by Lufthansa Flyer | Oct 23, 2014 | Airlines, Airports, Featured, Plane Spotting |
As the heading indicates, I was surprised when I transited ‘JNB’ a few weeks ago as to the quality plane spotting that is possible at the airport. It’s not so much for the traffic, which is fairly unique and diverse, but for the fact that JNB has a very nice enclosed observation deck overlooking most of the airport’s international departure gates.
The observation deck is located pre-security and is easy to find thanks to very clear signage leading you the area. I only had about 30 minutes to spend on the deck as I needed to get airside for some last minute shopping and for our flight to Frankfurt, but even so, I had an opportunity for a few nice ‘catches’.
‘Zurich’ would be our ride to FRA.
Etihad’s A330: A6-AGA
Mango’s 737 taxis to her runway
A first for me, ProFlight Zambia’s Jet Stream 41
A late afternoon arrival from Sydney
This is Qatar’s 2nd oldest 787, departing for Doha.
South African’s very colorful A340-300 on her takeoff roll.
SWISS’ A340 towed to the gate ahead of an evening departure to Zurich
by Lufthansa Flyer | Oct 18, 2014 | Airlines, Featured, Lufthansa, United |
Sitting at home on a Saturday afternoon waiting for tonight’s Notre Dame upset of Florida State, I decided to ring United’s 1K Desk to ask why they insisted on making me look bad…….
Back on July 1, I posted the fact that United was finally moving to an electronic method to redeem Global Premier Upgrades for use on Lufthansa operated flights. That post was prompted by the assurance from 2 United reps, including a supervisor that the electronic process would start on August 1. Well, that obviously never happened.
So I call back on August 29, asking about the delay and I was assured that it was about to go ‘live’ and that passengers could start to use the new system on September 3, +/- a few days. So I shouted from the mountain tops that the process was finally here.
Well Labor Day came and went and no sign of the new system, even though every Mileage Plus associate has been trained in the new system and are ready to use it.
So today I call and ask if there are any updates and spoke for a while to a wonderful agent who had a great sense of humor. After letting her know that my expectations were set for August 3rd and September 3rd, she said suggested that the new date could be ‘Maybe-never 3rd’. Though I wasn’t happy about the lack of a start date, I couldn’t help to laugh at her punch-line.
So as it stands, there is NO FIRM DATE for the launch of the electronic process. The lesson learned here is for me is to NOT shout ‘Electronic GPUs For LH Flights’ in a crowded ‘blogosphere’, especially when basing my announcements on what I perceived to be factual and accurate information from an airline.
The next time I talk about it will be when I can point to screen shots proving that the process is finally in place….
by Lufthansa Flyer | Sep 27, 2014 | Airlines, Featured, Industry News |
The EASA has ruled that European airlines can permit their passengers to use their Mobile Devices in a ‘connected’ mode throughout all phases of flight. This means that passengers would no longer have to put their phone or mobile device into ‘Airplane Mode’ once the aircraft doors are closed.
This ruling does not mean that passengers can immediately start adhering to this new policy. According to the EASA, it will be up to each airline to implement their own strategy and policy. Additionally, each airline would need to be certified that its aircraft are not ‘distracted’ by cellphones and other devices being connected during flight.
This can lead to the opening of Pandora’s Box and at least expand the debate regarding the use of cell phones to make phone calls from an aircraft. In most surveys, passengers have opposed the idea of placing phone calls while in flight due to the amount of noise and chatter it could produce in a cabin. However, if this policy is used appropriately and not abused, it will be a welcomed by passengers.
