said that everyone was proud of Sullenberger's "heroic and graceful job in landing the damaged aircraft." He thanked the crew, whom he invited to his inauguration five days later.

The Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators awarded the crew the rarely bestowed Master's Medal on January 22, 2009 for outstanding aviation achievement, at the discretion of the Master of the Guild. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented the crew with the Keys to the City, and Sullenberger with a replacement copy of a library book lost on the flight, Sidney Dekker's Just Culture: Balancing Safety and Accountability. Rescuers received Certificates of Honor.

The crew received a standing ovation at the Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009, and Sullenberger threw the ceremonial first pitch of the 2009 Major League Baseball season for the San Francisco Giants. His Giants jersey was inscribed with the name "Sully" and the number 155 – the count of people aboard the plane.

On July 28, passengers Dave Sanderson and Barry Leonard organized a thank you luncheon for emergency responders from Hudson County, New Jersey, on the shores of Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, New Jersey, where 57 passengers had been brought following their rescue. Present were members of the U.S. Coast Guard, North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue, NY Waterway Ferries, the American Red Cross, Weehawken Volunteer First Aid, the Weehawken Police Department, West New York E.M.S., North Bergen E.M.S., the Hudson County Office of Emergency Management, the New Jersey E.M.S. Task Force, the Guttenberg Police Department, McCabe Ambulance, the Harrison Police Department, and doctors and nurses who treated survivors.

Sullenberger was named Grand Marshal for the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.

In August 2010, aeronautical chart publisher Jeppesen issued a humorous approach plate titled "Hudson Miracle APCH," dedicated to the five crew of Flight 1549 and annotated "Presented with Pride and Gratitude from your friends at Jeppesen."

Sullenberger retired on March 3, 2010, after thirty years with US Airways and its predecessor, Pacific Southwest Airlines. At the end of his final flight he was reunited with Skiles and a number of the passengers from Flight 1549.

In December 2010, Sullenberger was appointed an Officer of France's Legion of Honour.

N106US, the accident aircraft, was moved to a salvage yard in New Jersey and put up for auction a week after the accident, but remained without takers for over two years. In 2011, it was purchased by the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, and reassembled, minus the engines, in the museum's main hangar, where it is currently on display.

In 2013, the entire crew was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

The ditching was recorded by several closed-circuit television cameras. Television reports and documentaries produced soon afterward contained extensive video of the ditching and rescue, and recorded interviews with the aircrew, passengers, rescuers, and other key participants.

Sullenberger's 2009 memoir, Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters was adapted into a feature film Sully, directed by Clint Eastwood. It starred Tom Hanks as Sullenberger and Aaron Eckhart as co-pilot Jeff Skiles. It was released by Warner Bros. on September 9, 2016.

In May 2011, CBS News hired Sullenberger as an aviation and safety expert.

His second book, Making a Difference: Stories of Vision and Courage from America's Leaders, was published in May 2012. He was ranked second in Time's Top 100 Most Influential Heroes and Icons of 2009, after Michelle Obama.

In December 2018, he received the Tony Jannus Award for distinguished achievement in commercial air transportation.

Sullenberger's speech before Congress concerning U.S. civil aviation is featured in Michael Moore's 2009 documentary Capitalism: A Love Story.

Sullenberger is also referred to in the 2011 romantic comedy film Friends with Benefits. Throughout the film, Justin Timberlake's character repeatedly suggests to people he meets aboard planes that modern airplanes practically fly themselves, and that Sullenberger's feat was less impressive than it was portrayed, an idea for which he encounters incredulity and hostility. Mila Kunis' character is also seen reading Sullenberger's English Wikipedia article.

The 2010 song "A Real Hero", by French electronica artist College and the band Electric Youth, is about Captain Sullenberger and the Flight 1549 water landing. Frontman Austin Garrick was inspired to write the song by his grandfather, whose reference to Sullenberger as "a real human being and a real hero" became the song's refrain.

Radio personality Garrison Keillor wrote "Pilot Song: The Ballad of Chesley Sullenberger III" for the January 17, 2009 edition of his radio variety show A Prairie Home Companion.

Sullenberger appeared as himself in a cameo role in the 2017 film Daddy's Home 2.

"Hudson River Runway", the March 14, 2011, episode of the TV series Mayday, documents the events around Flight 1549's emergency landing, and contains interviews with several of its real-life participants. Captain Sullenberger is not interviewed in the show, but is portrayed in reenactments by actor Christopher Britton.

President George H. W. Bush's service dog Sully, who was assigned to Bush in mid-2018 after the death of Bush's wife Barbara, was named after Sullenberger.

Sully is featured in the pilot of the 2020 Fox cartoon series Duncanville.

Sullenberger was widely celebrated for landing the plane with no loss of life.

Jeffrey Bruce "Jeff" Skiles was flying as a First Officer on flight 1549 due to a staff reduction at US Airways; he had usually flown as Captain prior to the staff reduction and actually had slightly more flight hours than Sullenberger (though he had much less experience in the Airbus A320).

Both Skiles' parents were pilots during his childhood, and he became a pilot himself when he was just sixteen years old. He first worked flying cargo airplanes, and then worked for Midstate Airlines from 1983 to 1986, but at the time of the emergency landing he had been with US Airways for 23 years.

Atul Gawande, author of The Checklist Manifesto, asserted that the successful emergency landing relied on the cooperation of Sullenberger and Skiles. Gawande's central premise is that even really experienced people in any field encounter rare events, and that successfully coping with the rare event requires first the careful anticipation of future emergencies, and second, preparing a well thought-out list of steps to follow, in advance.

In his book Gawande reminded readers that, during an emergency, there are so many tasks to complete, that the co-pilot is working at least as hard as the pilot. Sullenberger had taken on the task of finding a safe place to land, and actually landing, leaving his experienced copilot Skiles the task of following the checklist to try to restart the jet engines. He noted that Skiles was able to complete the checklist in the less than three minute period between the bird strike and the landing, noting this was "something investigators later testified to be "very remarkable" in the time frame he had—and something they found difficult to replicate in simulation."

Skiles went on to become the Vice President of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations (CAPA) that represents the interests of 28,000 airline pilots in safety and security issues. In this role he was instrumental in the creation of the First Officer Qualification rule which significantly increased the requirements for training and experience of First Officers on the flight deck of US registered airliners. Skiles joined with the Families of Continental Flight 3407 and the National Air Disaster Alliance to mold the creation of and ensure passage of the Airline Safety Act of 2010. This sweeping legislation significantly improved safety in the US airline industry and as of 2020 there has not been even one fatality due to a US airline accident in over 10 years.

Skiles is a writer and since 2011 has published over 100 articles on safety and general interest aviation topics in nationally distributed magazines such as Sport Aviation, FLYING, Air & Space, PilotMAG, Midwest Flyer, Vintage Airplane, and the Physicians Executive Journal.

Jeffrey Bruce "Jeff" Skiles, as of 2020, is piloting Boeing 787 Dreamliners for American Airlines.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#JUST FOR BOOKS #US Airways Flight 1549 #Hudson River #Chesley Sullenberger #Jeffrey Skiles #Miracle on the Hudson #Sully #Jeff

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sarcasticcynic · 5 years

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MASTERPOST: Why Trump's Vanity Wall Is Stupid and Everything Trump Says About It Is a Lie

Image from Medium

Some actual facts to keep in mind while listening to the anticipated lies Trump will be spewing on national television this evening.

A Wall Won’t Stop Illegal Immigration

Because more than half the immigrants currently in the United States illegally came here legally:

“In 2006, the Pew Research Center calculated that more than a third of all unauthorized immigrants entered lawfully and then simply overstayed their visas. ... By 2012, visa overstays accounted for 58 percent of all new unauthorized immigrants.”

“Overstays accounted for about two-thirds (66 percent) of those who arrived (i.e., joined the undocumented population) in 2014. Overstays have exceeded EWIs [Entries Without Inspection, i.e. immigrants who crossed the border without proper immigration documents] every year since 2007, and 600,000 more overstays than EWIs have arrived since 2007.”

“Two-thirds of the foreigners living here illegally didn’t sneak across the border; they came on temporary visas.”

A Wall Won’t Stop Illegal Drugs

Because most illegal drugs arrive via ship or plane, not by land:

“According to the DEA, almost all drugs come in through legal points of entry.”

“As for drugs, the Coast Guard says 95 percent of them arrive in container ships or other boats.”

According to a report from the DEA, TCOs [Transnational Criminal Organizations] “generally route larger drug shipments destined for the Northeast through the Bahamas and/or South Florida by using a variety of maritime conveyance methods, to include speedboats, fishing vessels, sailboats, yachts, and containerized sea cargo. In some cases, Dominican Republic-based traffickers will also transport cocaine into Haiti for subsequent shipment to the United States via the Bahamas and/or South Florida corridor using maritime and air transport. ... According to DEA reporting, the majority of the heroin available in New Jersey originates in Colombia and is primarily smuggled into the United States by Colombian and Dominican groups via human couriers on commercial flights to the Newark International Airport.”

This holds true even for drugs coming specifically from Mexico:

Again, according to the DEA: “The most common method employed by Mexican TCOs involves transporting drugs in vehicles through U.S. ports of entry (POEs). Illicit drugs are smuggled into the United States in concealed compartments within passenger vehicles or commingled with legitimate goods on tractor trailers.”

“A barrier in the form of a wall is increasingly irrelevant to the drug trade as it is now practiced because most of the drugs smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico no longer arrive on the backs of those who cross illegally. Instead, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, most of the smuggled marijuana as well as cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines comes through the 52 legal ports of entry on the border.”

“Stephen D. Morris, a Middle Tennessee State University political science professor whose research has largely focused on Mexico, gave us the same two reasons for why he believes ‘the wall will not do very much to stop drugs.’ ‘First, as you say, most drug shipments come disguised as commerce and are crossing the border by truck or in cargo containers. Human mules, to my knowledge, bring in a small fraction,’ he said. ‘Second, smugglers adapt. Whether it is tunnels, submarines, mules, drones, etc., they are good at figuring out new ways to get drugs to those in the US who will buy them.’”

Trump’s then-Chief of Staff John Kelly, testifying before Congress: “Certainly the metrics are people that don’t cross into the United States illegally. Another metric would be the amount of -- It mostly comes through the ports of entry.”

A Wall Won’t Stop Terrorists

Because most foreign terrorists arrive by plane, not over the Mexican border:

According to Trump’s own State Department: “At year’s end there was no credible evidence indicating that international terrorist groups have established bases in Mexico, worked with Mexican drug cartels, or sent operatives via Mexico into the United States.”

“According to Justice Department public records and two former counterterrorism officials, no immigrant has been arrested at the southwest border on terrorism charges in recent years.”

“In fiscal year 2017, federal officials stopped 3,755 people on the terrorist watch list from traveling to or entering the United States, but that includes people traveling through airports, seaports and land ports. The vast majority of those attempt to enter by air.”

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered only six immigrants at ports of entry on the U.S-Mexico border in the first half of fiscal year 2018 whose names were on a federal government list of known or suspected terrorists, according to CBP data provided to Congress in May 2018.

“Nick Rasmussen, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center from December 2014 through December 2017 said, ‘During my tenure, the threat of terrorists trying to infiltrate the United States across our southern border was much more of a theoretical vulnerability than an actual one. It simply isn’t the case that terrorist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda see the southern border as the optimal the way to get would-be terrorists into the country.’”

“Federal law enforcement has warned America’s airports and airlines that they remain top targets for terrorists because of their symbolic value, ‘inherent accessibility, and the presence of large crowds in unsecure areas.’”

Even Fox News contradicts the Trump administration on this: “Wait, wait, wait, wait wait - I know the statistic. I didn’t know if you were going to use it, but I studied up on this. You know where those 4,000 people were captured? Airports. The State Department says there hasn’t been any terrorists found coming across the southern border.”

Heck, more foreigners--as well as more people, period--on the terrorist watch list enter the United States through Canada than through Mexico:

“Overall, 41 people on the Terrorist Screening Database were encountered at the southern border from Oct. 1, 2017 through March 31, 2018, but 35 of them were U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. Six were classified as non-U.S. persons. On the northern border, CBP stopped 91 people from the database, including 41 who were not American citizens or residents.”

A Wall Is Unnecessary

Because current enforcement measures are already working:

Illegal entries are down to “roughly one-tenth the 2005 level.”

According to the Department of Homeland Security: “The successful illegal entry of migrants has significantly declined over the last ten years, the deterrence rate of illegal migration at the border has risen substantially, and the probability of apprehension has also risen.”

“Ramped-up border enforcement is working, helping to reduce successful crossings to one-tenth of what they were a decade earlier across the southern U.S. border with Mexico. ... Far fewer migrants from Mexico are successfully entering the country illegally than a decade ago because stepped-up border enforcement means fewer are trying, more are getting caught and more are giving up. ... Border Patrol apprehensions ... have dropped to the lowest levels since the early 1970s. The size of the nation’s undocumented population has leveled off at about 11.1 million after years of rapid growth, according to the Pew Research Center.”

And because, while fewer Mexicans are coming to the United States, more Americans are relocating to Mexico:

“The estimated number of Mexicans in the United States illegally rose steadily for many years, from 2.9 million in 1995 to a peak of 6.9 million in 2007. But the number began dropping in 2008 and has fallen more since, reaching 5.8 million in 2014, the latest year for which Pew analyzed data. If the number is falling, that means more illegal Mexican immigrants are leaving the United States than entering it. The numbers include both immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally and those who overstayed their visas. ... In 2014, the Border Patrol apprehended more non-Mexicans than Mexicans for the first time in at least 60 years.”

“Many Americans worry about illegal immigration from Mexico. The country is actually gaining immigrants itself. The legal foreign-born population doubled from 2000 to 2010. It’s now one million total. Of these, 750,000 are Americans. As a result, more Americans have immigrated to Mexico over the past few years than vice-versa.”

Walls Don’t Help Enforcement

According to former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff and “other experts”: “A wall does not add enforcement value except in heavy crossing areas near towns, highways, or other ‘vanishing points.’”

“Fencing has value in border crossing areas near ‘vanishing’ points (towns or highways), but in other places ‘makes no sense at all’ and ‘doesn’t add any value.’ Moreover, constructing a 2,000 mile barricade would pose immense engineering and environmental challenges and the result would be far from ‘impenetrable.’”

Existing barriers have already proven ineffective: “Using the broad powers granted to the Attorney General (AG) to control and guard the U.S. border, the USBP began erecting a barrier known as the ‘primary fence’ directly on the border in 1990 to deter illegal entries and drug smuggling in its San Diego sector. The San Diego fence formed part of the USBP’s ‘Prevention Through Deterrence’ strategy, which called for reducing unauthorized migration by placing agents and resources directly on the border along population centers in order to deter would-be migrants from entering the country. The San Diego primary fence was completed in 1993 ... The primary fence, by itself, did not have a discernible impact on the influx of unauthorized aliens coming across the border in San Diego.”

Walls Don’t Deter Immigrants

“One statistic that correlates closely with the construction of more walls [is] an increase in the number of deaths. As easier routes are closed, migrants choose ever more dangerous paths to reach their destination. ... Despite these clear material impacts on the lives of migrants, millions of people globally continue to cross borders without authorization—meaning walls are relatively ineffective.”

No One Wants a Wall

A majority of the country doesn’t want a wall:

“A majority -- 59 percent of Americans -- oppose building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.”

61% of registered voters “think building a wall between the US and Mexico ... should not be an immediate priority.”

Local politicians--including Republicans--don’t want a wall:

Rep. Will Hurd, a Republican from Texas whose district includes 800 miles of the Mexican border, says: “You can’t build a wall from sea to shining sea. It just doesn’t work. It’s the most expensive way to do border security, and it’s the least effective.”

Even the U.S. Border Patrol doesn’t want a wall:

“Border Patrol agents on the front lines say they need more technology and additional personnel to curb the illegal traffic ... less than one half of 1 percent of the agents’ suggestions to secure the Southwest border mentioned the need for a wall. ... [Trump’s] funding requests for a wall far exceeded proposed spending on border technology and personnel, which border agents identified as critically needed.”

A Wall Would Devastate the Environment

A wall would destroy the natural habitats of dozens of species:

“The Center for Biological Diversity reports that 93 wildlife species would be adversely affected. ‘This may well lead to the extinction of the jaguar, ocelot, cactus ferruginous pygmy owl and other species in the United States.’”

“Wall construction proceeds without the necessary depth of environmental impact analysis, development of less-damaging alternative strategies, postconstruction environmental monitoring, mitigation, public input, and pursuit of legal remedies. ... The border wall harms wildlife populations by eliminating, degrading, and fragmenting habitats ... the border bisects the geographic ranges of 1506 native terrestrial and freshwater animal (n = 1077) and plant (n = 429) species, including 62 species listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List ... construction of the wall and associated infrastructure, such as roads, lights, and operating bases, eliminates or degrades natural vegetation, kills animals directly or through habitat loss, fragments habitats (thereby subdividing populations into smaller, more vulnerable units), reduces habitat connectivity, erodes soils, changes fire regimes, and alters hydrological processes (e.g., by causing floods). ... Physical barriers prevent or discourage animals from accessing food, water, mates, and other critical resources by disrupting annual or seasonal migration and dispersal routes. ... If cut off by a border wall, 17% of the 346 species we analyzed, including jaguar (Panthera onca) and ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), would have residual US populations covering 20,000 square kilometers or less ... This would elevate their risk of extirpation within the United States according to IUCN Red List criteria.”

“Scientists agree with the irrefutable evidence that the border wall is a rampant ecological disaster. This is notable because consensus is rare among scientists. When scientific consensus does exist—as with climate change—it’s a wake-up call that business as usual is likely to result in catastrophe. ... the border wall also cuts through the habitats of over 1,500 wildlife species. ... [A] wall is an unclimbable barricade for 346 nonflying animal species, not to mention flighted species like the endangered Quino checkerspot butterfly and the threatened and endangered ferruginous pygmy-owl that cannot fly high enough to surmount the wall. Without passage, animals cannot disperse to new populations to spread their genes, potentially leading to genetic inbreeding akin to the plight of the African cheetah. During natural seasonal flooding, the wall traps flood waters and kills wildlife and vegetation. During natural disasters like heat waves, when water or food on one side of the wall is not available, those species will be left to perish, unable to access resources on the other side. ... Building the border wall sacrifices the ancient biodiversity of North America for the momentary political gain of one president.”

One example: Trump is planning to build his wall through the National Butterfly Center, and has already begun “the surveying and staking of a ‘clear zone’ that will bulldoze 200,000 square feet of habitat for protected species like the Texas Tortoise and Texas Indigo, not to mention about 400 species of birds.” On privately owned property, yet.

A Wall Is Absurdly Expensive

Trump’s wall will cost--at a minimum--more than 2½ times the $8 billion Trump originally claimed:

His own Department of Homeland Security estimates the cost at $21.6 billion, not including maintenance.

“The best estimate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers” is $31.2 billion.

Some estimates have been as high as $70 billion!

And based on the last time we built a barrier on the border, the wall is likely to cost at least five times the estimate:

“Congress set aside $1.2 billion for the 700-mile border fence in 2006. ... The Congressional Research Service found that by 2015, Congress had already spent $7 billion on the project.”

Oh, and Mexico is not paying for it.

Why Trump Insists on Building His Vanity Wall Anyway

He’d like to be permanently enshrined on this list:

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

Mount Rushmore

Grant’s Tomb

Jefferson Memorial

Hoover Dam

Kennedy Center

Roosevelt Island

Trump Wall

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bigyack-com · 4 years

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Bangkok to Host Second Asia Destination Film Forum on 30 January 2020

Bangkok will host the second Asia Destination Film Forum on 30 January 2020. The event, co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Itthipol Khunpluem, Thailand’s Minister of Culture, and Dr. Sorajak Kasemsuwan, Secretary General of the National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Association, will take place at Quaint Bangkok. First launched at the 2018 Mekong Tourism Forum in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, by the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), the forum is designed to showcase and recognize films that promote destinations and sustainability, through the power of visual storytelling. The forum will consist of sessions held by Nick Ray from Hanuman Films, Joe Cummings, editor at large of Bangkok 101, Fah Daengdej, Host of The Passion on Nation TV 22, and others, exploring how consumers are inspired to visit destinations by visual storytelling from movies to user-generated videos, how tourism boards can leverage films, how businesses can benefit from visual storytelling, and how it can drive sustainability.

In addition to sessions and case studies by Tom Waller, producer of “The Cave” (Thailand), and by Ekachai Uekrongtham, executive producer of the Netflix series “The Stranded” (Thailand), there will be case studies by the Singapore Tourism Board, Busan City Tourism Organization, as well as the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Winner of Best Feature Film at the 2019 San Diego International Film Festival “The Steed” (Mongolia), as well as Hanuman Films’ award-winning “The Last Reel” (Cambodia) will screen during the event. In addition, films submitted to the Thailand Film Festival, in collaboration with the Thailand Film Office of the Department of Tourism, and the Mekong Mini Movie Festival, in partnership with MTCO, will be shown during the forum. In the evening, the 2020 Asia Destination Film Awards, as well as the Mekong Mini Movie Festival Awards, will be presented, followed by a Mongolia BBQ Film Festival night with a Mongolian celebrity BBQ chef and traditional cultural performances hosted by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism Mongolia. Jens Thraenhart, Executive Director of MTCO and founder of the Destination Film Forum and Awards, said, “Today, video is one of the most powerful mediums when promoting a destination. It has the chance to awaken the wanderlust in the viewer by showing the essence and uniqueness of a place in just a few short moments. However, the power of inspiring people via film goes beyond promoting destinations; it can also drive change and responsible travel behavior, striving to emphasize tourism that is sustainable, responsible, environmentally conscious, and bringing benefits to local communities. In partnership with WWF and Khiri Travel, the Mekong Mini Movie Festival is creating awareness of sustainable tourism and conservation, focusing on the festival’s mascot, the endangered Mekong Dolphin.” A Destination Film Forum networking happy hour with film previews will take place at the popular Spectrum Lounge & Bar at the Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit at 17:30 on 29 January. See latest Travel News, Interviews, Podcasts and other news regarding: Bangkok, Video, MTCO. 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Airport Implements SITA's Airport Management Solution Air France to Launch Twice-Daily Flights Between Paris-Orly and Munich, Germany ANA to Enhance Service at Airports in Japan with Portable Translators Yvette Thomas-Henry Appointed GM of Four Seasons Resort Nevis Hahn Air Enters 2020 with 40 New Partner Airlines CWTSatoTravel Partners US Military's Spouse Employment Programme My Emirates Pass Gives Passengers Special Discounts in UAE Visitors to Singapore Must Now Register Unmanned Aircraft India's Vistara Airline Appoints APG as Online GSA in France BOC Aviation Orders 20 Airbus A320neos China Airlines to Launch Direct Flights to Chiang Mai, Thailand Green Light for Vietnam Airlines to Expand Codeshare Agreement with Delta All Hi Fly Flights Now Single-Use Plastic Free Air India Renews Distribution Agreement with Amadeus Mandy Goh Joins St. Regis Langkawi as Executive Chef Spirit Airlines Signs Purchase Agreement for 100 Airbus A320neo Aircraft Hamad Int. 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Singapore Flights American Express GBT Forecasts Stable Air Prices in 2020 Etihad and Kuwait Airways to Codeshare PAG and Inmark Purchase Grand Hyatt Seoul British Airways and Iberia Achieve IATA NDC @Scale Certification Air Caraïbes Takes Delivery of First A350-1000 Aman Signs Fourth Resort in Japan Hamilton to Host HSBC New Zealand Sevens 25-26 January 2020 Thales' New Touchscreen Cockpit Displays Now Available on Airbus A350s Mongolian Airlines to Expand Network with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner British Airways to Trial AI-Powered Robots at London Heathrow Dusit Thani Resort Opens in Shuangyue Bay, China Six Senses Signs First Hotel in UK Mandarin Oriental to Take Over Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi Cebu Pacific Offering Passengers Roaming WiFi Kits Air France Orders 60 Airbus A220-300 Aircraft Sindhorn Midtown Hotel in Bangkok Appoints Jee Hoong Tan as GM British Airways to Launch LHR Flights to Portland, USA Braathens Takes Delivery of First of Five New ATR 72-600s Cebu Pacific Joins IATA Thailand: Airbnb Adds Saraburi to Beyond Big Cities Campaign New International Rugby Sevens Competition to be Launched in February Sindhorn Midtown Hotel in Bangkok Appoints Nicha Ruenthip as DOSM Qatar Airways to Launch Flights to Santorini and Dubrovnik British Airways Signs Joint Business Agreement with China Southern Air Canada Rouge Completes In-Flight Wi-Fi Installation Saab Wins Order for Digital Air Traffic Towers in Netherlands Whitbread Secures Fourth Premier Inn Hotel in Dublin, Ireland Amman to Host CAPA Middle East & Africa Aviation Summit 2020 Boeing to Suspend Production of 737 MAX Cathay Pacific's Inbound Hong Kong Traffic Down 46% in November Singapore Airlines to Launch Flights to Brussels, Belgium Wego Signs Retailing Agreement with ATPCO GTR Opens Air Cargo Hub at KLIA Air Cargo Terminal 1 Bombardier Uses SAF to Deliver Challenger 350 to Latitude 33 Aviation Swiss-Belhotel Signs First Hotel in Malaysia Czech Air Force Orders Two More Airbus C295 Aircraft New Boeing-Built Satellite to Orbit Over Asia Pacific Third Four Points by Sheraton Hotel Opens in Malaysia Hong Kong Airport Reports Further Drop in Pax, Cargo and Flights Air Canada Launches Flights Between Vancouver and Auckland, New Zealand Andaz Macau Appoints Chikako Shimizu as GM Cathay Pacific to Take Over Air New Zealand's Auckland-Hong Kong Service Four Seasons Opens Second Luxury Resort in Megeve, France Ireland's Department of Defence Orders Two Airbus C295 Aircraft Best Western Plus Opens in Nairobi, Kenya Qatar Airways Launches Flights to Gaborone, Botswana Korean Air to Revamp SkyPass Frequent Flyer Program Embraer E175-E2 Performs Maiden Flight Charlie Sullivan Joins CWT's Air Distribution Team Marriott Opens Third Sheraton Hotel in Beijing, China Radisson Blu Opens Resort in Cam Ranh, Vietnam Qantas Chooses Airbus A350-1000 for Ultra Long-Haul Flights Executive Appointments at Banyan Tree BA to Launch LHR Flights to Six New European Destinations in 2020 Korean Air to Revamp SkyPass Frequent Flyer Program Embraer E175-E2 Performs Maiden Flight Charlie Sullivan Joins CWT's Air Distribution Team Marriott Opens Third Sheraton Hotel in Beijing, China Radisson Blu Opens Resort in Cam Ranh, Vietnam Qantas Chooses Airbus A350-1000 for Ultra Long-Haul Flights Executive Appointments at Banyan Tree BA to Launch LHR Flights to Six New European Destinations in 2020 How Technology is Shaping Airports of the Future FCM and Flight Centre Achieve NDC Level 4 Certification Dusit Rebrands Luxury Resort in Philippines Emirates Launches Flights to Mexico via Barcelona Air Canada's First Airbus A220-300 Completes Maiden Flight FAA Certifies ExecuJet MRO Malaysia to Work on Dassault Jets AirAsia Launches Snap Air France-KLM Orders 10 A350-900 Aircraft Bundeswehr Takes Delivery of First Airbus H145 SAR Helicopter Drew Crawley to Join American Express Global Business Travel as CCO Cape Town 7s 2019 to Take Place 13-15 December Congo Airways to Replace Dash 8-400s with Embraer E175 Aircraft Ascent Solutions Installs Two E-Gates at NAIA 2 Departures Michel Poussau Appointed GM of Rugby World Cup 2023 Wetherspoon to Invest £200 Million Developing New Pubs and Hotels IATA Asks EU to Support Sustainable Aviation Fuel Transition Boeing Delivers First Modified MV-22 Osprey to United States Marine Corps Marriott Signs Six Hotels in India Accor to Rebrand Hotel in Queensland, Australia MHG Signs Two Hotels in Doha, Qatar Vietjet Launches Flights to New Delhi from Hanoi and Saigon SKY Signs Purchase Agreement for 10 Airbus A321XLRs British Airways Trials 3D Printing SAS' First A350 to Enter Long-Haul Service on 28 January Air Italy and Oman Air Sign Codeshare Agreement ACH and Aston Martin to Unveil 'New Creation' in January Qantas Signs FFP Agreement with Air France - KLM Group Malaysia Airlines Launches Shuttle Fares on Flights Between KL and Singapore Accor to Open 125-Room Mercure Hotel in Canberra in January Openings Push Australia's Hotel Inventory to Over 300,000 Rooms Alban Dutemple Appointed Cluster GM of Two Hotels in Bahrain Air New Zealand Trials Edible Coffee Cups Manchester Airport Unveils Details of £1 Billion Transformation South Africa Beat New Zealand to Win Dubai Sevens Aviation: RPKs Up 3.4% in October 2019 China Airlines to Launch Flights Between Taipei and Cebu, Philippines Seaplanes in Thailand? Interview with Dennis Keller, CBO of Siam Seaplane Seven HD Videos from IATA Airline Industry Retailing Symposium 2019 in Bangkok Vietnam Airlines Signs EngineWise Service Agreement with Pratt & Whitney Future of Airline Distribution and NDC - Interview with Yanik Hoyles, IATA Cambodia Airways Interview with Lucian Hsing, Commercial Director HD Videos and Interviews Podcasts from HD Video Interviews Travel Trade Shows in 2019, 2020 and 2021 High-Res Picture Galleries Travel News Asia - Latest Travel Industry News Read the full article

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un-enfant-immature · 5 years

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Drones are making a difference in the world and regulatory agencies are helping

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Contributor

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Secretary Elaine L. Chao is currently the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. This is her second cabinet position. She served as U.S. Secretary of Labor from 2001-January 2009, and is the first Asian American woman to be appointed to the President's cabinet in American history.

About two months ago, in the middle of the night, a small, specially designed unmanned aircraft system – a drone – carried a precious cargo at 300 feet altitude and 22 miles per hour from West Baltimore to the University of Maryland Medical Center downtown, a trip of about 5 minutes. They called it, “One small hop for a drone; one major leap for medicine.”

The cargo was a human kidney, and waiting for that kidney at the hospital was a patient whose life would be changed for the better.

“This whole thing is amazing,” the 44-year-old recipient later told the University of Maryland engineering and medical teams that designed the drone and the smart container. The angel flight followed more than two years of research, development and testing by the Maryland aerospace and medical teams and close coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) .

There were many other ways the kidney could have been delivered to the hospital, but proving that it could be done by drone sets the stage for longer and longer flights that will ultimately lower the cost and speed up the time it takes to deliver an organ. And speed is life in this case – the experts say the length of time it takes to move an organ by traditional means is a major issue today.

This is one example of how small drones are already changing the landscape of our economy and society. Our job at the Department of Transportation (DOT), through the FAA, is to safely integrate these vehicles into the National Airspace System.

Time is of the essence. The Department has been registering drones for less than four years and already there are four times as many drones—1.5 million– on the books as manned aircraft. This week in Baltimore, more than 1,000 members of the drone community are coming together to discuss the latest issues in this fast-growing sector as part of the fourth annual FAA UAS Symposium, which the Department co-hosts with the Association for Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

Along with public outreach, the Department is also involved in demonstration projects, including the Integration Pilot Program, or IPP. Created by this Administration in 2017, the IPP allows the FAA to work with state, local and tribal governments across the U.S. to get the experience needed to develop the regulations, policy and guidance for safely integrating drones, including tackling tough topics like security and privacy. The experience gained and the data collected will help ensure the United States remains the global leader in safe UAS integration and fully realizes the economic and societal benefits of this technology.

A couple of IPP examples show the ingenuity of the drone community.

In San Diego, the Chula Vista police department and CAPE, a private UAS teleoperations company, are using drones as first responders to potentially save the lives of officers and make the department more efficient. Since October, they have launched drone first responders on more than 400 calls in which 59 arrests were made, and for half of those calls, the drone was first on the scene with an average on-scene response time of 100 seconds. Equally important is the 60 times that having the drone there first eliminated the need to send officers at all.

Recently as the result of an IPP project, the FAA granted the first airline certification to Alphabet Inc.’s Wing Aviation, a commercial drone operator that will deliver packages in rural Blacksburg, Virginia.

What happens next is that the FAA will gradually implement new rules to expand when and how those operators can conduct their business safely and securely. To manage all the expected traffic, the FAA is working with NASA and industry on a highly automated UAS Traffic Management, or UTM, concept.

At the end of the day, drones will help communities like Baltimore — and others throughout the country — save lives and deliver new services. DOT and the FAA will help ensure it’s all done safely, and that public concerns about privacy and security are addressed.

#TechCrunch

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poojasharma111 · 4 years

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Guide To Miami International Airport (MIA)

MIA or Miami International Airport, formerly known as Wilcox Field, is a major US airport. The facility operates over a thousand flights every day to 167 destinations, both international and domestic.

The airport serves the greater Miami area and is operated by Miami-Dade Aviation Department. MIA serves as a hub for American Airlines, and several cargo operators such as Atlas Air, DHL Aviation, FedEx Express, IBC Airways, and UPS Airlines.

Moreover, Miami International Airport is a focus airport for airlines like Frontier, Avianca, and LATAM.

If you are booked to catch a flight from or to Miami, this article will help you navigate better through the airport.

So, let’s begin with the facilities at the airport.

Source: Guide To Miami International Airport (MIA)

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hsews · 6 years

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Delta Air Lines has revised its animal policy again, this time limiting emotional-support animals to one per customer and banning “pit bull type dogs” as either comfort or service animals.

The changes go into effect July 10. The airline said the updates resulted from safety concerns, after several workers were bitten. Delta said it carries about 700 service or comfort animals daily, or nearly 250,000 per year.

The revisions are the latest examples of the major airlines grappling with how to serve passengers who want to bring animals with them in the cabin. Delta had previously updated its animal policy in March, after a 70-pound dog flying as a comfort animal bit a passenger in the next seat on a June 2017 flight from Atlanta to San Diego.

More from USA Today: First look: Delta shows off first Boeing 777 retrofitted with new cabin interior Delta: Minneapolis-Seoul non-stops will begin in 2019 American, Frontier, Southwest and United airlines refuse to transport immigrant children separated from parents for government

“The safety and security of Delta people and our customers is always our top priority,” said Gil West, Delta’s chief operating officer. “We will always review and enhance our policies and procedures to ensure that Delta remains a leader in safety.”

Each of the major airlines has updated animal policies in recent months, after the Transportation Department was unable to reach a consensus on emotional-support animals between travelers, advocacy groups for the disabled and airlines.

The department is collecting comment about potential changes in animal regulations, after failing to reach a compromise between passengers, advocacy groups for the disabled and airlines. Nearly 3,000 comments have already poured in, with a deadline of July 15.

Airlines basically have at least four ways for passengers to bring animals on flights. But uncertainty about standards for the different categories has led to conflicts between passengers and airlines.

Most airlines allow passengers to ship animals in crates with luggage. But occasionally pets die under those circumstances, and high-profile incidents raised concerns. The department counted 506,994 animals transported in cargo last year, including 24 that died, 15 that were injured and one that was lost.

Airlines generally allow passengers to bring smaller pets in containers in the cabin, so long as they fit beneath the seat. But that option costs $75 to $125, depending on the airline.

The dispute over regulations and airline policies is about what animals can travel for free with passengers in the cabin without cages.

The Americans with Disabilities Act recognized dogs and miniature horses as trained service animals. The Air Carrier Access Act then said service animals could fly in the cabin with passengers, while also opening the door to broader range of emotional-support animals, which assist passengers with mental-health issues.

Airlines typically require travelers to have a note from a medical provider describing the need for an emotional-support animal and documentation of the animal’s health. But some crew members and passengers suspect that travelers bring pets as comfort animals to avoid fees.

In recent years, the variety of emotional-support animals exploded to include monkeys, pigs and ducks as emotional-support animals, although airlines didn’t have to accept reptiles, ferrets or rodents. These comfort animals, which didn’t require specified training, sometimes upset other passengers.

As the variety of animals on flights multiplied, so did complaints. The department received 2,443 complaints from travelers with service animals on U.S. and foreign airlines in 2016 and another 2,499 last year.

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The post Delta updates comfort-animal policy to one per passenger no pit bulls appeared first on HS NEWS.

#Breaking News

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newssplashy · 6 years

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Politics: Trump wants to beef up border security to 'knock the hell out of the drug flow' — but it could still miss most of the smuggling

Expanding the wall and fencing along the border and adding military personnel to patrols there are unlikely to interrupt the most common smuggling method.

President Donald Trump has made border security a key initiative for his administration.

He has pushed for a additional barriers on the US-Mexico border and for additional enforcement along the frontier.

But such methods may still miss the influx of drugs Trump has said he will halt.

Reinforcing the southern border has been a high priority for President Donald Trump, who has promised since the early days of his campaign to construct additional barriers along the frontier.

This month, in an apparent response to an annual migrant caravan heading north through Mexico toward the US border, Trump announced that he would deploy the National Guard for additional security at the frontier — against both the unauthorized movement of people and the illicit transport of illegal drugs into the US.

"We're putting the National Guard and military at the border," Trump told reporters on Monday. "And we need a wall. Whether you're a Republican or Democrat, we need a wall, and it'll stop your drug flow. It'll knock the hell out of the drug flow, and it'll stop a lot of people that we don't want in this country from coming into our country."

US military personnel at the border will only be authorized to assist the Border Patrol with intelligence and surveillance and won't have the power to capture migrants. But it's questionable how much more additional enforcement they could provide.

The 2,000 to 4,000 troops Trump wants to deploy will arrive at a time when there are 30,012 border apprehensions a month, according to the Washington Office on Latin America. When George W. Bush deployed the National Guard to the border in 2006, there were 128,979 apprehensions at the border a month.

And based on reports from the US Drug Enforcement Administration and other government officials, more troops along the border may miss the mark when it comes to staunching the flow of illicit narcotics into the US.

"Mexican [transnational criminal organizations] transport the majority of illicit drugs into the United States across the [southwest border] using a wide array of smuggling techniques," the DEA said in its 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment. "The most common method employed by these TCOs involves transporting illicit drugs through US ports of entry in passenger vehicles with concealed compartments or commingled with legitimate goods on tractor trailers."

The 48 official land crossings that see the passage of millions of people, vehicles, and cargo every day — and are already staffed by law-enforcement and customs officials — also see the vast majority of illegal drug shipments.

Meth

The southwest border, which stretches from San Diego to Texas' Gulf coast, "remains the main entry point for the majority of methamphetamine entering the United States," the DEA said in its 2017 report.

"Methamphetamine seizures along the SWB increased 157 percent from CY 2012 (8,213 kg) to CY 2016 (21,121 kg). The majority (47%) of methamphetamine seized along the SWB in CY 2016 occurred in the San Diego corridor. Seizures increased in every corridor along the SWB."

Among the array of techniques smugglers use to conceal cargoes of meth are "human couriers commercial flights, parcel services, and commercial buses," according to the report. "Traffickers most commonly transport small, multikilogram shipments of methamphetamine in privately-owned vehicles."

Cocaine

The southwest border is "the key entry point for the majority of the cocaine entering the United States, according to US Customs and Border Protection data," the DEA report states.

"Traffickers most commonly smuggle cocaine into the United States via privately owned vehicles passing through ports of entry along the SWB. Cocaine is hidden amongst legitimate cargo on commercial trucks or secreted inside hidden compartments built within passenger vehicles."

Food and other perishable items are especially popular, especially because some goods, like raw fish, are pungent enough to conceal odors and deter curious customs officials. In one instance, Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman opened a cannery in Mexico to package cocaine in cans of chiles, which were labeled "Comadre Jalapeños."

"Commercial air smuggling is another important conveyance method for cocaine traffickers looking to smuggle cocaine from South America and the Caribbean into the United States," the DEA report adds. "This type of air smuggling has four different aspects to it: couriers, cargo, mail/express consignment, and internal conspiracy."

Couriers include people like airline passengers or crew members. Cargo shipments can range from a few kilos to a few tons hidden in commercial goods, like food or industrial equipment. Consignment shipments are more likely to move into and around the US in the mail. In other cases, airline or airport personnel on both ends of flights have conspired to traffic cocaine hidden in baggage or somewhere in an aircraft.

Heroin

"Most of the heroin smuggled into the United States is brought overland across the SWB," according to the DEA, which notes that most of that is produced in Mexico or South America. Lesser amounts of South American, Southwest Asian, or Southeast Asian heroin are "transported by couriers on commercial airlines."

"The majority of any heroin that we seize is not between the ports of entry," then-US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske told a Congressional committee in spring 2016.

"It's smuggled through the ports of entry, whether is in San Isidro or El Paso, or whether is at JFK airport. Heroin seizures almost predominantly are through the port of entry and either carried in a concealed part of a vehicle or carried by an individual."

"We don't get much heroin seized by border patrol coming through," he added. "I think just because there are a lot of risks to the smugglers and the difficulty of trying to smuggle it through."

The DEA reported that heroin is often commingled with other drugs during transport, meth in particular. "Most heroin smuggled across the border is transported in small, multikilogram loads, in privately-owned vehicles, usually through California," the DEA report said, citing CBP.

Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid approved for use as an anesthetic and a painkiller, has become more common among US drug users. The extreme potency that makes it appealing to users also makes it dangerous to the people handling it, whether it be users or police.

Some pharmaceutical fentanyl is diverted from healthcare facilities, though typically on a small scale and intended for personal use.

"Fentanyl is transported into the United States in parcel packages directly from China or from China through Canada, and is also smuggled across the SWB from Mexico," the DEA states in its 2017 report.

Large volumes of the drug are intercepted at the southwest border, though those seizures are typically of lower purity.

Smaller volumes of the drug arrive via mail from China, but those shipments are higher in quality and therefore more dangerous and more valuable.

"The fentanyl from China comes in two ways. One, through the use of the US postal system, which lags behind in terms of the technology that is required to be able to go through packages coming from foreign countries," Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the DEA, told Business Insider in a spring 2017 interview.

"The second method of smuggling into the United States is that the fentanyl and the analogues flow from China into Mexico, into the drug cartels, and then across the US-Mexico border," Vigil added.

Like heroin or cocaine, a small of amount of fentanyl can fetch a high price. With "compact and expensive product," Adam Isacson of the Washington Office on Latin America noted last year, it's not surprising that "smugglers don't bother to transport it between ports of entry."

Marijuana

"Marijuana is the only drug covered in this assessment that is predominately smuggled between, instead of through, the ports of entry," the DEA said in its 2017 report.

"Large quantities of foreign-produced marijuana are smuggled into the United States via personally-owned vehicles, commercial vehicles, buses, rail systems, subterranean tunnels, small boats, unmanned aerial vehicles/drones, and catapults, and are walked across by backpackers," the report added.

Marijuana was for a long time a cash crop for Mexican traffickers. It was relatively easy to produce in abundance and didn't require a complicated refining process. If smuggled across the border in bulk, it could generate a tidy profit.

But with legalization, the dynamics of the marijuana trade have begun to shift.

Legalization in the US — in California in particular — has triggered a reverse in traditional smuggling patterns. When California dispensaries opened for recreational sales at the beginning of this year, Mexicans were in line, waiting to transport legally purchased weed back across the border.

"You are buying quality and a safe product," Roberto, one such customer, told El Universal.

Drug producers in Mexico's Golden Triangle — a hotbed for production of marijuana and opium and increasingly of synthetic drugs — have confirmed the declining appeal of Mexican marijuana. One self-described Sinaloa cartel operative said the price of a kilo of marijuana had fallen from about $74 in 2010 to a little more than $26 at the end of 2017.

"We keep sending chiva, perico, cristal," he told Sinaloa state-based newspaper Rio Doce, referring to heroin, cocaine, and meth, respectively. "The only one that decreased was mota," or marijuana.

'Understaffed and overworked'

If the ports of entry that dot the southern frontier are the frontline against the influx of illicit narcotics, then some of the personnel manning them are feeling overlooked.

Agents at the Laredo North port entry in Texas told the Associated Press earlier this year that they're undermanned and, at times, overwhelmed by the traffic at their checkpoint. Agents at the port have about 10 seconds to check the drivers of each of the roughly 9,000 vehicles they see a day and decide which ones to refer for further inspection.

The fiscal year 2019 spending bill Trump signed earlier this year included about $50 million for new towers at the border, $87 million for remote video surveillance, and $20 million for ground sensors — total new spending on these items was a little less than $1.2 billion, a congressional aide told The Wall Street Journal.

But Customs and Border Protection is shorthanded and struggling to meet its personnel quota. As of March 17, the Border Patrol, which is a part of CBP, had 19,346 agents on duty, less than the 21,370 it is required to have. The agency has struggled for years to keep hiring even with the rate of agents quitting or retiring, according to CNN.

The Border Patrol has mounted a recruiting campaign across the country, touting the "fun" parts of the job, like riding ATVs and horses. "If you like to hike, you get paid to go out there and hike," a spokesman told Fronteras earlier this year.

"Our agents are understaffed and overworked," Hector Garza, the Laredo representative of the National Border Patrol Council, told the AP in February. "Even though they have all these forces against them, they go out there and try to do their best."

source https://www.newssplashy.com/2018/04/politics-trump-wants-to-beef-up-border.html

#News

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alanafsmith · 6 years

Text

Trump wants to beef up border security to 'knock the hell out of the drug flow' — but it could still miss most of the smuggling

President Donald Trump has made border security a key initiative for his administration.

He has pushed for a additional barriers on the US-Mexico border and for additional enforcement along the frontier.

But such methods may still miss the influx of drugs Trump has said he will halt.

Reinforcing the southern border has been a high priority for President Donald Trump, who has promised since the early days of his campaign to construct additional barriers along the frontier.

SEE ALSO: Here's how Mexican cartels actually operate in the United States

Meth

Cocaine

The southwest border is "the key entry point for the majority of the cocaine entering the United States, according to US Customs and Border Protection data," the DEA report states.

Heroin

"The majority of any heroin that we seize is not between the ports of entry," then-US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske told a Congressional committee in spring 2016.

"We don't get much heroin seized by border patrol coming through," he added. "I think just because there are a lot of risks to the smugglers and the difficulty of trying to smuggle it through."

See the rest of the story at Business Insider from All About Law http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-increasing-border-security-overlooks-smuggling-2018-4

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touristguidebuzz · 6 years

Text

Complications of Getting Catering to the Plane — Airline Innovation Report

A catering truck — called a high-loader in industry lingo — might cost $200,000, according to an executive with Gate Group. That's part of the reason airline food is so expensive. Gate Group

Skift Take: Are you upset some airlines charge $3 for a soda? There's a reason prices are higher than at a convenience store. It's not easy or cheap to get provisions onto an aircraft.

— Brian Sumers

The Skift Airline Innovation Report is our weekly newsletter focused on the business of airline innovation. We will look closely at the technological, financial, and design trends at airlines and airports that are driving the next-gen aviation industry.

We provide insights on need-to-know developments in passenger experience, ancillary services, revenue management, loyalty, technology, marketing, airport innovation, the competitive landscape, startups, and changing passenger behavior. The newsletter, sent on Wednesdays, is written and curated by me. We will look closely at the technological, financial, and design trends at airlines and airports that are driving the next-generation aviation industry. You can find previous issues of the newsletter here.

United Airlines has been around for 90 years, and yet it’s still not sure of the most efficient number of Coca-Cola cans to board for each flight.

I tweeted this recently, after someone at United forwarded me catering news. “To help reduce unnecessary soda overstock, beginning Dec.1, we will reduce the amount of soda provisioned on all single-segment domestic flights,” United told employees, while promising it still seeks to “provide the right balance of beverages to meet customer demand.”

I bring this up because this week we published an interview with Anne De Hauw, vice president of innovation for Gate Group, the world’s largest caterer and airline retail company. Part of her job includes bringing true innovation to airline catering and retail, but much of it has another purpose — to help carriers reduce costs. On each meal served to a passenger, she said, “every penny [airlines] can reduce is significant.” That includes drinks.

We spoke about how some U.S. airlines have resumed free food service on longer domestic flights. But mostly, she said, the trend is going in the other direction, with airlines charging for meals. Her research tells her passengers in their 20s and 30s — the next-generation of important executives — don’t mind. “Millennials want to have great food,” she said. “It can be simple, but it needs to be good. They would rather pay for good than get free food which isn’t good.”

We also discussed sodas. It’s a topic I’ve found fascinating since I interviewed then-Frontier Airlines President Barry Biffle a couple of years ago in Denver. He and I spoke about how passengers dislike paying for sodas, since most assume a Coke costs an airline 20 cents or less. But because of the supply chain expenses, he said, a Coke costs Frontier a lot more than passengers pay at Costco.

How much? This is an answer I tried to learn from De Hauw. She declined to give exact numbers, but defended Gate Group’s pricing.

“The cans need to be sorted in the catering unit at the airport,” she said. “They need to be sorted into trolleys. It is all planned in advance how much Coke goes into each trolley. The catering then needs to be driven by the high-loaders of the caterer at the airport and loaded on the airplane. That area is a highly secure area. And the price of a high-loader is around $200,000 — of one high-loader.”

For more catering tidbits, including her thoughts on the recent Listeria scare in at Gate Group’s Los Angeles facility, read the interview.

— Brian Sumers, Airline Business Reporter

News and Notes

Allegiant to Mexico: For roughly five years, executives at discount U.S. carrier Allegiant Air have said, on and off, that they want to fly to the Caribbean and Mexico. But it still hasn’t happened.

In occasional statements, they’ve suggested they have enough worthy U.S. markets, and don’t need to rush international expansion. But recently I spoke with Kristen Schilling-Gonzales, Allegiant’s director of planning, for my Airline Insiders interview series, and she told me part of the issue is airline’s technological system. It’s not ready to support international flights.

“Our website is also part of our booking engine and it’s all internally created,” she said. “The same thing goes with international. We’re looking to build our own departure control system, making sure that we’re sending all the right data to government agencies, all that stuff. We’re still working on that.”

She said she doesn’t know when the airline will be ready. But the airline’s planning team knows what routes it will suggest when, or if, the time comes.

“I’ve got a roughly five-year plan of several hundred routes that we could be running once international is up and going,” she said. “The routes aren’t the issue, it’s the infrastructure and updating our systems to handle it.”

Look for the entire interview after Thanksgiving.

Want to be the next interviewee for the series? Email me.

Stories of the Week

Airline Food Conundrum — Paid Meals Winning Out Over Freebies: Airline food isn’t always tasty, but passengers probably shouldn’t compare it to what they find in a restaurant. Delivering food to an aircraft is a logistical challenge, and it’s amazing the system works as well as it does.

Delta Puts a Better Business Class on Routes Where Travelers Will Buy It: When deciding which planes to send where, U.S. airlines usually keep it simple. Domestic routes, with few exceptions, get narrowbody jets with first class recliner seats. International routes get flatbeds, regardless of whether there’s a premium market. But this week, Delta said it will try something different in 2018. It’ll deploy flatbeds on more U.S. routes, while some flights to Iceland, Portugal and Ireland will lose them. It’s smart business since more passengers may buy first class on New York-San Diego, than from New York to Ponta Delgada, Portugal. (Did you know Delta flew to Ponta Delgada?)

United Is Making Tech Changes to Boost Wi-Fi Speeds on Many Planes: I heard for months United was having modem trouble on its Panasonic-equipped Boeing 777s, 767s, 757s, and Airbus A319s and A320s. But while I once received a $175 travel certificate after flying with broken Wi-Fi, I never learned the exact problem. Last week, though, United admitted it had an issue. “We are working with Panasonic to improve the quality of the wireless access points on all of our Panasonic aircraft,” United said, promising more travelers soon will be able to “….tap into a strong, steady connection at the same time.” The upgrade should be done by May.

Alaska Airlines Blames Trump Administration for Decision to Pull Out of Cuba: Our chutzpah award goes to Alaska Airlines, which blamed “changes in Cuba travel policies,” for why it canceled its Los Angeles-Havana flight. The Trump Administration’s recent regulatory changes may not have helped, but this was almost certainly a marginal route from the beginning. Remember, no other airline wanted to fly from the West Coast to Havana. In its release, Alaska said it would deploy the 737 to “markets with higher demand.” Blogger Brett Snyder tweeted, “not sure why they bothered saying ‘higher’ there, could have just said ‘Aircraft and crew will be re-deployed to markets with demand.'”

Airlines Personalize the Passenger Experience With New Apps and Devices: At almost every conference I attend, someone asks about the line between creepy and cool, when it comes to customer service. Do passengers want a flight attendant to wish them happy birthday? Do they want someone to bring them their favorite drink before they ask? Or might they want the airline to suggest where they should fly next, as Netflix recommends movies to subscribers? In many cases, airlines have the data they need. But they’re often not sure how, or when, to use it. Bloomberg’s Justin Bachman has details.

Why Airbus Lost Its Super Jumbo Deal With Emirates: Bloomberg’s Benedikt Kammel and Benjamin Katz report Airbus and Emirates recently shook on a deal that was to send 36 more A380s to the Dubai-based carrier. But it hasn’t happened. Why? “At the heart of the turnabout was concern at Emirates about the commitment of Airbus to carry on developing the A380, with the carrier loath to place on order only to see the program terminated a few years later,” the two reporters write.

‘Pay Least, Board Last’ — British Airways Unveils Its Newest Policy: Is any mainstream global airline brand mocked more than British Airways? The airline said it will require passengers buying its cheapest tickets to board last. It’s a similar strategy to what American, United and Delta use with basic economy. Many British newspapers, including The Telegraph, criticized the move, using colorful language to describe it. But this is a common business practice, right? People who pay less get less.

Airport to Pay Nearly $1.5 Million for Qatar Airways Flights to Pittsburgh: Over a one-year period, Pittsburgh International Airport could give Qatar Airways almost $1.5 million in exchange for twice-weekly cargo flights to Doha that began in October, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The airport may avoid some payments if the airline reaches its financial goals next year. But no matter what, the newspaper said, Pittsburgh’s airport will pay the airline about $15,500 per flight — or $744,000 total — to subsidize service for the first six months. Is that money well-spent?

Correction: Last week, I poked fun at Ed Wegel, founder of the reboot of Eastern Airlines in 2015. He has a new project, World Airways. In last week’s post, I suggested that the new Eastern is still flying, albeit under different management. Technically, that’s not true. There might be some planes in Eastern’s livery still operating, but the carrier no longer has an operating certificate. “Earlier this year, Swift Air acquired two Boeing 737-800s that Eastern Airlines Group was leasing,” an FAA spokesman told me. “Eastern Airlines surrendered its Part 121 certificate on Nov. 13, 2017.”

The Skift Airline Innovation Report is curated by Skift Airline Business Reporter Brian Sumers [[email protected]]. The newsletter is emailed every Wednesday. Have a story idea? Or a juicy news tip? Want to share a memo? Send me an email or tweet me.

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rollinbrigittenv8 · 6 years

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Complications of Getting Catering to the Plane — Airline Innovation Report

A catering truck — called a high-loader in industry lingo — might cost $200,000, according to an executive with Gate Group. That's part of the reason airline food is so expensive. Gate Group

Skift Take: Are you upset some airlines charge $3 for a soda? There's a reason prices are higher than at a convenience store. It's not easy or cheap to get provisions onto an aircraft.

— Brian Sumers

United Airlines has been around for 90 years, and yet it’s still not sure of the most efficient number of Coca-Cola cans to board for each flight.

How much? This is an answer I tried to learn from De Hauw. She declined to give exact numbers, but defended Gate Group’s pricing.

For more catering tidbits, including her thoughts on the recent Listeria scare in at Gate Group’s Los Angeles facility, read the interview.

— Brian Sumers, Airline Business Reporter

News and Notes

She said she doesn’t know when the airline will be ready. But the airline’s planning team knows what routes it will suggest when, or if, the time comes.

Look for the entire interview after Thanksgiving.

Want to be the next interviewee for the series? Email me.

Stories of the Week

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luismurat · 7 years

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Nueva ruta aérea

Se inauguró el vuelo Oaxaca – Los Ángeles y Los Ángeles – Oaxaca, dos días a la semana, miércoles y sábado con el siguiente horario: El vuelo sale de Oaxaca a las 10.10am, llegando a las 12.30pm a Los Angeles, y regresa rumbo a Oaxaca a las 2.00pm; llegando a la capital del Estado a las 8.00pm, justo a tiempo para saborear un delicioso chocolate con agua antes de retirarse a descansar. Los precios de los boletos son de 99 dólares, en vuelo sencillo.

Hemos detallado los horarios y precios de los vuelos porque es importante para el número de paisanos que radican en California, principalmente en el Condado de los Ángeles, donde la comunidad oaxaqueña es dueña de más de 100 empresas y establecimientos comerciales.

Se calcula que en el Centro y Sur de California viven más de 400 mil oaxaqueños radicados en, San Diego, Fresno, San José, Bakersfield, Santa María, Santa Mónica, Santa Ana y San Gabriel.

Conservando sus tradiciones, las comunidades oaxaqueñas celebran la Guelaguetza los días sábado 8 y domingo 9 de agosto en el parque Lincoln de los Ángeles. La comida destaca por la cantidad de restaurantes que los oaxaqueños han abierto en Estados Unidos, vendiendo platillos que contienen los ingredientes originales de la región. Las artesanías han encontrado un importante mercado en aquel país.

El vuelo, cobra importancia al significar una línea de comunicación más entre ambas ciudades. Obviamente, el turismo y el comercio aumentarán por interés comercial, cultural y económico, y que habrá que cuidarlo pues no es agradable ni seguro viajar a una bella ciudad como Oaxaca, que constantemente es azotada por la violencia y dislocada por las manifestaciones.

El beneficio está a la vista, la confianza de la empresa participante depositada en la capital del estado y en su gobierno. Solo falta que las organizaciones, de todo tipo y tendencia, entiendan el beneficio que brinda el comercio y los negocios legales al atraer la inversión para propiciar el desarrollo y crecimiento económico de las comunidades.

Confiamos que el vuelo, Oaxaca – Los Ángeles, será para el bien del Estado al estar más comunicado y propiciar el contacto familiar.

Sin embargo, como no todo en la vida es perfecto, apareció, en medio de los aguaceros, un negrito en el arroz. Se trata de que la Profeco metió al orden a las aerolíneas que abusan de los usuarios, como Aeroméxico, Interjet, Volaris, JetBlue y VivaAerobús, que han estado cobrando a los pasajeros cargos no autorizados por la Ley en los vuelos hacia Estados Unidos y Canadá.

American Airlines y United Airlines, están bajo la lupa de la Profeco por la misma causa. Las multas aplicadas fueron las siguientes: Aeroméxico con 6.3 millones de pesos; Interjet con 5.1 mdp; Volaris con 4.5 mdp; VivaAerobús 4.2 mdp; JetBlue Airways 3.3mdp.

Severa la Profeco; y es que ya se necesitaban acciones como esta en beneficio de los usuarios pues nos cobran hasta por documentar una maleta. ¡Vaya voracidad!

Hemos de recordar que lo anterior tiene un origen legislativo: el 18 de abril durante el Pleno de la Cámara de Diputados fue aprobado por 422 votos a favor un proyecto de decreto que reformó la Ley de Aviación Civil precisando que las aerolíneas están obligadas a prestar servicios de calidad y eficiencia a los pasajeros, respetando y cumpliendo los derechos del usuario.

La Ley aprobada, protege al pasajero contra cualquier abuso de las aerolíneas, por lo que vale la pena conocerla para estar al día de los derechos que nos protegen.

Aun así, hubo aerolíneas que se inconformaron con la nueva ley, tal fue el caso de Volaris, compañía dirigida por Enrique Beltranena, quien anunció que va a impugnar la multa por la primera maleta documentada entre los vuelos con Estados Unidos, recurriendo a los tratados internacionales que, según Volaris, están por encima de las leyes locales, y por lo tanto, pueden seguir cobrando por la primera maleta.

Volaris ya enseñó los dientes, entérese: A partir del 1 de marzo, Volaris cobra 350 pesos o 15 dólares por la primera maleta documentada en viajes hacia Estados Unidos y Puerto Rico, si el boleto se compra antes de llegar al aeropuerto; 450 pesos o 20 dólares si el boleto se compra en los aeropuertos.

Pero hay más joyas de las aerolíneas, Interjet y Aeroméxico, sucedió que dejaron varados a los pasajeros del vuelo Chiapas – México por más de 24 horas, sin dar explicaciones. Mujeres embarazadas, niñas y niñas, personas de la tercera edad, resultaron afectadas con los dos retrasos de vuelo, sin excusa ni pretexto. Varias horas después y pasado un día, las aerolíneas le echaron la culpa a la naturaleza aduciendo que el clima no permitió los vuelos. ¿Por qué no decirlo desde un principio?

Veremos qué pasa con los diferendos entre las aerolíneas y Profeco, pero de entrada, la voracidad no las beneficia, sobre todo, cuando hay todo un mercado muy amplio de usuarios.

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#IFTTT #WordPress

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decaffeinatedcrusadeheart-blog · 7 years

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newstfionline · 7 years

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How North Korea Managed to Defy Years of Sanctions

By Jane Perlez, Yufan Huang and Paul Mozur, NY Times, May 12, 2017

DANDONG, China--As the end of the fashion season approached, and the suits and dresses arrived in her company’s warehouses here in the Chinese border town of Dandong, the accountant crammed about $100,000 into a backpack, then boarded a rickety train with several co-workers.

She asked to be identified only by her surname, Lang, given the sensitivity of their destination: North Korea.

After a six-hour journey, she recalled, they arrived at a factory where hundreds of women using high-end European machines sewed clothes with “Made in China” labels. Her boss handed the money to the North Korean manager, all of it in American bills as required.

Despite seven rounds of United Nations sanctions over the past 11 years, including a ban on “bulk cash” transfers, large avenues of trade remain open to North Korea, allowing it to earn foreign currency to sustain its economy and finance its program to build a nuclear weapon that can strike the United States.

Fraudulent labeling helps support its garment industry, which generated more than $500 million for the isolated nation last year, according to Chinese trade data.

North Korea earned an additional $1.1 billion selling coal to China last year using a loophole in the ban on such exports, and researchers say tens of thousands of North Koreans who work overseas as laborers are forced to send back as much as $250 million annually. Diplomats estimate the country makes $70 million more selling rights to harvest seafood from its waters.

China accounts for more than 80 percent of trade with North Korea, and the Trump administration is counting on Beijing to use that leverage to pressure it into giving up its nuclear arsenal. The Chinese government took a big step in February by announcing that it was suspending imports of coal from the country through the end of the year.

But China has a long record of shielding North Korea from more painful sanctions, because it is afraid of a regime collapse that could send refugees streaming across the border and leave it with a more hostile neighbor.

In addition, Beijing now has a sympathetic ear in South Korea, whose newly elected president, Moon Jae-in, echoes its view that sanctions alone will not be enough to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program.

While North Korea remains impoverished and dependent on food aid, its economy appears to be growing, partly because of a limited embrace of market forces since its leader, Kim Jong-un, took power more than five years ago.

Foreign trade, primarily with China, has surged, too, more than doubling since 2000, though it has slipped in the past three years.

In theory, North Korea’s greater openness to trade makes it more vulnerable to sanctions, with new potential targets and pressure points. But it also highlights the limits of an approach to sanctions--defined largely by China at the United Nations--that aims to punish North Korea’s military and ruling elite while sparing its people. As trade expands, the lines have blurred.

Positioned near the mouth of the Yalu River, Dandong is China’s largest border town, and much of North Korea’s trade with the world flows across its old bridges or through its deepwater port.

Ms. Lang, 33, moved here more than a decade ago to study environmental protection. But she ended up like many with ambition in this city of more than three million: doing business with North Korea.

She wears exquisite makeup and carries a Louis Vuitton handbag, and she said her role in the garment trade was straightforward: Orders come in from Japan, Europe and other parts of China, and she gets the clothes made.

For those with quick deadlines or detailed specifications, she turns to Chinese factories in Dandong, where quality control is better. Yet even these factories employ North Korean laborers, she said.

For decades, North Korea has been accused of sending workers abroad and confiscating most of their wages, an arrangement that activists liken to slave labor. Researchers say the practice has expanded since Mr. Kim took power, with more than 50,000 workers now toiling in up to 40 countries.

In Dandong, the local government boasts that 10,000 North Koreans are employed in its apparel factories, working 12- to 14-hour shifts, with just two to four days off each month and a monthly wage of no more than $260.

“They are well disciplined and easy to manage,” says the website of the Dandong commerce bureau, noting that the workers have been vetted before arrival. “There is no such thing as absenteeism or interfering with management, no using illness to shun work or procrastination and losing work time.”

Ms. Lang sends more-flexible orders to North Korea, where costs are lower but it is impossible to guarantee delivery dates because of power failures and a shortage of trucks.

Her company ships fabric, buttons and zippers to factories there, she said, because the North lacks the materials, and they put “Made in China” labels in garments to make them easier to sell overseas.

That would most likely be considered fraud and a violation of place-of-origin rules in countries that import the clothes, experts said.

China has kept North Korea’s garment sector off the list of industries targeted by United Nations sanctions, arguing that punishing it would hurt ordinary people and not military programs. It has protected North Korea’s seafood industry using the same argument.

But it is difficult to say who benefits from this trade, in part because even private enterprise in North Korea is overseen by state officials who extract taxes and bribes.

“Whether the proceeds from the textile industry support the nuclear program is an open question,” said Joseph M. DeThomas, a professor at Pennsylvania State University and a former American ambassador involved in sanctions policy. “Money is fungible.”

At least one North Korean enterprise controlled by the atomic energy bureau, the Korea Kumsan Trading Corporation, ran a garment factory that added embroidery and beading to clothing, according to a North Korean government trade website.

And South Korean officials say that the millions paid by Chinese companies to fish in North Korean waters go primarily to firms controlled by the North’s military.

Sanctions also do not cover the organized export of labor. The United States has urged countries to eject North Korean workers, saying their remittances benefit the military, not their families. But China, Russia and other nations continue to hire them.

American sanctions against North Korea began with a near-total economic embargo adopted in 1950, at the start of the Korean War. Over the years, some sanctions were eased and others added, including after the cyberattack on Sony Pictures in 2014 that Washington attributed to the North.

The United Nations Security Council did not impose sanctions until July 2006, when, after a series of missile tests, it banned countries from selling material for missiles or weapons of mass destruction to North Korea.

The North detonated its first nuclear device months later, followed by additional tests in 2009 and 2013, and two in 2016. The Security Council tightened sanctions after each test, as well as after a satellite launch in 2013. It targeted military supplies and luxury goods, shut Pyongyang out of the international financial system and, most recently, banned a range of mineral exports.

But loopholes abound. Resolutions called for searches of vessels carrying cargo to North Korea but have failed to stop its use of ships sailing under foreign flags. And when the Security Council banned its top export, coal, China insisted on an exception for transactions judged to be for “livelihood purposes.”

New measures seek to limit North Korea’s ability to make money through its embassies. In Berlin, for example, the authorities are closing a hostel run out of former diplomatic quarters. But the North has responded to such crackdowns by shifting business to countries with weaker enforcement.

“How much cooperation will the international community get from Cuba, Russia, Iran or even Pakistan, Bangladesh or Laos?” asked Stephan Haggard, an expert on the North Korean economy at the University of California, San Diego.

The United States has also urged a boycott of Air Koryo, the North Korean airline, but it still flies to China and Russia. Chinese tourism to North Korea is booming, said Cha Yong Hyok, whose company, Indprk, takes groups by train to Pyongyang and will soon use new flights from Dandong.

The North often circumvents banking sanctions using front companies and agents overseas, and North Koreans routinely send and receive payments using Chinese intermediaries who take a commission, despite the ban on “bulk cash” transfers.

“We can and should go after these targets, but turning this into a game of financial cat-and-mouse will never achieve the level of pressure needed,” said Daniel L. Glaser, a former Treasury Department official involved in sanctions enforcement.

Ultimately, he argued, that pressure will come only if China makes a strategic decision to truly squeeze the North. “Though China has taken helpful steps at times,” he said, “it has never been willing to go all in.”

Just about every big Chinese appliance maker does business with North Korea, shipping refrigerators, air-conditioners, televisions and other electronics. The major Chinese automakers sell vehicles to the North as well.

Even Tsingtao Brewery shows up in the customs records, with a delivery of about $20,000 worth of beer in the summer of 2014.

Matthew Brazil, a security consultant and former diplomat for the United States who investigated Chinese trade controls in the 1990s, said it was often impossible to get China to follow up on leads suggesting Chinese firms were violating restrictions.

“Three months later, if you’re lucky, the visit is scheduled, and many times, visits weren’t scheduled at all,” he said.

Mr. Brazil said the problem had persisted, and as a result, “any level of control of American electronics has completely collapsed because this technology can be so easily shipped from China to North Korea.”

The manager of a shipping firm in Dandong who asked to be identified only by her surname, Li, because of the nature of her work said shipping a package of electronics to North Korea was straightforward “as long as it doesn’t have obvious labels” and meets weight requirements.

In fact, a delivery is more likely to run into problems on the North Korean side of the border than with customs inspectors in China. “The key,” she said, “is to make sure everything is fine with the people on the other side.”

#North Korea #North Korean sanctions #Dandong #China-North Korea relations

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touristguidebuzz · 7 years

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Maximizing Alaska’s New Distance-Based Award Chart

Back in December, Alaska made some changes to its award charts and the Mileage Plan program which have largely been received as positive. One of the biggest updates was the shift to a distance-based award chart for flights on Alaska metal. As you can see in the chart below, there are four zones aptly named Hop, Skip, Jump and Leap:

As you’ll note in the chart, Alaska’s new zones offer variable pricing. While the carrier claimed it wasn’t raising the starting price of any flights, it has made some flights more expensive by charging the mid to higher end of the variable pricing for the zones. However, the airline has also lowered the price of some flights, with itineraries less than 700 miles in length now starting at 5,000 miles one-way — a drop from the previous amounts of 7,500 (intrastate travel) and 12,500 (nationwide travel).

To maximize this new award chart, you need to know Alaska’s generous award-routing policy, which allows for stopovers on one-way tickets. When I started searching routes with the multi-city award tool on Alaskaair.com, I began to notice something really fantastic: Alaska’s new engine is apparently only taking into account the origin and destination of a one-way ticket, even when a stopover is a part of the ticket.

Example 1

Any itinerary under 700 miles in length will start at a 5,000 miles for an award ticket. Gcmap.com lists Boise (BOI) to Los Angeles (LAX) at 674 miles. If you fly BOI to Seattle (SEA), stop over for a few days, then fly SEA-LAX, your routing will be 1,353 miles long. According to the above chart, your ticket should start at 7,500 miles; yet Alaska only charges 5,000 miles:

Example 2

Moving on to the more expensive “Jump” zone of the award chart, a nonstop flight from Chicago (ORD) to LAX is 1,744 miles, meaning award tickets start at 10,000 miles. ORD-SEA with a stopover in Seattle and then SEA-LAX is 2,675 miles in length, and an award ticket should start 12,500 miles. However, Alaska only charges you 10,000 miles for a ticket:

In all my searches and phone calls, the stopovers I input didn’t affect the pricing — the total miles required is based on the nonstop distance from your origin to destination. I also found that this generally only works for itineraries that would fall in the Hop, Skip and Jump zones of the award chart and have flight availability. Once you get into the highest “Leap” zone, the online engine and phone agents can’t get itineraries to price out in the above manner.

Given Alaska’s limited route network when you stay within the bottom three zones, this is mainly helpful for west coasters, but can be nice for everyone as the Chicago example above demonstrates. For ORD-LAX (stopover) LAX-SEA, the legacy carriers would charge a minimum of 22,500 miles.

PARTNER ODDITIES

The above two itineraries are great examples of saving miles and seeing two cities for a lower mileage requirement than the award chart would make you think. However, the true #AvGeeks out there can take it a little further and see a lot of North America for very few miles.

Example 3

SEA to San Diego (SAN) is a 1,050-mile nonstop itinerary and should cost between 7,500 and 20,000 miles for a one-way award ticket. I found an itinerary that is within the range of what it should cost, but I added a stop in Honolulu (HNL) on the way to SAN:

That’s round-trip to Hawaii for 12,500 miles, which is priced within the range for what SEA-SAN should cost! Granted, you’ll only see the Hawaiian pineapples for less than five hours, but you might look at it another way when you see the cheapest one-way ticket to Hawaii in March is 17,500 miles:

Cheap Prices for Same-Day Turn Awards

Things also get a bit crazy where they shouldn’t, and that’s involving partner airlines. Alaska’s award chart for American airlines within the continental US says coach flights are 12,500 miles each way. When I searched for more Alaska stopover routes, Alaskaair.com put out the following American itinerary from SEA to Orlando (MCO) to San Francisco (SFO) and only asked for 12,500 miles:

That’s cross country twice for a total of 12,500 miles. Add in a SFO-SEA (stopover) SEA-BOI itinerary for 5,000 miles, and you can fly a transcon seeing Orlando (at least for lunch), San Francisco, Seattle and Boise for a total of 17,500 Alaska miles. My guess is because the MCO is a same-day turn, Alaska’s engine counts it all as one-way to San Francisco and prices it at 12,500 miles. You can also fly a same-day turn completely on Delta for 25,000 miles:

This really gets exciting when you look at the transcon possibilities on American’s A321T and see you can fly it twice across country for only 32,500 miles in business:

Or fly to New York then back to San Francisco the next day all in Virgin America first class for a mere 15,000 miles:

As long as itineraries containing partner flights are concluded within 24 hours, it looks like Alaska prices the itinerary as if it were a one-way ticket.

Bottom Line

Here is a quick recap of the rules I believe apply to the Alaska online multi-city search engine:

If booking an itinerary with a stopover on all Alaska metal, Alaska will price the itinerary based on the mileage directly from origin to destination, as long as that distance is within the Hop, Skip or Jump zone.

If you cannot book it online, phone agents cannot manually price or book it for you (i.e., no rate desk).

If you book a same-day turn partner itinerary with an open jaw to a different destination than the origin, it will be priced as a one-way.

Virgin America transcons price as one-way intrastate itineraries if you complete the whole itinerary in 24 hours.

This is really encouraging to see out of Mileage Plan, and I’m sure this is just scraping the surface of the possibilities — especially with international partners. I also didn’t show the options once Anchorage becomes involved. The 30,000-mile sign-up bonus from the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days is enough for two people to fly transcon in Virgin America first, twice!

How do you plan to maximize the new award chart?

Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card

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Free checked bag for you and up to six other passengers on the same reservation.

3 miles for every $1 spent on Alaska Airlines tickets, vacation packages, cargo and in-flight purchases.

1 mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases.

Earn and redeem Alaska Mileage Plan miles to over 800 destinations around the world on Alaska Airlines and our more than 15 global airline partners.

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The benefits above apply to Visa Signature consumer accounts only and different benefits apply to Platinum Plus® accounts. Card type is determined by creditworthiness.

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Intro APR Regular APR Annual Fee Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Rating N/A 12.74% - 19.74% Variable APR on purchases and balance transfers. $75 0% Excellent/Good

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