Blog Archives
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Lord Protect Us From Guvmint Protection
- Wednesday February 28, 2007I have just read in Airport Business News Update (online) that the DOT is now looking at the problem of pax stranding by airlines. Is that on top of Congressional investigation, or instead of it? Hopefully, the latter. One guvmint investigation at a time is more than ample. Many want a guvmint-mandated and guvmint-regulated Passenger Bill of Rights. Lord forgive them, they know not what they do. Doesn’t anyone realize that the airlines are running scared now and working like hell to solve this problem on their own? The market has raised its massive head and roared with a power that outranks anything the guvmint can do. Being now over 65 and thus dealing with the Social Security Administration, I am more opposed than ever to turning... -
What I Do Like About Airline Travel
- Wednesday February 21, 2007Somebody asked an interesting question recently. "Ralph, is there anything you like about airline travel." Hmmm… I guess I have been overly critical of the airlines, but I do keep riding them. Here are a few reasons why… One, they are dirt cheap. My speaking customers pay my travel expenses, and I have to compete with other speakers. Therefore I work hard to keep the price down. When the airlines aren’t cheap, I often drive all or part of the trip. (I leave tomorrow to drive 610 miles round trip just because the airfare would cost my customer twice as much as driving, and there are no good airline schedules.) Airlines are by far the safest way to travel. The driving trips really do worry me a bit, and more so as I... -
Déjà vu All Over Again
- Friday February 16, 2007(I stole that title from Yogi Berra, who originated it, and from Ralph Jones, who, on AVSIG, so aptly used it to describe the JFK/JetBlue mess this week.) After the nine-hour mess in Austin last year, I kinda thought that wouldn’t happen again, but it has and maybe worse. You know the story, on February 14, pax on ten JetBlue flights were stranded on airplanes on the ground for up to more than nine hours (or more than 11 hours, depending on which story you believe). A blue jillion news items have beat this story with enough theories and arguments to keep everyone guessing for the foreseeable future. I don’t have a theory about who was at fault or what should be done. I do have a statement—this has got to stop. I... -
Proposed Budget Includes User Fees
- Monday February 5, 2007It seems to be official. Bush’s budget proposal includes user fees for general aviation. Ed Bolen, president and CEO of NBAA, is up in arms and making no bones about it. He reported today that "after more than a year of intense lobbying by the nation's big airlines, the White House has decided to introduce a budget that shifts airline costs to other segments of the industry and gives airlines more control over the air traffic system. NBAA and the rest of the general aviation community will oppose this toxic mix of higher taxes, new fees, and airline control." "Toxic mix." That’s pretty strong, and he is absolutely right about the other GenAv acronym groups. They will fight this tooth and nail. Back in the early 1970s, Ted... -
It May Take Years
- Wednesday January 31, 2007There is much excitement over the idea of changing the age 60 pilot rule to allow airline pilots to continue flying to age 65. In the latest news, FAA honcho Marion Blakey announced that the FAA will propose a rule change. Kinda makes it sound like a done deal. However, as the TV hucksters say, "But wait, there’s more." Scuttlebutt has it that what looks like an FAA push could instead be a delaying tactic by the FAA. Story goes that Congress is on the brink of changing the rule itself. Congress—as I understand it—could get it done in as little as 60 days, whereas an FAA proposal can drag out for more than a year and a half while they send notices of proposed rule making and provide a long time during which people... -
I Got No Complaint
- Friday January 26, 2007I gripe a lot about the airlines so when they do it right I feel obligated to report the good news. Last week was good news. It was a helluva week. I was booked—believe it or not—to drive to Greenville, SC, then fly from Greenville to Newark, to Las Vegas, Houston, Jackson, MS, from whence I would drive to Philadelphia, MS, and back to Jackson, fly back to Houston, then back to Greenville, then drive home. I had some tight, tough connections and missing them would have caused me to miss a speech. Here’s the weird thing—it all worked. Every flight arrived on time or a little early. I stayed in four motels in four states, made speeches and sold a few books, all with no really terrible experiences. The audiences... -
Do You Feel Safer At Airports?
- Tuesday January 16, 2007On January 15, the "Hangar Talk" thread of AVSIG, the online aviation forum, included a link to the New York Times. The story on that link was hard to believe. Seems the writer, one Kathryn Harrison, and her two daughters recently arrived at EWR (Newark) on a Continental flight from Puerto Rico. When they arrived at baggage claim, Ms. Harrison realized her wallet was missing. Leaving her two daughters, she spent 30 minutes getting permission to return to her arrival gate. What happened there is horrifying. Ms. Harrison found that her airplane was still at the gate, but nobody was there to help her. She pounded on the jetway door, but to no avail. In frustration, she turned the door handle and, to her amazement (and mine), the door opened... -
Bill Kershner Flies West
- Wednesday January 10, 2007The great Bill Kershner is dead. Others will describe his life in great detail. I will just say that he was a great writer and a great educator. Kershner’s many training books made complex subjects simple. If he wrote it anyone—even I—could understand it. Once I was arguing with two rocket engineers about the finer points of flat spins. I called Kershner. He clarified the entire question and explained the answer, all in a few minutes. Kershner was also admired and liked by everyone he ever met, and that’s a rare man. He was in the very first group inducted into the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame, and I was fortunate enough to be there. He was, as usual, delightful. My contacts with Kershner were few and... -
Customer Service
- Wednesday January 3, 2007If you want to see the best and worst of customer service, just move to a new town. We have been here in Asheville, NC, for almost a month now, and the degrees of customer service and/or the lack thereof have been amazing. The best surprise has been—believe it or not—the dump. Well, okay, dumps are not called dumps anymore, but rather landfills. Either way, they tend to be dirty, smelly, and not much fun. Asheville is different. You drive up to a window and tell this fellow what you want to dump. Landfill personnel are usually about as cheerful as a newly circumcised panther, but not this guy at Asheville. He greets you with a loud "How are you today," and I swear he sounds like he really cares. The lady who checks with you... -
Happy New Year!
- Tuesday December 26, 2006Gail and I have just gone through the most disjointed Christmas of our 39-year marriage. We have just moved from Huntsville, AL, where we had lived for 28 years, to Asheville, NC, where we know nobody. It has been chaotic. Funny, but what we miss most—after the many good friends we left in Huntsville—are the suppliers who provided us with goods and services. I have always been a salesman, so have tended to think that the seller benefits most from a transaction. I was wrong. The purchaser benefits most. We miss Terry, who sold us several computers and serviced every one of them exceptionally well. Now we have computer problems and no Terry to call. We have no doctors, no dentists, no church, and no “favorite...
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