from premier to dirt bag

(a revised 2007 post) I just used some frequent flyer miles on United. At one time (actually twice I recall) I had  Premier frequent flyer status. Now - forget it I'm just a dirt bag to them.

Had you ever heard of "mileage runs"?  It's the practice of making special trips just to keep your frequent flyer status at a higher level.  You know those desired seats with the extra space between them (called pitch)? You need to be a "Premier" to select those or pay extra money.

After the company where I worked cut back on travel, I went to dirt bag status on United.

What a difference - there was a time when they sent me free upgrades in the mail - sweet.

Oh this fickle relationship leaves me annoyed.  My dirt bag status became very apparent during a recent mileage transaction. As most travelers I wanted to fly direct. Well I found some good direct flights but when I tried booking at the 25,000 per trip rate - NO those flights were not even offered. I changed some setting and found the direct flights (more than one) were ONLY offered for TWICE the miles = 50,000!  Still economy seating just a direct vs. layover trip.

Reminds me of being dumped once by a cute girlfriend after the summer and our trips to the beach club were over.  I became worth less than a bottle of suntan lotion.

I flew the connecting flight but it sucks to know there were better flights, for the Premiers.

(oh Mr. Spaceman at the top? - he just looks upset like I feel.  Maybe they cut off his fresh air or the helmet is too tight?) 

Lastly, a 2014 update on reward programs.  Things have gotten even worst by comparison.  Back in 2007 baggage fees were not common.  Now there is minimum spending requirements to obtain elite status (vs. just miles flown) and the definition of “frequent flier mile” is no longer tied to distance but rather money spent on the ticket. See this article for more details.


I should probably find some good shoes and practice extending my thumb out.

warning wandering brain cells

OMG I’m trying for FML. 

I can’t remember my own acronyms so I certainly don’t expect you to remember a post from weeks ago.  Lisleman definitions for these two: 

• OMG - Order My Glass 
• FML - Frozen Margarita Lips 

I traveled to O'Hare Airport last night to pick up my daughter. I gave myself plenty of time but I’m glad I did because the resurfacing work on the tollway made for an obstacle course. The airport trip offered more frustrations than the her flight. Someone should devises a frustration-per-mile (FPM) measurement.

The cell phone lot is a great idea and I have used it often.

I was pushing her some.  Need to allow enough time for getting to the gate, I repeated a few times.  The outgoing airport trip was made late morning on a Saturday (mom volunteered for taxi service that time). Their trip when smoothly and she texted me upon her arrival at the gate: 

I beat the plane to the gate. Too bad they don’t have a theatre here, I have enuf time to go see a movie! :-)

I have not always been early for flights and have missed at least one. High in my list of FPM (forgot, look back at the beginning of post):

• Ground transportation to/from airport 
• Foot travel and queues between airport entrance and gate

I’m most relaxed when I’m finally seated on the plane. But waiting around the gate area is not bad. Plenty of people watching opportunity, maybe enough time for beer, roam around gift shops, read a book, etc. 

My return trip from some western state was nearly postponed for another night once because of a beer. 

I arrived at the crowded gate and was told the flight was delayed for an hour or so. So I spotted a bar, found a seat and enjoyed a beer. I took my time.  I recall only having one, at most two. I stroll back to the gate which was not within sight of the bar. It’s completely empty. The plane is still there but the gate door is closed.  Their expected delay was shorter.  Luckily I was able to get a gate clerk at the next gate to call the plane and get the door opened. You know that feeling of everyone on the plane looking at you? 

Not very comfortable.

another circus 

flying fun

I received an fun email forwarded my way today. The subject was an airline taking a fun approach to flying.  Typically I find most “forwards” annoying but every once in a taco I get a laugh. 

I wish all companies had the sense of humor this South African airline shows in their plane painting. I might be a jambalaya joker but don’t you enjoy a little humor from the companies you are dealing with, especially when traveling or going out to eat?

Southwest Airlines has provided me some entertainment on a few of my flights. They also had fun painting their planes.  Maybe Kulula airline got the idea from them.   Have you ever seen the Sea World killer whale plane swim by your terminal gate? Southwest has 3 of them. Just seeing it out of the airport window brings me a smile. 

Back in 2009, Southwest painted a Sports IlLUSTrated cover girl on one of their planes. Sex appeal?

My favorite Kulula paint job would be the “This Side Up” place. The planes don’t work well in the opposite position.

In case anyone is curious about the parts of a typical airliner, they offer this educational version.

You can see all of the Kulula planes by going to their web site and clicking on “Meet our fleet” about half way down (that's where these pictures came from).

 

wait where's grandma

This is an old story but I posted it back when I had very few readers and it's about Thanksgiving and traveling.

I wish all of you good holiday traveling and visiting.

US Airways lost Grandma 

Wow that family will have an interesting conversation at Thanksgiving dinner. The 83-year old wheelchair-bound lady was wheeled onto the wrong flight. Instead of Tampa FL, she ended up in Puerto Rico. 

Hmm, wonder if she likes rum. I've been to Puerto Rico and had a great time there but then it was a planned visit.  I guess they don't really check those boarding passes. The Tampa flight was probably full.

Here's the story on the local TV channel

Frequent Friday Fragments

Something touch me deep inside, 

the Friday a fragment fried. 

So bye bye my burger and fry. 

Wrote my blog for the dog but the dog barked bye. 

I knew I had too much whiskey and rye. 

And there we were, all in one place. 

A generation lost in space.

Did you write a Friday fragment post or the book of love? I met a blogger who collected the fragments, Mrs. 4444. You won’t be out of luck because she has the ultimate Friday fragment collection (maybe some American pie too).

Greek leaders tempted by sirens

(didn’t that happen about 2000 some years ago?) 

Maybe some of you watch the stock market a little. I’m weary from watching this continuous Greek tragedy being reviewed. Their show needs to close for awhile, they have lost their audience. 

what do I owe you?

You know what is tempting on a hot summer day? A water balloon fight. Keeping track of the worlds record water balloon fight is a nice diversion. Currently, University of Kentucky’s Christian Student Fellowship holds the record at 175,141 water balloons 8,957 people and a well watered field.

A long long post ago, do you recall what was revealed the day my feeble Friday fragment posted? 

In that feeble Friday fragment I told my Cisco Kid story. I should finish the story and tell you about how I laid myself down to rest in a big field of tall grass. I laid there in the sun and felt it caressing my face as I fell asleep and dreamed. I dreamed I was in a Hollywood movie and that I was the star of the movie. This really blew my mind.  

But there I was.

damn

My motto here at “A Few Clowns Short” is lighten-up. 

A 9/11 remembrance. 

Damn the motto for this post. Nothing to lighten-up about given the enormous sadness that filled that September week and lingered like a dirty film on the days that followed. 

The heroes were a bright spot. The coming together of strangers seeking to help others provided hope to keep many going. 

The tragedy reminded us that an awful dark side exists in enough people that we need to be aware. 

Painful. 

Forgetting about it doesn’t mean it didn’t happened. 

I don’t have some hero story of my own, but I found myself working with someone who was pulled into the tragedy. Her name is Lisa Jefferson. It forever changed her life.

The week previous to that Tuesday, I had interviewed for a job at GTE Airfone (name was changed to Verizon Airfone months later) and I was still waiting get an offer.

We live near the flight paths for both O'Hare and Midway airports. It’s very common to see and hear airliners flying in and out. Those September days following 9/11 had a noticeable empty sky above us.

The small act of kindness we were able to provide that day was helping Johnny, our daughter’s friend who was stuck at O’Hare airport. We picked him up and gave him a place to stay for a few days.

I flew a flag. I talked with family. I watched the news. I cried. We all cried.

I took that job offer from Airfone. It was a great job. Airfone (yes it’s spelled with a ‘f’) was the company offering a public phone in the seatback of a few airlines. United Airlines was one of our biggest customers/partners. Flight UA 93 was the hijacked plane that did not hit the terrorist’s target.

The passengers and crew learned after contacting the Airfone operator that other planes were hijacked that morning. A group of passengers decided not to allow the terrorists to use their flight. The flight ended in a fiery crash in a Pennsylvania.

While at Airfone, I worked with Lisa Jefferson and her husband who also worked there. She was a calm and peaceful lady. I don’t pretend to know her well, but all my interactions with her tell me she is a wonderful kind person.  She passed along Todd Beamer's last words, "Let's roll".

Someday 9/11 will be another history lesson like Dec. 7, 1941. If we are lucky some will learn from it. The National Geographic Channel has a site dedicated to it’s remembrance.

I want to leave this post with a better word than it began.

Peace.

free hula in the air

It must be my week for youtube clips. Yesterday was dumb and dumber.

Today I offer a nice change from those dumb boaters. How about a talented flash mob flying through the air?

A hula dance group traveling from San Francisco to Honolulu surprised their fellow passengers on a Hawaiian Airlines flight recently.

I've never seen a fun surprise like this on a flight (the long flights could use things like this) but I did get a surprise once on the tube between Heathrow and London.  At one station a magician got on and started performing very entertaining magic tricks.  Just before another station down the track he passed his collection hat and got off.  I presume he got on the train going the other way and started his magic performance over again.  The Brits call these performers buskers.  Most of them are very good.

I wonder if this group got some extra frequent-flyer miles, they deserved something for such a good performance.

(oh they do two songs - I like the second one - "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" the best)

another circus 

what the fragment, its Friday

slide

crawl

drop

into Friday

How ever you got here, do you have some fragments to share?  Mrs. 4444 will help spread your digital fragments around (click on the button at the bottom of the post).

You know when you call some company and they announce "your call maybe recorded for training purposes", don't you wish you could get a copy of the recording?

 

An old man in pajamas is reclaiming ownership of the company he started 57 years ago.

"The brand resonates today as clearly as at any time in its 57-year history," Hefner said. "I believe this agreement will give us the resources and flexibility to return Playboy to its unique position and to further expand our business around the world."

Yes Hefner is taking total control of the company with a buyout offer.  Expect to see the bunny logo even more as Hugh tries to get a rise out of it.

Did you ever leave two comments in a row? 

You do leave comments right?

Since I had just read about this easy to make banana toast idea, I’ll blame this on my stomach. Here is what I wrote in a comment, “Some many blogs and only some much time.”

“Some” vs. “So”??   What my fingers just wanted to type more letters?

I had to leave a second comment because the comment system didn’t offer an edit function. So don’t complain about the DISQUS I use because it gives you that edit function. Well actually you can complain anyway because that’s a blogger’s right.

Dead birds in Arkansas - It did remind me of Al's movie "The Birds".  Here's a bit of trivia.  One of the minor actors in that movie was Doodles Weaver.  What a great name!  Guess who his niece is?  (I'll answer in the comments if someone doesn't beat me to it)  Oh the falling birds?  - blame twitter or Apple’s Angry Birds app.

Fly like the Jetsons

Back before my face was on an electronic virtual book, back when a single computer would fill large rooms and were fed by paper cards - 

back long ago -

I thought this would happen someday.

Flying cars  --  cool

A favorite cartoon of mine was the Jetsons. The ordinary family of the future (Jetsons) had a flying car and robot, so that could be my future.   I was ordinary but not a cartoon.

Did you watch the Jetsons?  Did you think a flying car and robot servant might be possible when you grew up?  

I didn't research when this idea was first tried, but I took a picture of an early attempt on display at a museum in Seattle.  From the looks of the flying car, I'm thinking the sixties.

Actually we are not quite there yet. The company, Terrafugia, is taking orders but the first ones don't roll off production until late 2011. Also, the price is slightly above an ordinary family's reach - $194,000.

  

But the Jetsons were there in the sixties.

No security lines and no checked baggage fee - Priceless!

airlines going wrong direction with fees

Here's an airline idea, charge real low dirt cheap ticket prices and then charge a large fee if you actually show up to take the flight.

I think that's what Spirit Airlines is trying to do.  Did you see their latest announcement?
Spirit Airlines will start charging as much as $45 for carry-on bags.

Did you notice it said carry-on bags?  The only "free" bags are ones that can fit under the seat.  I've never flown Spirit (flying spirit - reminds me of the afterlife) and don't ever plan to.  Someone told me that on an international flight to South America, Spirit charged them for water!

While searching around on this subject I came across the idea that this new carry-on charge makes vacations to a nudist resort more attractive.  Ok, I follow that logic but with the TSA rules you'll only be able to bring along 3 oz. of sunscreen and suntan lotion.  There are parts that I would never want to burn.

I think the charge for the first bag discourages you from flying.  A second bag charge seems reasonable.

Today the Chicago Tribune had a front page story about this battle of the bags.

"...The 10 largest U.S. carriers collected $739.8 million in baggage charges during the third quarter of 2009, double prior-year totals, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics..."

Did you heard of these women in Liverpool UK?  

Well at least these two women didn't try to sneak their stiff on board inside their carry-on.  They had a ticket for the dead guy.

Woman Arrested After Trying to Check-In Dead Husband for Flight

I suspect they didn't think this flying the dead husband idea through very well.  They placed him in a wheelchair but were they going to drag him on and off the plane?

Of course if you are dead you don't need take along any baggage, so no extra fees.

I do remember a time (80's 90's) when flying was enjoyable.  I can recall having fun trips and the airplane ride could even add to the fun.  Here's a post that recalls those fun trips.
 

A recent trip required some flying time.  Shortly after landing I felt a cold coming on.  Good thing I didn't start coughing at the airport because the airline would have charged me for taking a cold.

On the way out our flight was overbooked but we didn't want to sacrifice any vacation time so we were not interested.  Coming back a connecting flight was overbooked and I jumped on the offer of a voucher for taking the next flight.  It turned out great.  We were only delayed about 2+ hours.  This time gave us a chance to eat dinner at this great Cuban restaurant at the Miami airport  (sorry I can't recall the name at the moment).

Have you ever taken the offer to give up your seats?

Do you know about Flying Pinto's blog?  I have mentioned her blog up here before.  You should check it out and maybe send her a question about flying.  I going to ask her about this crazy carry on trend.

revenge update and free MP3

My inbox had an update from the band that got revenge on United Airlines with a youtube video.

If you subscribe to the band's e-newsletter they'll give you a free MP3 download.

They have another video about the broken guitar incident. It's ok, but I liked the first one better (you'll see it by following the link above). The best part of the clip below is at the end.

Better trips

Back in the early 90's I joined a company starting up an exciting service. Ok, I and many others thought it was exciting but over time and after further advances in technology it's appeal dropped to the point of people questioning if it was ever used. It was used.
I'm referring to Airfone. When I joined the company the name was GTE Airfone.  
This post is not so much about the business or even the technology. I would happy to answer questions about that. Just leave your question in the comments. Today I just want to reminisce about some great travel memories I had while working for them.
I suspect other biz travelers out there long for the way air travel was back in the 90's. There was good competition for grabbing bigger biz travel market share. The airlines tried to out perform each other's service and the traveler benefited.
Any of you remember seeing this?


Back then, I even held PREMIER status once. Now they make me feel like I rank just below dirt bag.
Well back before there were laptops on the tray tables. We were equipping the major US airlines with seat phones. I traveled on those airlines at least once a month. Many trips to the UK., the west coast, and even one to China (China Southern Airlines).


I had the privilege of having a network test card so I could call anywhere in the US on the Airfone system from my seat. I would typically do a test call to home or some other family member. I think the calls sometimes became annoying for them.
I soon realized I had something worth trading with the flight attendants (FA). This trading for a drink, food, or first class desert would often work then because the flights then often were 1/2 or 3/4 full, so the FA about half way or so into the flight would be able to sit back and relax in the back. That's when I would suggest a deal.

One flight coming back late from California, I eagerly waited to demonstrate the power of this card to a new co-worker. Ok, I wanted to show off a bit.

After I was able to explain the deal to the FA, she was more than willing to get both of us these huge fudge sundaes (in real glassware) from first class. We got a good laugh when she stopped by and explained why we needed to wait just a little longer - she had to serve them to first class first. The other funny thing was after we landed she or another FA seem to have lost my test card. I'll never know if it was true, but they did tear apart a few rows of seats looking.

Other flying treats I miss: Free class upgrades, free passes to the airport lounge, empty seats in my row. Please share any good times you had in the air in the comments.

Why

I just read a post over at The Flying Pinto that reminded me of a past flight experience.

The smaller of Chicago's two major airports is Midway. Here's a view looking down on it.


A number of years ago, on a hot summer day, I boarded a very full plane leaving Midway for the west coast. This was after the heightened security changes which probably made passengers more attentive to announcements and activities before take-off.

As we settled down and waited for the last few passengers, they announced a handful of names and asked that they identify themselves. The requested people responded and shortly thereafter they collected their carry-ons and left the plane.

Why did this happen? The group didn't look related to each other. Nothing noticeably suspicious about the group. Most of the passengers started talking about what happened and asking what was going on.

The pilot came on the PA and tried to explain. I understood but the lady seated next to me was still puzzled. The pilot told us that they had a weight problem and needed to lighten the load some. Granted this is not a common experience, so being puzzled is understandable.

My first thought was "wow I'm lucky they didn't choose by weight because I tipped the scale more than some of those selected passengers".

So then the nice lady turns to me and with a concern tone says,
"Are they going to have enough fuel to make the trip?"

I reply,
"Oh sure, the fuel is not the problem. It's the take-off and NOT having a long enough runway."

The look on her face told me she didn't appreciate the correct answer!

Midway has shorter runways than many major airports. As you can see from the above picture, it's boxed in by the city streets and buildings. Only narrowbody planes like Boeing 737's can use the airport.

If you think about it, the weight increases the required power to get upto take-off speed. A longer runway gets you more time to reach that speed. Also, (I don't know the details) the temperature of the air has a negative effect. Hotter makes take-off harder.

The rest of the flight was uneventful.

Do you often wonder or ask WHY?

I think you should because that's important to learning more about the universe around us. You never stop learning.

A favorite scientist of mine, Richard P. Feynman wrote a book of short works titled, "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out".

He wrote:
" You investigate for curiosity, because it is unknown, not because you know the answer."

STAY CURIOUS !

good customer revenge

( I added this to Sprite's Keeper - Spin Cycle <= check it out for other good stuff)


Customer revenge is something that should never need to occur. Maybe it's just an old saying now but does anyone remember, "The customer is always right"?

Sure there are some customers that try to take advantage but that is NOT typical. Typically, there's an error, misunderstanding, flawed product/service or maybe an employee who is just angry.

Hey Airlines - your product is service!

A service that angers, disappoints or fails to serve is NOT one that will have return customers.

I've received both good and bad service from Airlines over the years. Guess which type I remember and likely to tell others about - the BAD service.

Back to the story -- Canadian musician Dave Carroll is enjoying some good customer revenge. He created a viral video - a ballad of his guitar breaking by United Airlines.

I found this story on the Chicago Tribune site (United's HQ is Chicago). Funny/dumb quote by United spokesperson.

"This struck a chord with us"

WHAT did it play a chord when you dropped it???

Dave wrote this about the story (from his web site):

".....I’ve been done “being angry” for quite some time and, if anything, I should thank United. They’ve given me a creative outlet that has brought people together from around the world. We had a pile of laughs making the recording and the video...."

other bad airline examples:
frequent flyer scam
fighting a blogger

more than an over-night

Are you wondering (I did) how he was able to pull off this fun experiment? Oh if you didn't watch the clip yet go back and watch I'll wait.

I found this clip on a blog by a flight attendant called the Flying Pinto.

The story behind the clip is even more interesting than the clip. He was able to film this because he has been sleeping on planes over night. Actually he is living on the planes for 30 days. A really crazy stunt.

Those readers that know me (why don't you ever comment?) know that I've been involved with airlines and aircraft during my engineering career. Overall the airline projects were exciting. Of course some of the travel was not always fun.

I had the opportunity to be involved in some interesting wi-fi testing with aircraft. One time our team tested overnight at O'hare. Even O'hare gets quiet in the wee hours of the night. Most ground tests and installation of new equipment is performed overnight because the airline want the aircraft flying and generating revenue in the day.

Here's a shot of the cockpit during a wi-fi test on a 747. That time the testing was during the day because the aircraft was in for maintenance.



I and probably most others, don't want to sleep on a plane. I have lucked-out on a few occasions been upgraded to biz class and I still can't sleep well on a plane.

So this guy's stunt is amazing to me. Basically for 30 days he's been flying and transferring between planes while never leaving the airport. I would rather sleep in the terminal than on the plane. Well maybe a nice first class bed type of seat on a big jumbo would be better. That's not an option for this gig because AirTran only has Boeing 717's and 737's.

I gathered from the web site for this 30 day stunt that GOGO, the inflight wi-fi service, is sponsoring part of the stunt.

You can find out more at the site.
My other airline related posts.


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short bits of odd news

Did you notice this special google logo on Saturday?


The 25-year anniversary of Tetris was being celebrated. Has anyone older than 20 and maybe younger than 60 NOT played Tetris at least once?

One of the odd titles held by Tetris is "Longest Prison Sentence for Playing a Video Game". A British passenger was jailed for four months for playing Tetris on his cell phone while on a flight to Manchester, England. He refused to stop playing after being repeatedly warned by the cabin staff.

This is interesting to me because of my participation in a FAA study on Transmitting Portable Electronic Devices aboard aircraft. It's too bad the passenger's mobile phone didn't have an "airplane safe" mode switch. I don't know the details of the case but if he was operating the device below cruise altitude (10,000 ft) then he should be punished.

One more related point - Today in 2009 there are two companies providing mobile phone service for a number of non-US airlines. The two companies are OnAir and Aeromobile. They provide special equipment on-board the plane and the phone use is restricted to only cruise altitude phase of flight.

Here's a link to the BBC article about the Tetris crime.

-- Some other bits of news from the Brits --

Britain’s Supreme Court of Judicature has answered a question that has long puzzled late-night dorm-room snackers: What, exactly, is a Pringle?

They have ruled that a Pringle is a potato crisp (or chip here in the US). To avoid a tax the maker Procter & Gamble argued they are “savory snacks.” They lost. NY Times story

----
Important street name change -
(update your address books !!)
Butt Hole Road, Conisbrough, is now Archers Way, Conisbrough.

A Doncaster Council spokesman said: "I can confirm that Butt Hole Road was changed to Archers Way on April 22.



Picture from publicenergy

up in the air news

Because of my past career ties to the airline industry (see background if you're wondering), I probably notice airline news more than some. I find some of it interesting. Hope you do too.

(please note these stories are not related to each other - they just involve airlines or flying)



So has your dog or cat been pestering about their vacation plans?

You need to check out Pet Airways.

We love our pets and spend quite a lot of money on their well being. Now you can fly them in the main cabin on the first pet only airline. There is even a a pet-attendant that's on-board watching over the pet passengers.

I suggest they equip the planes with in-flight Wi-fi so they could offer a web cam of the flight.

(photo from Pet Airways)

Now this passenger on a recent United Airlines flight was acting like an animal. Too bad Pet Airways isn't flying yet maybe they could find a cage for her.

Passenger tries to bite flight attendant

"...fell to the floor and began "snapping like a dog" trying to bite a flight attendant's leg, the court papers said."

According to the story in the Chicago Tribune last week she was returning to the UK after hooking-up with a Californian she meet on the internet. OH the stories you hear about internet relationships. Maybe it didn't go well.

Her flight back sure didn't go well. They were forced to land in Maine and put her under arrest. Besides disrupting the flight it was said that she drank some hand lotion - strange?

And to wrap-up my "up in the air new":
When you have no choice and you are going down - go for the porta-potties.

Remember the water landing on the Hudson? Smaller plane and less water - Out in Washington a pilot landed his Cessna 182 on a group of porta-potties - shitty landing. He walked away but I don't think he cleaned up much after using them.
(this clip doesn't have sound)


Story here.

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winging it

My last post was done from this window seat (I'm back home on the ground now).

I'm sure many frequent flyers are aware and may have already used inflight internet services. Not many flights are equipped yet but the numbers are growing.

(a side note - did you every play with the photo app on a macbook? - fun stuff)


As with most new technology, some are eager to use it and others complain that the change it brings will ruin something. I have posted about it before.

Now that Wi-fi is a standard on laptops and users are familiar with hotspot service at hotels and coffee shops, it is a no-brainer that this airline version connects-up in a very similiar way. Your laptop finds the access point and will typically connect automatically. When you start up your browser you are directed to sign-on page. Using your credit card you buy a session for the entire flight.

The experience was great. I downloaded video podcast from Itunes, did email tasks, IM chats, and listened to streaming music. The connection was better than my home one at times.

For those that worry about losing their only place to be unconnected, I suggest not taking out their laptop and read a good book.

Here's a good post by Runway Girl that gives the Row44 view. Row44 is the company behind the Alaska Air offering.
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great view and internet too

The internet is flying for me today.

I'm not talking about it's speed (but that's good too) but my speed. I'm going about 500 -to- 600 mph as I type this post.

Don't worry - I'm not driving - the pilots are doing a good job of that.

I'm just sitting here back in couch (window seat) watching the rockies below and some youtube clips up here. They have a good streaming audio setup here too (Rhapsody).

If you are wondering I'm on Alaska Air flying to Seattle from Chicago.

This sure makes the flight fly by. Now if I could get a larger seat for the same price - hey I can ask can't I?

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enjoying the job

Examples of enjoying your job



Starting off your flight in a good mood can only help. This flight started with some fun. I have enjoyed some jokes and great attitude on Southwest Airlines but I have not flown them enough to see the rapping and singing flight attendants. It's good to interact with service people that enjoy the interaction.



I suspect this other airline mentioned here a few weeks ago must be operated by disgruntled employees.

While I was browsing the SWA blog I found this video showing a little of Chicago. Another example of someone enjoying their work (assuming she was paid to create the video). IMHO - I would have edited the clip since it seems long to me.



Maybe the SWA CEO, Gary Kelly sets the tone for the company with his guitar riffs. Check this story on him.


Oh, my last post on SWA was about their Wi-Fi roll out. Here's an update from their blog.

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