The Flying Critic

What is airplane mood lighting?

Mood lighting is lighting that often combines multiple shades and combinations of colors in an attempt to create different mood environments in airplanes.  The idea is that various lighting schemes can be used to complement the different phases of the flight - from boarding to meal service to sleeping to pre-arrival and more.

Some people think that mood lighting can make it easier to sleep, make airplane food more attractive, and also help reduce jet lag by syncing the lighting colors to the time of the destination. I'm not sure about all the pro-mood lighting claims, but it does look very 80s sci-fi modern cool.

Mood lighting is popular on private jets and has been an optional feature on some Airbus and Boeing planes. It is a standard feature on the upcoming 787.

Here are two pictures I took of the mood lighting used by Virgin America on a LAX-SFO flight:

During Boarding:

In-Flight:

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.

Virgin America adds $25 fee for second checked bag

I'm not surprised. 

Virgin America expands lounge access policy

As pointed out at One Mile at a Time, Virgin America has opened up the ability for members of their frequent flyer program to pay $40 for a one-time pass to the Virgin Atlantic's Clubhouse (at participating locations). 

Prior to this change, you had to be flying in First Class on Virgin America to be able to pay the $40 for the one-time pass.  Because membership in their frequent flyer program is free, now anyone who joins can gain access.

I'd like to see Virgin America offer free Clubhouse access to First Class flyers while provided the pay for access passes for everyone else.  But I don't expect that to happen any time soon.  Why give it free when people will pay?  That's the question most US airlines are asking themselves these days.  Even Virgin America.