Air Travel

Airlines pledge to stop illegal wildlife trade

June 2, 2016Harriet BaskasAir Travel, Airline policiesIllegal wildlife trafficking, United for Wildlife

The commercial aviation industry is an unwilling partner in the illegal wildlife trade, which is valued at between $5-20 billion per year and is the fourth most lucrative global crime after drugs, humans and arms.

But there is some encouraging news on this front:

Among the resolutions endorsed unanimously in Dublin this week by airlines attending the annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is one which denounces the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products and pledges to join government authorities and conservation organizations in the fight against the traffickers of endangered animals.

“… [T]he airline industry is reinforcing its role by helping to shut down the vile activities of poaching and trafficking,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO in a statement.”

The resolution urges governments to commit additional resources to address illegal trafficking and calls on airlines to:

• Increase passenger, client, customer and employee awareness about the nature, scale and consequences of the illegal wildlife trade
• Partner with airports, freight forwarders and other stakeholders to work proactively with enforcement agencies and conservation organizations to address the problem and,
• Consider the adoption of appropriate policies and procedures to discourage trafficking through awareness programs, information sharing and incident reporting.

One of the high profile efforts already underway comes from Emirates. In November 2015, the airline introduced two A380 jets with a special livery in support of United for Wildlife, the global collaboration that unites the efforts of the world’s leading wildlife charities in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade. A video describing the effort is also being aired on flights.

In March 2016 IATA was one of the signers of the Buckingham Palace Declaration supporting the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce initiative of The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

The resolution also encourages airlines individually to sign the Declaration and more than a dozen did so at the IATA annual general assembly meeting.

Here’s the recorded message from Prince William played at the meeting:

Cool travel posters at Miami Int’l Airport

April 13, 2016Harriet BaskasAir Travel, ArtAirport art, early travel, MIA

An new exhibition at Miami International Airport’s – Faster, Farther, and More Comfortable than Ever Before – features vintage posters from the dawn of the 20th century.

A collaboration between MIA and The Wolfsonian-Florida International University, the exhibition near Gate D-31 showcases more than 20 reproduction posters whose originals were produced from 1900 through the 1930s and are now housed at The Wolfsonian-FIU.

Here are some more samples:

TSA & the things they bring

March 21, 2016Harriet BaskasAir Travelfirearms, TSA

The TSA publishes a report each week on the number of firearms and other prohibited items people try to take with them through security checkpoints at airports.

Last week, March 11-17, 2016, for example, 62 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at airport checkpoints around the country. 50 of those firearms were loaded and 14 had a round chambered.

Passengers don’t just try to guns with them onto planes. They take inert grenades, really big knives and one person tried to take this with them onto a plane at JFK International Airport in New York:

Looks like something that might explode, right?

According to the TSA Blog, the “organic mass and protruding wires… “ended up being what the traveler described as abstract art.”

Pastry from Jet Blue’s inaugural Quito flight

February 26, 2016Harriet BaskasAir Travelairline routes, Airlines, JetBlue

Blue roses from the arrival party for Jet Blue’s inaugural flight to Quito, Ecuador from Fort Lauderdale

I was pleased to join Jet Blue as a guest on their inaugural flight from Fort Lauderdale to Quito, Ecuador on Thursday morning, Feb 25 and will be circling back around with a more details on why this route is especially meaningful for Jet Blue and for Ecuador – but it’s late here in Quito and what’s really important to share are these snaps of the pastry created for the send-off and arrival parties.

I didn’t get to taste the cake (I was wondering what a passport might taste like) but ate two of those Jet Blue shortbread cookies for dinner.

Data-driven tips for finding holiday fares

October 31, 2015Harriet BaskasAir Travel, HolidaysAirlines, holiday fares

Hoping to fly somewhere this Thanksgiving or over the December holidays?

As I learned doing this story during a fill-in stint on USA TODAY’s Today in the Sky, you don’t need to give up on finding a great fare.

“Airfares in general are down this year,” said Cheapflights.com editor Melisse Hinkle. “And, while the Sunday after Thanksgiving is still in high demand, travel seems to be spreading out more across the holiday week and weekend.”

A global travel insights report out today from travel-tech company Sojern confirms the “spreading out” trend.

The report found that this year 67% of Thanksgiving trips will last four to five days, compared to 64% last year.

Sojern’s data shows that, with fares 26% above the national mean, New York’s JFK International Airport will be the most expensive airport to fly out of this Thanksgiving, followed by San Francisco International (21% above the mean), Los Angeles (18%) and Philadelphia (11%).

At the other end of the spectrum, Sojern’s report suggests that this Thanksgiving flights out of Atlanta (with fares 33% below the national mean), Fort Lauderdale (18%) and Washington National (15%) may offer some of the best deals.

Cyber Monday deals

Travel deals are becoming popular during Cyber Monday sales and Sojern found that last year there was a fourfold increase in worldwide flight bookings on Cyber Monday.

“Americans responded the most dramatically to Cyber Monday last year, with an increase of 96% in flight bookings compared to Thanksgiving,” the report says.

Sojern expects the trend to continue this year.

“We expect consumers to continue to be on the hunt for travel deals this year, and, since Cyber Monday falls a little earlier in the quarter (the last day of November), prepare to see November bookings skyrocket thanks to this one magical day,” the report states.

Pick a place

Kayak’s Holiday Travel Hacker went live this week with a wide range of tips, tools and charts.

The “Escapes” tab is especially useful: It shows the top 10 cities around the world where holiday airfares have dropped the most, compared to last year’s fares.

Hong Kong tops the list, with a 29% drop in airfare prices over last holiday season, and there are two U.S. cities on the list: Chicago, at No. 4, shows a 25% decrease in airfare prices, while airfares to Cleveland, at No. 9, are lower this year by 19%.

Coolest new airline? Maybe.

October 13, 2015Harriet BaskasAir Travel, Designairline amenities, airlnes, Boeing, Poppi, TEAGUE

Can the air travel experience be calmer, cooler and more comfortable?

The big thinkers at TEAGUE, the Seattle-based design consultancy surely think so.

The company helped design Microsoft’s first Xbox and has been Boeing’s key design partner forever. And to float some ideas about what might make air travel better, they created a new – imaginary – airline called Poppi.

Devin Liddell, Teague’s principal brand strategist, walked me through some of the key features and concepts he hopes airlines will adopt now, “instead of when it’s too late.”

TEAGUE’s most “disrupting” idea might be the banishing of carry-on bags and large overhead bins in favor of slimmer models they call “Fedora bins” that would hold hats, jackets and laptop cases.

Liddell and his team are certain that technology is now good enough to make sure everyone’s bag gets where it needs to go. And that keeping all those bags out of the cabin would make everything from the security lines to the boarding process a breeze.

“That would sidestep the nightmare that takes place on the cabin when people try to cram their bags into the overhead bins and would make exiting the plane go much faster,” said Liddell.

For those unable to part with their bags, Poppi would have a “Click Class” option that would allow passengers to use special luggage that stores in the seat.

TEAGUE has lots more ideas about ways to transform all aspects of air travel, but the one they’re likely to get the most applause for is their suggestion that people seated in the dreaded middle seat be rewarded with gifts or special perks.

Read more about Poppi’s ‘promises’ here.

REAL ID act may cause issues for air travelers

October 12, 2015Harriet BaskasAir Travel, SecurityDHS, REAL ID, Security, TSA

What’s in your wallet?

If you plan on traveling any time next year, the question is a pertinent one. Travelers with driver’s licenses from New York, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Louisiana, American Samoa or another state or territory the Department of Homeland Security deems not-compliant with the federal REAL ID act may soon be barred from using theirs as legal identification at the airport.

Up in the air, however, is whether “soon” means early or late 2016 — or a year or more.

DHS has already completed three separate phases of its REAL ID enforcement plan, which covers access to nuclear plants and a wide array of federally protected facilities. However, the next phase adds commercial aircraft to the agency’s access list, and will take place sometime after the turn of the calendar year.

The exact rollout date will be announced soon, said DHS spokeswoman Amanda DeGroff adding that the agency will “ensure that the traveling public has ample notice before any changes are made that could possibly affect their travel planning.”

Until then, DeGroff said the Transportation Security Administration will continue to accept state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards from all states.

This means some travelers may be in for an unpleasant surprise at airports next year.

While almost two dozen states issue driver’s licenses that are compliant with the law, numerous others have raised privacy and cost concerns. They, along with some independent advocacy groups, actively oppose the measure.

Some states, like Oklahoma, have laws on their books that explicitly prohibit complying with REAL ID; meanwhile, about two dozen non-complaint states have been granted extensions.

Turned away?

It’s unlikely the rule will take effect January 1, given the hurdles to compliance and the broad opposition.

“We expect that New Yorkers with standard-issue licenses will have more than a year notice before any change is implemented,” said Casey McNulty, a spokesman for the Empire State’s Department of Motor Vehicles. “New York has also applied for an extension to the law.”

When the final phase does ultimately take effect, travelers age 18 and over from states that remain non-compliant will need to a secondary or alternate form of identification. These include a U.S. passport or passport card, or one of the documents TSA’s authorized ID list, to pass through airport security checkpoints.

Travelers who do a little planning shouldn’t have a problem getting on their planes, but “rushes on passports will likely result in delays in getting applications processed,” noted Andrew Meehan, policy director of advocacy group Keeping Identities Safe and a Real ID supporter.

Still, “airports in noncompliant states will likely see long lines as travelers unaware of the changes will be turned away.”

(My story about the potential issues for air travelers due to the Real ID act first appeared on CNBC)

Fun new safety video from Delta Air Lines

August 11, 2015Harriet BaskasAir Travel, Fun Stuff, Safetyairline safety video, Delta Air Lines, Yo Gabba Gabba

Fun, offbeat airline safety videos designed to catch the attention of ‘seen it a hundred times’ passengers continue to roll off the line.

The latest comes to us from Delta, the airline that brought us ‘The Internetest safety video on the Internet,” and other classics.

Like the others, this new video has some fun features and special surprises, including a a chipmunk (or is that a squirrel?) putting an acorn in the overhead bin, Moses parting the back-up in the aisles, a couple of crusty sailors, the Yo Gabba Gabba monsters and more..

https://youtu.be/kfFHn6DxvEg

Alaska Air & JetBlue top airline survey ratings

May 13, 2015Harriet BaskasAir Travel, Airlinesairline survey ratings, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue

The J.D. Power 2015 North America Airline Satisfaction Study is out today and both Alaska Airlines (in the traditional carrier segment ) and JetBlue (in the low-cost carrier segment) remain at the top of the heap in terms of customer satisfaction.

Alaska Air ranked highest in its category for the eight consecutive year, followed in the rankings by Delta Air Lines and American Airlines.

JetBlue ranked at the top of its segment for the 10th consecutive year, followed by Southwest Airlines.

The study measures passenger satisfaction with North America airline carriers based on seven factors (in order of importance): cost and fees; in-flight services; boarding/deplaning/baggage; flight crew; aircraft; check-in; and reservation. You can see the full list here:.

Living in the Age of Airplanes – preview on an A380

April 7, 2015Harriet BaskasAir Travel, Aviation history, EventsA380, films, Living in the Age of Airplanes

From “Living in the Age of Airplanes” – St. Maarten Fly Over

I was a fortunate guest for the in-flight preview of “Living in the Age of Airplanes”, a new National Geographic film by Brian Terwilliger, that is narrated by Harrison Ford, with an original score by Academy Award-winning composer James Horner.

The film opens this Friday in IMAX, giant screen, digital and other special specialty theaters but on Monday, Emirates hosted a reception in its new lounge at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport and then invited guests on board one of the carrier’s newest double-decker A380s for a special film preview flight over the Los Angeles area.

The 47-minute “Living in the Age of Airplanes,” was shot in 95 locations in 18 countries across all 7 continents and starts off with a quick review of transportation history that reminds viewers that “in a single century aviation went from impossible to nearly perfected.”

After guests watched the film on the 20-inch seatback monitors in Business Class, filmmaker Brian Terwilliger chatted with reporters. “It’s not a movie about airplanes, but how the airplane has changed the world,” he said. “We don’t know what it’s like not to have airplanes, so it’s hard to imagine how life would be without them.”

Terwilliger is known to aviation enthusiasts for his 2005 high-definition documentary “One Six Right,” which told the story of general aviation and the role the local airports.
In his new film he calls airports “portals to the planet,” suggests that “If we couldn’t fly, we probably wouldn’t go,” and poses the question “And if we didn’t go, how different would our lives be?”