General

Category Archives for General.

FAA Safety Inspectors Improperly Allowed Aircraft to Fly

by Gary Leff on June 13, 2018

Jun 13 2018

The Office of Special Counsel today wrote to the President and Congress to reveal that “safety inspectors at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have improperly approved aircraft for commercial operations without first reviewing critical safety information that in some cases would have prohibited their operation.”

That sounds pretty scary and this is going to get some coverage but it turns out that most of the issues didn’t actually involve safety issues. They included things like expired registrations. And the majority dealt with small charter aircraft.

REPORT: American Considering Non-Stop Service to Dubrovnik

by Gary Leff on June 12, 2018

Jun 12 2018

American Airlines is reportedly looking at seasonal Philadelphia – Dubrovnik service.

Authorities in Dubvrovnik have been looking for twice weekly year-round service from New York. There’s a large Croatian population in New York, and an even bigger one in Pittsburgh.

In the Mideast VIP Passengers Get Escalators Brought Up to the Plane

by Gary Leff on June 11, 2018

Jun 11 2018

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai arrived in Saudi Arabia with plans to discuss an aid package for Jordan. He made a roughly 1000 mile journey.

And like the King of Saudi Arabia, he used an escalator for getting on and off the aircraft.

Sprint Unlimited Data, Talk, and Text for $15/Month With Global Roaming

by Gary Leff on June 8, 2018

Jun 08 2018

One of the most brilliant marketing plays I’ve seen in a long time was Sprint building an ad campaign around bringing on the actor from Verizon’s ‘Can You Hear Me Now?’ commercials?

Sprint is offering what looks like an amazing deal. New customers who port their number over from another carrier get unlimited data, talk and text for $15 per line per month. This even includes international roaming.

How Just a Few Bad Employees Can Undermine $3 Billion Invested in Airline Product

by Gary Leff on June 8, 2018

Jun 08 2018

American highlights a $3 billion investment in products and services. However poor service from the airline’s front line can undermine all the rest of the investment.

A great example of this comes from June 4th’s American Airlines flight AA192 from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. A business class passenger reportedly voluntarily offloaded himself because his experience with a flight attendant onboard prior to departure was so bad.

New Free Web Browser Offers Built-In VPN Features, Browse Privately Even in China

by Gary Leff on June 7, 2018

Jun 07 2018

There’s a simple solution to browse the web privately, to access internet sites through China’s Great Firewall, and it’s cheaper than using a paid VPN (because it’s free) and faster than using a free VPN.

It’s a web browser that builds in the functionality of a VPN. That way you can privately access content from anywhere in the world. You’re accessing their servers and their servers are calling the sites you want and delivering them to you.

Dear Travel PR, Don’t Lie

by Gary Leff on June 6, 2018

Jun 06 2018

I was asked to participate in a panel for travel PR professionals later this week, along with a traditional newspaper and magazine editor, talking about best practices in pitching stories. How do you get attention and coverage? What do PR professionals do wrong, from our perspective?

And something set me off Monday morning with one pitch, so I thought I’d share it. The worst thing a brand can do is lie. But disingenuous framing can be almost as damaging.

Can You Help Me With a Gogo Internet Problem?

by Gary Leff on June 3, 2018

Jun 03 2018

I know all the jokes about Gogo internet (‘NoGo’). But I find it indispensable. It’s internet on an airplane moving at speeds in excess of 500 miles an hour. And the latest technology is much faster than the older installs, though they’ve had their challenges even with new satellite internet to be sure.

I’ve got a unique problem and no one at Gogo has any useful suggestions for me. I’m out of ideas. So I’m hoping you might have some.

What Are the Shortest Flights in the World?

by Gary Leff on June 2, 2018

Jun 02 2018

The world’s shortest international flight is Anguilla – St. Maarten flight which is only 12 miles. Anguilla is a British overseas territory in the West Indies in the Caribbean. Princess Juliana International Airport is located on the Dutch side of St. Maarten.

The US Army Bought a Saudi 777 So it Could Fly it to Maryland and Blow it Up