News and notes from around the interweb:
- Top 20 countries by international seat capacity we’re number one! Incredibly the UK and Germany aren’t far behind. It’s not surprising to see major hubs with no domestic flights do well here, Hong Kong and Singapore.
- Status Match With Millennium Hotels and Resorts for Club Suite Upgrades and Club Executive Lounge Access
- The sale of defense technology has been approved for Air India One, Boeing 777s tha will transport Indian heads of state. (Here are the defensive measures that Air Force One has.)
The two self-protection suites India has requested consist of a Northrop Grumman Directional Infrared Countermeasure system, a Harris-made Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite, and BAE’s Airborne Countermeasures Dispenser System, among other systems.
- Cindy McCain called the cops on an interracial family at the Phoenix airport.
At Phoenix Sky Harbor, I reported an incident that I thought was trafficking. I commend the police officers for their diligence. I apologize if anything else I have said on this matter distracts from “if you see something, say something”
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) February 7, 2019
- Qantas cancels remaining Airbus A380 orders surprising no one.
- What Happened at the Recent Emirates Cabin Crew Forum?
- Delta’s Airbus A220 [formerly Bombardier C-Series] had its inaugural flight yesterday.
Here’s the lav:
As @NYCAviation pointed out…it’s #protip check out the aft lav on the @delta #A220. Here it is pic.twitter.com/kAibxVizD1
— Kris Van Cleave (@krisvancleave) February 7, 2019
Indian heads of government will be using the plane. And so will the Indian heads of state.
India has a head of government with way more power than its head of state. That’s been the case for as long as India has been independent, and explains in large part why the Indian President has at times been allowed to be a Sikh or Muslim while such minorities being a head of government wasn’t going to happen — except for once when the Indian Parliament had the choice of having either an Italian-born Christian as PM or a Sikh born in what is now Pakistan.
As one person who declined to be India’s President said, being the Indian head of state was like being stuck in a gilded cage. The real power in India is with the head of government (Prime Minister), not the head of state (President).
Regarding the Top 20: Very surprised that Brazil is not there. As the fifth most populated country in the world, and one of the largest economies, it shows the potential for the future and the fact that it might even be deemed underserved – despite LATAM ditching intl flights from Rio and Avianca Brazil declaring bankruptcy. Azul and Gol though have been countering with increased intl flights from alternative cities like Fortaleza and Brasilia so we may be seeing a boom soon.
Racist profiling hitting families that are perceived to be of different ethnic mixes? Can’t say I’m surprised by this.
This kind of racist profiling hit is done by the crowd which so eagerly promotes the “see something, same something” hysteria and exploits the “think of the children”/”think of the women”. It’s done not only by the so-called average citizen, it’s also sometimes done even by the airline reps and uniformed law enforcement authorities.
It’s a sad world still where people are too often judged more by how they look than by the measure of their character as spoken by their actions.
Doesn’t Cindy McCain have an adopted Bangladeshi daughter? Sort of ironic coming from her, no less so that there is a strong sentiment in various parts of Asia that adoption of kids may be but another form of child trafficking, whether state-sanctioned or not.
Maybe someday, just maybe, I might make it to visit the UAE. I hear so many good thing about Dubai and wonderful opportunities.
Please forward any A220 lav pics/reviews to me, Thanks!
@dougparker