Do you drink alcohol at 30,000?

If you're one of the many travelers that likes to take the edge off

of a long journey with a sip of alcohol, several airlines offer on-board bars on their aircraft.

Emirates A380 onboard bar

Emirates, Qatar, Korean, and Etihad offer bars on some or all of their A380 aircraft. Virgin Australia offers one on their 777 aircraft, and Virgin Atlantic has and upper-class bar on every one of their aircraft.

On daytime flights, the Virgin Atlantic bars can get busy enough

to have to turn people away. Passengers can get so loud that it can disturb other passengers. Sounds like a fun time to me.

Would you fly on Boeing's grounded airplane?

Many of us don't worry about what type of airplane

We're traveling on, because, as I noted in my previous blog, the safety aspect is easy to take for granted.

But Boeing's 737 MAX airplane had a built-in flaw that caused it to crash. Twice.

Southwest Airlines, which operates only the Boeing 737 aircraft, has recently stated that they are eager to put their 34 grounded airplanes back into service. Additionally, the company chairman has said that they will purchase "hundreds more" of the presently grounded aircraft.

This despite the fact that some Southwest passengers are taking to social media to decry flight cancellations, and out of fear that they were flying on a Southwest 737 Max.

I have also talked to friends who travel frequently, who have stated that they would probably book another flight, if they could avoid flying on the 737 MAX.

We'll just have to wait and see what Boeing comes up with to improve the airplane and train the pilots.

And in my opinion, they will also have take steps to repair the damaged reputation of the airplane.

Will we ever be able to fly supersonic again?

From 1976 to 2003, 

If you had the money, you could fly across the Atlantic in less than half the time it takes today. Getting from Paris to New York in less than 3.5 hours requires an airplane that travels at twice the speed of sound.

The Concorde aircraft was noisy and expensive.

It was restricted from flying over land, because the sonic boom could be strong enough to cause broken windows and other property damage. A round-trip ticket cost about $12,500 in 2018 dollars. And the darn thing burned about two tons of fuel to taxi from the gate to the runway.

There are currently companies working to bring back supersonic flight.

 One of these companies, Boom, claims to be on track to start carrying passengers in the mid 2020's. They are also aiming to keep the ticket prices similar to a business class seat on a regular airliner. While these do seem like lofty goals, They have made significant progress in the right direction, and companies like Japan Airlines and Virgin have placed preliminary orders for the aircraft.

I myself am looking forward to the re-introduction of supersonic flight, and if it proves to be a safe alternative, I'd definitely be willing to scrape the funds together to give it a try.

How about you? Would you take a ride on a new, supersonic airplane?

Listen To Your Flight Crew!

We take safety for granted.

At least for air travel we do. It's easy to forget that we're flying through the air at hundreds of miles per hour.

On a recent flight from Hawaii to the mainland, 

there was a woman across the aisle that did not choose to wear her seat belt. It was clearly available for her to use, but for whatever reason, it was left to freely dangle in the aisle. For the entire flight. She was given a friendly reminder by the flight crew, at least a couple of times before landing, to buckle up. She seemed to acknowledge them, but the seat belt remained in the aisle. It seemed as though at least one of the flight crew members was friends with her, or at least knew her. Thankfully our flight landed without experiencing too much turbulence, or any negative g-forces that could have picked up and held any loose objects (or people) against the ceiling, before letting them fall back to the floor (or onto somebody) once we returned to level flight.

On another fairly recent flight, 

there was a man sitting across the aisle from me, with a couple of vacant seats beside him. He had his backpack, which looked like it was stuffed to the gills, sitting on the seat beside him. I'm not sure if it had ever been properly stowed. Again, before landing, he was reminded at least a couple of times by the flight crew, to stow the bag. It remained on the seat beside him until he was ready to get off of the aircraft.

Flight attendants are trained, first and foremost, 

to keep us, the flying public, safe while travelling. They are our servants in that regard. They are NOT primarily there to serve us food, or to otherwise tend to our whims. When they request that we do something, it is for our OWN safety, or for the safety of everyone on the plane. We really owe it to ourselves, and to the people flying with us, to listen to what they have to say, and to honor their requests.

When will the 737 MAX fly again?

Two crashes in five months

are the reason why 350 new Boeing aircraft are currently grounded. 

Southwest Airlines, with 34 of the jets, 

says that the grounding is costing them about $50 million in revenue, PER MONTH!

There are a total of 350 grounded 737 MAX aircraft worldwide,

with various airlines. Boeing is working to get the aircraft flying again as soon as possible, but it will obviously take time to clear the necessary government hurdles.

Airlines are hoping to have the planes back in the air by the summer 2019 travel season.

These hopes may be a bit optimistic, but we'll see if  Boeing can fix the problem before the airlines lose too  much faith in them.

The World's Most Popular Jet Plane Has Been Grounded!

The Worldwide Grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX

Boeing's 737 MAX is the latest version of the most popular commercial aircraft in history. It has recently been grounded, or prohibited from operating, anywhere in the world. This follows two separate fatal crashes within five months.

Should the plane have been grounded?

In my opinion, absolutely. The 737 MAX planes have a new system, intended for safety, that is capable of pushing the nose of the plane downwards. When the system malfunctions, it can repeatedly push the nose of the plane down towards the ground, even though the pilots are fighting against it with all of their effort. The system has the capability of changing the pitch of the entire tail fin assembly,  and not just the control surfaces, or elevators.

Why didn't Boeing do something after the first crash?

It seems as though most of the blame should fall on Boeing's shoulders, not only because of the fault-prone system, but also because they did not do enough to fix the problem after the first fatal crash. I myself feel that the system shouldn't even be on the airplane, because Boeing seems to be using it as a replacement for additional crew training on the new version of the aircraft. They should have required emergency training for all flight crews, on how to disable the system, and whatever else to do when the system malfunctions.

When should I buy an airline ticket?

In order to get the best price

on an airline ticket, it helps to know when to buy. Airline ticket prices are constantly changing. A general rule of thumb is to buy tickets at least 3 weeks before the flight. The most expensive time to buy would be the day of the flight, which is when business travelers often book. International flights usually should be booked as soon as possible, well in advance. Prices for flights within the US are usually best about 21 to 42 days before the flight, or about 3 to 6 weeks in advance. Prices just aren't as good outside of that time period. Discounts also often come into effect on Monday nights, so a good time to check prices would be late Monday night, or early Tuesday morning. Thursdays are the days to avoid purchasing a ticket. These are the days when markups happen, and many airlines routinely add $10 to the ticket prices. Finally, flights that take place during the week tend to cost a little less on average than weekend flights.

Happy travels!

Where does our fear of flying come from?

I have been seated next to

Nervous flyers before. One woman in particular, seated next to the window, who offered interesting conversation for practically the entire flight. It wasn't until we were about to land that she clammed up completely. She had told me that she was nervous about flying, but seemed perfectly fine, and I didn't want to throw some statistical numbers at her, or tell her something that she was tired of hearing, like the old quote that flying is, by far, the safest way to travel.

Instead,

I decided to try to understand where this fear, for so many of us, comes from.

It would seem that one reason, which is backed by research, is that we are not in complete control of our safety. If something goes wrong, we have to trust in the flight crew to do what is right. Our safety is in the hands of these people that we do not even know.

Another reason, just according to my dead reckoning, has to do with the fact that we are flying through the air. Air is not something that seems very solid. You can't grab onto it, or sit on it. But somehow, we are able to float through it, all the way to our destination.

The last reason that I wanted to mention is risk perception. Fatal aircraft events make the news, and they stick in our heads. They can leave a lasting impression, no matter how rarely they occur.

British Airways

Offers "Flying with Confidence" classes, that are designed to reduce passenger anxiety, by teaching them how planes stay up in the air. They claim to have a 98 percent success rate, and to have helped "over 50,000 people" to conquer their fear of flying. While these numbers may sound a bit optimistic, I think that a good knowledge of the technology and safety in the aircraft can help to make the passengers more comfortable with their flying experience.

Even though

I consider myself to be reasonably comfortable while traveling by air, it's a lot more comfortable for me to just drive my own car. This is why it doesn't make perfect sense that statistically, I am 8,615 percent more likely to be killed while driving my car, than while flying on a jet plane.

The End Of Metal Aircraft?

The jet planes that we fly in

Have always been made of metal. Aluminum, to be exact, for the main structure. That changed in October of 2011, when the Boeing 787 started flying commercial passengers. The 787 is made of carbon laminate and other composite materials to save weight, increase strength, eliminate corrosion, and increase efficiency.

Carbon Composite Structures

Have been used in F1 race cars since 1981. A general rule of thumb was "Twice the strength of steel, and half the weight of aluminum." The stronger structure of the Boeing 787 allows the plane to have much larger windows. It also allows higher air pressures in the cabin, which can help prevent altitude sickness and headaches. The corrosion-proof structure also allows more humidity in the cabin. This can help prevent a range of symptoms associated with dry air, such as dehydration of the skin and mucous membranes, the increased risk of colds and viral infections, and of course allergies.

The European aerospace manufacturer Airbus

Initially rejected Boeing's claims that the 787 would be a serious threat. It did not take too long, though, for Airbus to start development of their own composite aircraft, the Airbus A350. It's first commercial flight was made on January 15, 2015.

It's tough to deny the efficiency advantages

of the new composite materials. Every pound saved on an aircraft is an extra pound of cargo, fuel, or passengers that can be carried, or can translate to extra range that can be flown. It seems that with these new materials proving themselves in the field, their usage will become more and more widespread as travel and technology march forward.