Six days after the now infamous opening of Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow airport, more than 20,000 bags are piled up, waiting to be reconnected with owners. British Airways has canceled 13% of flights today in order to relieve pressure on the brand new terminal in order to catch up with the baggage problem.
The new baggage handling system cost nearly $8.5 billion, a staggering amount to spend on something that just doesn’t work properly. This interruption in service is estimated to cost British Airways nearly 50 million pounds, or almost $100 million US Dollars (or $5,000 a bag, which seems strange at first, unless you count potential backlash.)
Sadly, this is not an April Fool’s joke, although the joke is on the hapless passengers of British Airways, which already has a horrible reputation for baggage handling.
Fortunately, FedEx, someone who definitely knows how to handle lots of packages going to disparate places, is being brought in to help sort the mess. It’s also amusing to think about how FedEx flies planes as well (672 vs 235 for British Airways). Maybe they should buy out British Airways?
Bloomberg Article.
Written by tb_neg on April 1st, 2008 with no comments.
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Aloha Airlines, a staple in Hawaiian travel for over 50 years, will cease passenger operations March 31st, 2008.
Crankyflier has more information on this sad day.
Aloha is famous for an incident in which the roof ripped off a 737 causing the loss of life of one flight attendant, who was not buckled up. Everyone else survived.
Written by tb_neg on March 31st, 2008 with 1 comment.
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Poorly executed planning at Heathrow’s new Terminal 5 has left many travelers in misery as over 15,000 pieces of luggage pile up due to a multitude of factors:
- Lack of parking for baggage handlers
- Computer systems that did not allow baggage handlers to login
- Poor training of baggage handlers on procedures regarding new baggage system
Sky News Article
Written by tb_neg on March 31st, 2008 with 2 comments.
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American Airlines has canceled hundreds of flights as it inspects its fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft. The MD-80, a very distinct aircraft by virtue of its rear mounted engines and T-tail is the workhouse of the American fleet, comprising nearly half of the fleet (300 out of 655 aircraft).
CNN Article
Meanwhile, Boeing 737 aircraft are being inspected for a separate issue for older models, comprising of a bolt problem that may have caused the fire of the China Airlines 737 in Japan.
China Airlines Incident
Written by tb_neg on March 26th, 2008 with no comments.
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Story
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it has initiated action to collect a $10.2 million civil penalty from Southwest Airlines for operating 46 airplanes without performing mandatory inspections for fuselage fatigue cracking. Subsequently, the airline found that six of the 46 airplanes had fatigue cracks.
While Southwest has a great safety record, it is somewhat sad that even the possibility of not properly taking care of safety issues still happens in this era of excellent flight safety. If the fine is a done deal and Southwest was possibly negligent, this will cost them a lot more than $10 million in fines.
Other articles on the matter:
WSJ, Business Week, Airliners.net Post, CNN Money, WFAA w/ Video.
Written by tb_neg on March 6th, 2008 with no comments.
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Be sure to watch this incredible video of a Lufthansa A320 attempting to land in a strong cross wind on March 1st. Fortunately, there were no injuries and the plane is back in service.
Full Article.
Written by tb_neg on March 3rd, 2008 with no comments.
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Fortunately, the plane landed safely, but a little turbulence might have gone a long way to prevent the pilots from falling asleep at the wheel of Go! Flight 1002, which continued right past the airport as the pilots were asleep, staying at 21,000 ft.
News Article.
KGMB9 Article.
Written by tb_neg on February 25th, 2008 with no comments.
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PIREP 01:29Z 02/08/08
PVU UUA /OV PVU /TM 0129 /FL190 /TP GLF5 /SK OVC090-TOP190 /TB MOD-SEV 120-190 /RM DURC WORST IN 20 YRS
Some days, it’s just a really nasty day to fly. This report came from over Utah.
Written by tb_neg on February 7th, 2008 with no comments.
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PIREP 01:48Z 02/08/08
ABQ UUA /OV ABQ005025/TM 0148/FL300/TP B737/TB SEV 300/RM 1 INJURY AWC-WEBSWA
Hot off the pilot reports of turbulence, an injury due to severe turbulence on a Southwest flight occurred over New Mexico.
Written by tb_neg on February 7th, 2008 with no comments.
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PIREP 20:26Z 02/07/08
FYV UUA /OV 20W RZC/TM 2026/FL210/TP B52/TB MOD-SEVERE TURB/RM ZME
It’s not every day that you see a pilot report of turbulence from such a formidable plane. Today though, is one of those days.
Written by tb_neg on February 7th, 2008 with no comments.
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