Flying During the Holidays...
I don't know if it's because of the way my familial ways have been "built" over the years, but I've never "flown" anywhere for the holidays. If I DID fly somewhere for the holidays though, I know that I would have found this article/interview from Kate Dailey at Men's Health Magazine who speaks to Patrick Smith, a commercial airline pilot and author of "Ask the Pilot: Everything You Wanted to Know About Air Travel." Enjoy!
"Stress-Proof Your Holiday Flight
Going home for the holidays? Here are 19 travel tips for an easier, safer trip.
By: Kate Dailey, Men's Health
Our holiday flying fears used to be so quaint: Will my flight be delayed? Will they lose my gift-laden suitcase? Will that large, sweaty woman ambling down the aisle sit next to me? These days, we also worry about terrorism and security lines and whether the airline can squeeze in our flight before declaring bankruptcy. It's enough to make you want to take the Suburban, gas prices be damned.
Our advice: Don't.
Flying is still the fastest, safest way to travel—by far. With passenger loads inching back toward pre-9/11 levels, we asked Patrick Smith, a commercial pilot and author of Ask the Pilot: Everything You Wanted to Know about Air Travel, to explain the laws of the sky so you can cross fear off your holiday list.
Q: LET'S start with a question on everyone's mind these days: Do pilots and flight attendants still have sex in the cockpit?
A: If so, I haven't been included. It's a myth, I think, that stems from the heyday of flying, when pilots were the rock stars of the sky.
Q: NOW that that's settled, what's the best way to choose an airline? Can I trust my life to Air Baltic, for example?
A: Choose by comparing schedules, service, and price. Don't base your decision on safety. It gets into real statistical hairsplitting. Say you have an airline that's had one crash over 10 years and another that's had two crashes over 10 years; to say that airline A is safer than airline B is kind of silly. All airlines are regulated by a higher agency, whether it's the FAA in the United States or the JAA in Europe, and all must meet similar safety requirements.
Q: BUT aren't some U.S. airlines repeatedly slapped with maintenance violations?
A: Those can be really misleading. You'll find that the vast majority of maintenance infractions are paperwork snafus. Also, don't choose an airline based on the age of its planes. Some airlines advertise the newness of their fleets, but it's somewhat meaningless—except maybe to calm the unjustified fears of fliers remembering stories about jet engines dropping into cornfields. The reality is, airplanes are built to last more or less indefinitely. On average, U.S. airlines have pretty much the oldest fleets in the world. Newer planes have better air-conditioning and are more fuel efficient, but they're not necessarily safer.
Q: BUT aren't newer planes a sign of a financially healthy airline, one that's less likely to cut corners?It's difficult to make that correlation.
A: Look at Sabena and Swiss Air, two of the most recent bankruptcies. They were in business for 7 decades and had some of the newest fleets in the sky. Fleet turnover among the large U.S. airlines is less frequent, because the infrastructure surrounding their planes is so immense. You wouldn't be retiring just a plane, but the parts, the loaders, the training that mechanics receive.
IS it possible to escape through the toilet like Leo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can?I saw that movie on a plane. I don't know. I'd have to investigate the nooks, crannies, and crawl spaces of every type of plane.
Q: SO what's changed, securitywise, since 9/11?
A: Um … I'm not really supposed to say.
Q: CAN you give us a hint?
A: Some of the things that sprang up after 9/11 were valuable, useful ideas. Screening all checked baggage for explosives, which is new, and making sure every checked bag matches up with a passenger onboard. A side note: Avoid packing Cheddar logs and fruitcakes. They're so dense they can set off explosives scanners.
Q: DO I really have to keep my window shade open for takeoff? Some of us would prefer not to watch the world whiz by at 150 mph.
A: If the shades are open, passengers can keep track of which way is up during an emergency. Windows are also a source of light if the cabin goes dark. The crew dims the lights during takeoff so, if the plane loses power, your eyes won't have a hard time adjusting to the dark.
Q: FAIR enough, but will using my BlackBerry crash the plane?
A: People have this idea that if you're using a cellphone and you hit the "send" button, the plane is going to flip over. The effects would be more subtle, but it's not a scam to get you to splurge on the onboard satellite phones. There have been cases with cellphones interfering with cockpit equipment—in one case, a ringing cellphone caused a fire alarm to go off. As for iPods and CD players, the crew wants you to hear their instructions, so they don't want you to have headphones on during takeoff. A laptop can't be used during takeoff and landing because it could become a projectile.
Q: DO airlines really think we don't know how to fasten our seatbelts?
A: The preflight safety briefing strikes me as a whole lot of legalspeak turned into really bad performance art. It needs to be shorter and cleaned up, and then people will pay more attention. Here's what you do need to know: the location of and how to operate the doors and the flotation equipment.
Q: IN the event of a water landing, won't we sink before we can grab our seat cushions?
A: When you think water landing, you picture crashing into the middle of the ocean, with ships coming to rescue you. But don't forget that if you're at a coastal airport, there's water right there. There have been several cases where passengers have made use of the safety cushions. And don't inflate your life vest until you're out of a plane. It's designed to float—even deflated—in the event you're knocked unconscious. By inflating a life vest, you make it more difficult to maneuver out of the plane. There were passengers on a hijacked Ethiopian Air Lines 767 who were trapped in the plane as it sank because they inflated those vests too early.
Q: AT the end of Say Anything, Lloyd Dobler tells Diane Court that after takeoff, once the "fasten your seatbelt" sign turns off, you're in the clear as far as accidents go. True or false?
A: True, pretty much. Statistically, most accidents happen during takeoff or landing. [According to Safe Skies International, less than 10 percent occur at cruising altitude.]
Q: HOW does my pilot on Lufthansa communicate with the tower at O'Hare?
A: English is the official language of the skies in North America and, for the most part, overseas.
Q: IF the engines fail, will we fall from the sky?
A: Because sometimes after takeoff or before a landing, it sounds as if the engines have stalled.If the engines failed at cruising altitude, the plane would become a glider. Airplanes glide all the time. It's routine during descents to set up zero-thrust conditions where the engines are at idle, which is more or less the same as having no power. They're still providing electricity and pressurization, but there's zero push. After takeoff, you often feel a reduction in thrust. It's standard practice. You're past the most critical point of flight, and all that thrust is no longer necessary. Or it could be a noise-abatement procedure. Don't let landings scare you, either. They may be intentionally firm or crooked to compensate for weather or runway conditions. Judging a flight by the landing is like judging a surgery by the sutures.
Q: WHAT'S with all the scary noises planes make during the descent?
A: The landing process is like a stairway—you step down one segment at a time. There are a lot of power changes, and sometimes the air brakes are deployed, giving off vibration. Where exactly these things occur depends on a bunch of things, but you'll hear the engines roll back, accelerate, roll back, accelerate. It's normal.
Q: AIRBUS keeps promising planes with dance floors and swimming pools; U.S. airlines barely let you out of your seat. What gives?
A: When the 747 debuted, they had upper-deck lounges with pianos. It was exciting for a while, then they crammed in more seats. Whether that happens with the Airbus A380 remains to be seen. On its superlong hauls, Singapore Airlines has a buffet zone with heated floors so you can walk around barefoot, and a lounge area where you can stretch your legs. On 18-hour flights, you don't want people to develop deep-vein thrombosis.
Q: PILOTS carry guns now. What kind of damage could a gunshot do to a plane?
A: It depends. The idea of having the guns onboard is to use them only for absolute, last-ditch efforts. So you have to assume, if a gun is fired, that the situation is pretty deadly to begin with. The pilot wouldn't be concerned about knocking out equipment.
Q: CAN we assume there's a federal air marshal sitting in first class?
A: If you're flying into Washington, D.C., or New York or Los Angeles, then there's a good chance. But only about 5 percent of flights have them.
Q: SO what are some insider tricks for surviving airport security?
A: It's common sense. Show up early and leave your suicidal tendencies at home."
"Stress-Proof Your Holiday Flight
Going home for the holidays? Here are 19 travel tips for an easier, safer trip.
By: Kate Dailey, Men's Health
Our holiday flying fears used to be so quaint: Will my flight be delayed? Will they lose my gift-laden suitcase? Will that large, sweaty woman ambling down the aisle sit next to me? These days, we also worry about terrorism and security lines and whether the airline can squeeze in our flight before declaring bankruptcy. It's enough to make you want to take the Suburban, gas prices be damned.
Our advice: Don't.
Flying is still the fastest, safest way to travel—by far. With passenger loads inching back toward pre-9/11 levels, we asked Patrick Smith, a commercial pilot and author of Ask the Pilot: Everything You Wanted to Know about Air Travel, to explain the laws of the sky so you can cross fear off your holiday list.
Q: LET'S start with a question on everyone's mind these days: Do pilots and flight attendants still have sex in the cockpit?
A: If so, I haven't been included. It's a myth, I think, that stems from the heyday of flying, when pilots were the rock stars of the sky.
Q: NOW that that's settled, what's the best way to choose an airline? Can I trust my life to Air Baltic, for example?
A: Choose by comparing schedules, service, and price. Don't base your decision on safety. It gets into real statistical hairsplitting. Say you have an airline that's had one crash over 10 years and another that's had two crashes over 10 years; to say that airline A is safer than airline B is kind of silly. All airlines are regulated by a higher agency, whether it's the FAA in the United States or the JAA in Europe, and all must meet similar safety requirements.
Q: BUT aren't some U.S. airlines repeatedly slapped with maintenance violations?
A: Those can be really misleading. You'll find that the vast majority of maintenance infractions are paperwork snafus. Also, don't choose an airline based on the age of its planes. Some airlines advertise the newness of their fleets, but it's somewhat meaningless—except maybe to calm the unjustified fears of fliers remembering stories about jet engines dropping into cornfields. The reality is, airplanes are built to last more or less indefinitely. On average, U.S. airlines have pretty much the oldest fleets in the world. Newer planes have better air-conditioning and are more fuel efficient, but they're not necessarily safer.
Q: BUT aren't newer planes a sign of a financially healthy airline, one that's less likely to cut corners?It's difficult to make that correlation.
A: Look at Sabena and Swiss Air, two of the most recent bankruptcies. They were in business for 7 decades and had some of the newest fleets in the sky. Fleet turnover among the large U.S. airlines is less frequent, because the infrastructure surrounding their planes is so immense. You wouldn't be retiring just a plane, but the parts, the loaders, the training that mechanics receive.
IS it possible to escape through the toilet like Leo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can?I saw that movie on a plane. I don't know. I'd have to investigate the nooks, crannies, and crawl spaces of every type of plane.
Q: SO what's changed, securitywise, since 9/11?
A: Um … I'm not really supposed to say.
Q: CAN you give us a hint?
A: Some of the things that sprang up after 9/11 were valuable, useful ideas. Screening all checked baggage for explosives, which is new, and making sure every checked bag matches up with a passenger onboard. A side note: Avoid packing Cheddar logs and fruitcakes. They're so dense they can set off explosives scanners.
Q: DO I really have to keep my window shade open for takeoff? Some of us would prefer not to watch the world whiz by at 150 mph.
A: If the shades are open, passengers can keep track of which way is up during an emergency. Windows are also a source of light if the cabin goes dark. The crew dims the lights during takeoff so, if the plane loses power, your eyes won't have a hard time adjusting to the dark.
Q: FAIR enough, but will using my BlackBerry crash the plane?
A: People have this idea that if you're using a cellphone and you hit the "send" button, the plane is going to flip over. The effects would be more subtle, but it's not a scam to get you to splurge on the onboard satellite phones. There have been cases with cellphones interfering with cockpit equipment—in one case, a ringing cellphone caused a fire alarm to go off. As for iPods and CD players, the crew wants you to hear their instructions, so they don't want you to have headphones on during takeoff. A laptop can't be used during takeoff and landing because it could become a projectile.
Q: DO airlines really think we don't know how to fasten our seatbelts?
A: The preflight safety briefing strikes me as a whole lot of legalspeak turned into really bad performance art. It needs to be shorter and cleaned up, and then people will pay more attention. Here's what you do need to know: the location of and how to operate the doors and the flotation equipment.
Q: IN the event of a water landing, won't we sink before we can grab our seat cushions?
A: When you think water landing, you picture crashing into the middle of the ocean, with ships coming to rescue you. But don't forget that if you're at a coastal airport, there's water right there. There have been several cases where passengers have made use of the safety cushions. And don't inflate your life vest until you're out of a plane. It's designed to float—even deflated—in the event you're knocked unconscious. By inflating a life vest, you make it more difficult to maneuver out of the plane. There were passengers on a hijacked Ethiopian Air Lines 767 who were trapped in the plane as it sank because they inflated those vests too early.
Q: AT the end of Say Anything, Lloyd Dobler tells Diane Court that after takeoff, once the "fasten your seatbelt" sign turns off, you're in the clear as far as accidents go. True or false?
A: True, pretty much. Statistically, most accidents happen during takeoff or landing. [According to Safe Skies International, less than 10 percent occur at cruising altitude.]
Q: HOW does my pilot on Lufthansa communicate with the tower at O'Hare?
A: English is the official language of the skies in North America and, for the most part, overseas.
Q: IF the engines fail, will we fall from the sky?
A: Because sometimes after takeoff or before a landing, it sounds as if the engines have stalled.If the engines failed at cruising altitude, the plane would become a glider. Airplanes glide all the time. It's routine during descents to set up zero-thrust conditions where the engines are at idle, which is more or less the same as having no power. They're still providing electricity and pressurization, but there's zero push. After takeoff, you often feel a reduction in thrust. It's standard practice. You're past the most critical point of flight, and all that thrust is no longer necessary. Or it could be a noise-abatement procedure. Don't let landings scare you, either. They may be intentionally firm or crooked to compensate for weather or runway conditions. Judging a flight by the landing is like judging a surgery by the sutures.
Q: WHAT'S with all the scary noises planes make during the descent?
A: The landing process is like a stairway—you step down one segment at a time. There are a lot of power changes, and sometimes the air brakes are deployed, giving off vibration. Where exactly these things occur depends on a bunch of things, but you'll hear the engines roll back, accelerate, roll back, accelerate. It's normal.
Q: AIRBUS keeps promising planes with dance floors and swimming pools; U.S. airlines barely let you out of your seat. What gives?
A: When the 747 debuted, they had upper-deck lounges with pianos. It was exciting for a while, then they crammed in more seats. Whether that happens with the Airbus A380 remains to be seen. On its superlong hauls, Singapore Airlines has a buffet zone with heated floors so you can walk around barefoot, and a lounge area where you can stretch your legs. On 18-hour flights, you don't want people to develop deep-vein thrombosis.
Q: PILOTS carry guns now. What kind of damage could a gunshot do to a plane?
A: It depends. The idea of having the guns onboard is to use them only for absolute, last-ditch efforts. So you have to assume, if a gun is fired, that the situation is pretty deadly to begin with. The pilot wouldn't be concerned about knocking out equipment.
Q: CAN we assume there's a federal air marshal sitting in first class?
A: If you're flying into Washington, D.C., or New York or Los Angeles, then there's a good chance. But only about 5 percent of flights have them.
Q: SO what are some insider tricks for surviving airport security?
A: It's common sense. Show up early and leave your suicidal tendencies at home."
posted by Mike Wilkerson - 2GuysTalking at 9:50 AM
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