The Flying Critic

Delta and Northwest Agree to Merge

The rumors have finally proven true.  The merger was just approved by Delta and Northwest:

ATLANTA (AP) -- Delta Air Lines has reached an agreement with Northwest Airlines to take over Northwest and create the world's biggest carrier.

The boards of both companies gave the deal the go-ahead Monday.

Delta said the combined airline will have an enterprise value of $17.7 billion. It will be based in Atlanta, and Delta CEO Richard Anderson will head the combined company.

Read the rest of the article here.

And so the consolidation has started.  Will this finally push United and Continental together?

United to delay launch of its new San Francisco (SFO) to Guangzhou, China (CAN) route

The USA Today blogs on a Marketwatch report that:

[United] [t]he U.S.'s second-largest carrier after American Airlines said it applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday to defer the launch, which was originally planned for June 18.

United blames high fuel prices and declining demand.  It is unknown when United will launch the service. For people looking for a nonstop from the US to CAN, it looks like you are stuck with China Southern's LAX-CAN flight (CZ 328).

Some Southwest humor

Thanks to The Onion for imagining Southwest's decision to abandon their 737s.

Updates on the Lonely Planet controversy: was it really one at all?

Gadling, where a few Lonely Planet authors blog, has been following the Lonely Planet controversy.  It's starting to look like this was just a publicity stunt for the unethical authors new book.  Boo on him.

See also Lonely Planet's updated response on the issue.  It's hard to know if this is just damage control or if the author is just trying to drum up business for his book at the expense of Lonely Planet's reputation. But assuming this statement by Lonely Planet is true, I'm tending to believe Lonely Planet:

Thomas has claimed  that he was not paid enough to travel to Colombia when he was employed as an  author on our Colombia guide. The fact is that Thomas was not employed as an on-the-ground author on that guidebook. This means that he did not write any reviews - of places or establishments - in this book. His contribution was to the introductory chapter     covering history, culture, food and drink and environment. Two on-the-ground authors wrote the reviews for the Colombia guide.

My recommendation: don't waste your money buying this guy's book.

Can anyone design a good airport?

An interesting New Yorker article about the architectural and design challenges of building modern airports. 

Inflight WiFi? Several airlines have announced plans to start testing

The San Francisco Chronicle published an article today on the status the testing of inflight WiFi on airplanes in the USA.  It's an interesting read.   Here is their list of the status of WiFi testing by US domestic airlines:

-- Alaska Airlines: Testing wireless Internet access this summer

-- American Airlines: Testing service on 15 planes by mid-year

-- Continental: Testing limited wireless next year

-- JetBlue: Currently testing one plane offering limited Yahoo e-mail, IM chat and BlackBerry e-mail service

-- Southwest Airlines: Testing service on four planes in late summer

-- Virgin America: Testing service late this year

I question the reality of AirCell's claim regarding speed and network capacity:

The company said the setup can deliver 3 Mbps to the plane, which is compressed and allows travelers to share the equivalent of a 15 Mbps connection.

I have a hard time believing that they can deliver network capacity that is equivalent to a 15Mbps connection when the plane only will have 3Mbps of bandwidth.  Most pictures and other components of web pages are already highly compressed.  Compressing an already compressed file doesn't generally make it any smaller.

This service will work great when there are only a couple of people using it - but the more popular it becomes the worse it will be.  Don't get me wrong, I think inflight WiFi is a great idea and should be pursued.  I just don't like vendors who make promises they can't keep.

Air Travel Tips from the New York Times

The New York Times has several suggestions for dealing with air travel when flights are full. Most of their suggestions are good advice.

Read the article for their commentary and detailed suggestions - but here are their main points:

Be wary of the hubs
Know your aircraft type
Trust no one
Keep your options open
Get your ticket # if rebooked
Get a seat assignment
Rebook yourself
Get to the gate early
Travel light
Don't bring toothpaste
Know your rights

Don't bring toothpaste?  That's really what they are recommending:

DUMP THE TOOTHPASTE Remember that certain toiletries and other liquid items are not allowed on flights, which can lead to frustrating delays at security. Leave that tube of toothpaste and buy a new one at your destination.

If you are going somewhere where toothpaste is waiting for you then I would agree to leave it so that you aren't carrying extra weight that you don't need.  But they are saying that you shouldn't to save time with security.  It almost sounds like they are think that toothpaste and other liquid items are not allowed through security.  This is incorrect.  You can bring liquids through the checkpoint and on the airplane, you just have to know and follow the TSA's rules about size and baggies. 

This is what the TSA website has to say about bringing liquids:

Air travelers may carry liquids, gels and aerosols in their carry-on bag when going through security checkpoints.

The following rules apply to all liquids, gels, and aerosols carried through security checkpoints.

1. All liquids, gels and aerosols must be in three-ounce or smaller containers. Larger containers that are half-full or toothpaste tubes rolled up are not allowed. Each container must be three ounces or smaller.
2. All liquids, gels and aerosols must be placed in a single, quart-size, zip-top, clear plastic bag. Gallon size bags or bags that are not zip-top such as fold-over sandwich bags are not allowed. Each traveler can use only one, quart-size, zip-top, clear plastic bag.
3. Each traveler must remove their quart-sized plastic, zip-top bag from their carry-on and place it in a bin or on the conveyor belt for X-ray screening. X-raying separately will allow TSA security officers to more easily examine the declared items.

There are exceptions for baby formula, breast milk, and other essential liquids, gels, and aerosols, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines.