Denver to LA - What A View

Denver to LA is one of the prettiest flights in the world, but only for people on the left side of the aircraft.  I flew this route twice last month, both on clear mornings, and the views were spectacular.  Leaving DEN for the Rocky Mountains, there are great views of the rugged terrain of western Colorado.  The flight goes southwest down to northern Arizona and Monument Valley followed by the Grand Canyon.  Then the mountains of southern California rise and then give way to the LA area and the airport.  I was lucky and was also able to parallel landing traffic and enjoyed the long taxi around LAX with many foreign carriers to spot.

Monument Valley

LAX Landing Traffic

United's Healthy-ish First Class Meals

The turkey and egg wrap was good and the soup superb, but there's no fun in eating grapes on a plane.  Next they'll be handing out oatmeal raisin cookies rather than chocolate chip (wait, that's happening already).

The Soup and Beer Were Fun

Virgin Atlantic Doesn't Need Paint

Old news by now, but it is still funny for me to think how UK airlines can relax because Scotland voted NO and the Union Jack won't have to be repainted.

The Union Jack Will Stay

Kingman, AZ Airport - IGM

The Kingman, AZ airport is one of the scariest airports in the USA, for aircraft at least. It's one of several "bone yard" airports where aircraft are placed in long term storage or scrapped.  Most of the airliners parked there will never fly out. I flew by recently, at a safe distance from my aircraft's perspective, and felt like sharing.   

Kingman, AZ and Local Area

Save 14% With Frontier This Week

Frontier will offer a 14% discount until 11:59 pm Eastern time Oct. 9, 2014. The discount will apply to regular and sale fares for domestic travel.  Tickets must be purchased online at FlyFrontier.com using the promo code PUMPKIN. 

Big Ole Jet Airliner

Boeing 767 BBJ by Comlux Aviation

Are you a head of state on a budget?  Do you want your own state aircraft, but the treasury coffers aren't very deep?  Find the thought of flying yourself and entourage commercial or on two or more charters miserable?  Well Comlux Aviation can help with their 767-200 BBJ.  It's a 767-200 in an executive configuration with seating for 60 and a 14 hour range. I saw it parked at the private aviation ramp at IAD.

For Heads Of State On A Budget

I Ate Only Airline Food For Two Days

I'm running short on status miles again this year, so I took two trips to Puerto Rico last month and stayed in the airport for less than an hour each time.  As a fun game, I decided to eat only food served in flight for the whole two days of travel.  The results were mixed, ranging from a very good steak to a frozen banana and a small bag of crisps.

Breakfast Day 1

737-900 First Class Seat With Free DirecTV

United Airlines Classic Snack Box - $7.99

CRJ-200 Row 1 Seats

First Class Light Snack on ~500 Flight

United A319 First Class Row 1

Overnight Flight Cheeseburger Meal

757 Seat On Overnight Flight

Breakfast on Day 2

More Uncomfortable 737 Seats

Warm Nuts and Beer

Soup is Always Good

Another 737 Seat, This Time On The Right Side

Final Meal After Two Days Eating With United

Miserable Travel Week, Except While In Air

What a miserable travel week; I'll have more details later, but for now I'd like to highlight a positive travel development.  United's new content streaming system is working and on a few of their Airbus aircraft already.  It's free to use and has good content selections, just be sure to board with a full battery because there is still no power on board.

Remember The Last Point

Bud Light Up For Whatever Air Charters

Bud Light ran a few CRJ-200's and an Atlas Air 767 from Denver to Crested Butte (Gunnison) as part of their Up For Whatever promotion where they took over a town for a giant party.  I spotted the jets parked at the A terminal in Denver.  The CRJ's had the full Whatever Bud Light Branding and the Atlas Air 767 just looked out of place (I've only seen their cargo planes).

Bud Light Whatever CRJ 200

Atlas Air 767 Charter

Smokey Cold Engine Start

On cold days, jet engines have smokey start ups when first turned over in the morning.  It looks troubling until a pilot explains the behavior as normal and nothing to worry about. It makes an interesting show though. 

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Scotish Independence

If Scotland votes for independence, will British Airways need to repaint their fleet?

No Blue Without Scotland

New Look For Frontier Airlines

Last week Frontier and Southwest decided to re-brand, though I'm not sure why.  Anyway, I spotter the new Frontier design when going through Denver this week. It looks good, but the old design looked good too.  

New and Old Frontier Designs

New Frontier Design

Fan Error

My laptop wouldn't start because of a fan error.  It's fixed now and posting will resume shortly.

A much more reliable fan

Orbitz and American Are Friends Again

Orbitz and American Airlines are friends again and will play nice. This is a bummer, I was hoping this fight would last more than a day.

American Will Play Nice With Others

Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE:OWW) announced today that it had reached an agreement with American Airlines to continue to offer American Airlines and US Airways flights on all of its sites. Consumers should see all available flights immediately. All tickets previously purchased on Orbitz Worldwide sites remain valid.

"We are pleased that our long-standing relationship with American Airlines allowed us to quickly resolve business matters and that we continue to offer a broad range of options, including American Airlines and US Airways flights, to the millions of shoppers who book travel on our global sites each day," said Sam Fulton, president of Orbitz.com.

American & US Airways Won't Sell Tickets on Orbitz

I use Hipmunk and Travelocity to book tickets and rarely pay to fly American or US Airways, so the news that American Airlines (US Air too) will stop selling tickets through Orbitz doesn't impact my travel rituals.  It is interesting that a major airline is removing their tickets from a major(ish) online travel site.  The fees Orbitz demands must be ridiculous.  American will lose some business from this, but it must be worth it.  Fighting the booking engine fees will also show the seriousness of threats made to other websites; American isn't bluffing.

Now Departing Orbitz for AA.com

None of this matters to Southwest flyers because Southwest tickets are only sold through Southwest.  Other major carriers can't copy that model now because too many people prefer comparison sites and won't check other airlines that aren't listed.

Not a Problem for Southwest

Fun Photo

United and Southwest 737's in Denver

United Trying to Make an Extra Buck With Cashless Cabins

United will sell you a prepaid debt card in the airport now.  The idea is to take a passenger's money two additional times because the card comes with a large purchase fee and then the passenger will promptly use it to pay for check in related fees or buy on board items.  Spirit Airlines is the best at ancillary revenue, but they haven't thought of this idea yet.

Airport Prepaid Card Vending Machine

Complex Sheraton Shower Handle

The Sheraton Phoenix Airport hotel wins the complex shower handle competition.  I've never seen one like this before and the hotel even includes directions for use.  The hotel is being renovated, so I hope on my next visit I can have regular plumbing.

Directions Required

T-6 Texan Flight With Commemorative Air Force in Arizona

I flew an airplane last weekend and have a new appreciation for the value of the rudder pedals.  The Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing offers rides in a few of their old military aircraft.  The B-17 and B-25 bombers are on a summer tour, but the transport planes and single engine aircraft are there all year. 

T-6 Texan in the Morning Light

I decided to go up in the North American T-6 Texan trainer.  It was a close call between that and the Boeing biplane.  The T-6 has the pilot in front and the student in the back.  The experience is about 50 minutes from engine start up to stop.  I showed up early, signed some paperwork and toured the hanger with planes that weren’t flying that day.  The volunteer staff loves what they do and are happy to share stories and answer questions.  

Boeing PT-17 Stearman

T-6 Engine Detail

I was the first to go that morning and the pilot, "Sky," did preflight checks on the T-6 then invited me over to introduce me to the aircraft and some safety notes.  I was buckled in, shown how to operate the canopy (needs to open for takeoff and landing to facilitate a quick exit), instructed on the intercom and shown the controls.  I was excited to go and liked to idea of flying in a convertible until the 350hp engine started.  The noise and wind were incredible and we were still parked.

Stearman Biplane Taxi

Me and the T-6 Texan

The power was increased and we taxied out to the runway.  It was a busy morning at Falcon Field and a few flight school planes and the Boeing biplane departed before us.  Our turn came quickly and we were at full power with the canopy open.  The roar of the engine and the rush of the wind were tremendous.  The tail lifted off first then the main gear and we headed to the east and gained altitude.  I closed the canopy after we left the airport and started shooting away with my camera.

I feel the need - the need for speed!

Taxi To Runway 4R

We flew over to the Tonto National Forest and I took in the sights.  Pretty soon "Sky" came on the radio and said he was going to give me a quick lesson and hand the controls over to me.  I caught onto the stick movements and the rudder movements, but doing them all together didn’t quite link up in my head.  No matter, I was at the controls and having a blast.  I started with banking left and right, adding the rudder inputs on a delay. Then I tried nose up and down and had fun making my own roller coaster at the limits of my air sick tolerance.  It was fun and I soon got the hang of it, though not perfect, the instruments and were acting like I wanted.  "Sky" said I was doing well and tool back the controls to give me a challenge.  We started banking heavily left then right and back while he was explaining the challenge.  I came on the intercom and stopped him before he could finish mentioning my stomach wasn’t up for it and we did some straight and level sightseeing before heading back to airport.  I had the air sick bag out, but didn’t need it. 

Back Seat Driver Controls

View in Air

We landed smoothly and zig zagged back to the hanger.  I was able to stumble out of the plane and felt like I needed a walker.  After standing still for a while, I was able to tour the museum and look at more classic war planes.  It was an amazing experience and I’d go back if I’m in the area again, but ride the biplane instead; all those passengers were able to walk normally when they climbed out.

Check Your Award Reservations For Changes

I booked an award reservation for a friend earlier this year for travel in September and forgot about it.  I recently was on United.com looking at my reservations and pulled up this award flight to find there was a change.  United downsized a CRJ-700 to a CRJ-200 and my friend lost his first class seat. The reservation message wanted me to click ‘Continue’ to accept the change and move on.  I didn’t want to accept the change and instead clicked to the home page and looked for a better option.  I was able to find a first class seat on an Air Canada E175 and called United to make the change.  The agent found the award seat and updated the reservation.  My friend now has a larger seat, TV, meal, shorter lines, and free drinks.  Just because United updates your reservation, you don’t have to accept it.  The agents can be very flexible too because it was an airline initiated reservation change.

Air Canada A319 in Denver

United Global Services Mercedes SUV Houston

There was a big spender on my flight to Houston because United sent a Mercedes SUV to take them to their connecting flight.  Oddly the person was flying coach or not observant because the agent was still waiting in the jetway for them after first class had emptied.  United offers transfer service at hubs to Global Service (top 1% revenue passengers) members when able. There was an agent in the jetway with an iPad showing the passenger's name waiting for the flight to arrive.  It's a cool service, similar to part of the Lufthansa First Class service, but isn't guaranteed. 

United SUV Transfer in Houston

Same Day Standby Problems

There's an AP story with the headline "Empty seats increase at United Airlines" and I don't believe it.  From my observations United is flying planes 95%+ full 90% of the time.  Take today for example, I'm trying to stand by onto an earlier flight, but there is not one available seat, even with connections, for the 12 hours before my trip.

United 737-824 Pushing Back Full Probably

DFW Spends $1.2M to Study Airport Lounges

DFW wants to issue a contract for $1,200,000 for consultants to study international airport lounges and make a recommendation on what DFW should do (existing lounges aren't of the caliber foreign carriers expect).  That sounds like an amazing consulting gig, travel around the world and spend large amounts of time trying out all the features of airline lounges.  I wish I had bid on this contract (I did conduct a customer experience analysis at Helsinki Airport).

United First Class Lounge at SFO

Boeing Store Free Shipping Coupon

Free shipping at the Boeing Store with coupon code PROFIL14; offer good until Wednesday.

Boeing Products Last, This 737 is from the 80's