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Airline Twitter Tip: Don’t Tweet Your Pax Is A “Gook”

When an airline’s social media goes wrong it tends to go really wrong. Social media going off the rails ends up taking a tool that is ideal for damage control and turns it into an instrument of brand destruction … especially for a global airline with a highly conservative.   Yesterday afternoon British Airways‘ usually…

Things That Drive Me Nuts … Trump Shuttle’s L-1011

Anyone who knows me knows that I love three-holers, that is to say I love the Boeing 727, McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and MD-11 and of course the Lockheed L-1011. As a native New Yorker, growing up next to JFK International Airport and a few miles from LaGuardia Airport, I grew up not only watching three-holers…

Inside A British Airways Boeing 747-436 D-Check

All aircraft undergo routine maintenance checks at specific life cycle intervals, these checks range from a light A-Check through a heavy D-Check.   An A-Check for a commercial aircraft is typically performed around 800 flight hour cycle and often conducted during an overnight layover at an airport, requiring 20 man-hours maintenance.   The B-Check is conducted…

Does TSA “Randomly” Pat Down Women More Than Men?

The mere mention of the term “Enhanced Pat Down” is enough to send many travelers into an endless rant about the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). One issue a significant group of travelers (women) seems to bring up is that more women are selected for pat downs than men.   This is a statistic the TSA has…

Reader Mail: Explain How Airlines Come Up With Flight Numbers

Just before my Hurricane and Nor’easter induced break from Flying With Fish I received an email from Tim Wesolek asking, “can you [please] explain how airlines come up with flight numbers?”   Well Tim, there is no straightforward answer, but I will do my best.   For starters, some airlines have historical flight numbers, such…

Reader Mail : What’s The Best Hospitality You’ve Experienced?

Traveling for me is often about getting to and from places rather than visiting them, it’s the nature of what I do, however for the vast majority of travelers the journey is about the experience, the culture and the connections. I was reminded of this yesterday when I received an email from Julia Schultz, in…

Alaska’s Fresh Salmon-Thirty-Salmon In Sky

For years my favorite aircraft paint-job has been flying on an Alaska Airlines’ Boeing 737-490, the livery know as the Salmon-Thirty-Salmon took to the skies in October 2005. The Salmon-Thirty-Salmon, pained in support of the Alaskan Seafood Industry depicts a realistic image of s salmon from nose to tail.   Now, earlier this month, seven…

Reader Mail : Do All Planes Board From The Left Side?

Today’s reader mail comes from James O’Connor, in Glasgow, Scotland. James asks, ” I have just realized that I always board my flights from the front left door. Do all planes board from the left side? If so, is there a rationale for this?”   James, the answer is “mostly yes.”  Today all commercial airliners…

Win A Seat Next To Randy Petersen … Yes, That Randy!

Do you like travel? Yearn for more time in an airline seat? Enjoy conversing with  semi-bald white haired gentlemen who seems to only wear Nike sneakers?  Then have I got a contest for you!   Between today, the 1st of October and this coming Sunday, the 7th of October, you’ll have the opportunity to win…