Air Travel/Airlines

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Airline pilots and their extremely rigorous training

Rathke A few of you may have had the privilege of visiting the flight deck of a commercial airliner, and found yourself fascinated by the myriad levers, buttons, and other mechanisms surrounding the captain and co-pilot. After seeing that instrument panel, have you ever wondered what kind of training a pilot has? Of course, they must have a flight license, but how do you study for it? How long does it take? Are there other requirements along with flight training itself? Here's a quick…

Started by Iberia Airlines

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6 tips for finding cheap airline tickets

Travelers who are passionate about wandering to new destinations often put a hold on their exploration owing to expenses. In order to fulfill all their travel wishes, and to save money for their next trips, they need to cut down flight expenses. If your someone who wants to save on travels, cutting down on flight booking cost is one of the ways to reduce your expenses. Flight tickets costs vary depending on the day of the week, time of the week, and holidays. Follow these simple tricks to…

Started by Tripatini

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Epic EFIS: the modern cockpit's Electronic Flight Information System

ASMR The cockpits of old – with a bewildering multiplicity of levers, buttons and analogue displays – are long gone, phased out beginning in the 1980s in favour of digitised systems known as EFIS, comprising a bewildering multiplicity of liquid-crystal displays along with and joysticks and soft keys to manipulate them. read post

Started by Iberia Airlines

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Standing Tall, Guiding All: A Look at Air-Traffic-Control Towers

Tiia Monto You’ve all no doubt noticed that building, at or near the airport, which resembles a lighthouse. In fact, air-traffic-control towers are lighthouses of a sort, albeit much more sophisticated and with many more functions. But what's inside an air traffic-control tower? Does is have more than one floor inside? Why is it so tall? Are they all the same? Here's a post to clarify a few things about one of the most complex buildings at any airport.read post

Started by Iberia Airlines

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Anil January 25, 2011 at 5:15pm

Ryan Air is nuts.
Charlie Leocha January 25, 2011 at 3:44pm

Ed, They are doing it right now. But Spain said it was illegal. Here's my post on ConsumerTraveler.com. http://snipr.com/1wp8ha
Ed Wetschler January 25, 2011 at 3:21pm

If you don't print your own boarding pass, RyanAir wants to charge you 40 pounds ($54). Are they for real -- I mean, would they really follow through on this?
Anil January 23, 2011 at 7:18pm

Actually most US carriers have not added newer planes in the last decade except say 777-LR which are used exclusively on long haul international. CO,DL used it for their US-India, and then CO moved some to China, and DL redeployed theirs. There still a lot of old planes MDs are still in DL inventor and used in LGA-ATL or LGA-BOS. Jetblue and VirginA are the only ones with newer planes - JetBlue has Airbus.
Charlie Leocha January 19, 2011 at 9:27pm

Ed,

It's a crapshoot. If anyone gets lucky they might end up on a new plane. AA is my least favorite because of the fleet of MD-80s that have minimal pitch and no inflight entertainment in some cases. Continental is shoddy — even their CEO admits that. United is the same and you have your experiences with Delta. Surprisingly, USAir might be the best of the lot rising from the back of the pack. They have made a big effort to fix the little things and it does make a difference.

Otherwise fly JetBlue, Virgin America, AirTran or Southwest and avoid the majors.
Ed Wetschler January 19, 2011 at 9:22pm

The seats on Delta's San Diego-JFK flight were remarkably uncomfortable. In fact, this was the first time I've ever gotten on a plane dog tired, taken an ambien for a red-eye, and still found it impossible to sleep.
Makes me wonder: Which of the major carriers do you consider the least comfortable?
Anil January 15, 2011 at 2:09pm

In specific ? or in general ? I would begin with a meta engine like momondo.com or vayama.com - another alternative is matrix.itasoftware.com.

If you are in a gateway city like New York, you could look for last minute fares in the local ethic newspapers of the city you wish to travel, or call some of the travel agents or consolidators specializing in that market - e.g Go to Little Brzil district in Manhatan for fares to Sao Paulo or Rio.
Buzzy Gordon January 15, 2011 at 2:19am

Anyone have recommendations for finding good last-minute intl. fares? Thanks.
girasolereale January 15, 2011 at 12:44am

Can you give me some advice to find the best fare flight from Rome Italy to Bangkok in february!!!
Charlie Leocha January 8, 2011 at 8:36pm

Ed. Virgin America is pretty cool alright. I just flew them from LA to Dulles about a month ago. I like JetBlue just about as much with more flights. They are both good, and for short hops nothing beats Southwest. All the basics at a fair price, even at the last minute.