Today Denver-based Frontier Airlines had big news to report, announcing that they would be launching service to Washington Dulles with 14 new destinations that include Orlando, Chicago and Las Vegas. The first flight will take place on Aug 19 with flights to Atlanta and Orlando, with the expansion topping off on Sept 15 with the first flight to Chicago-O'Hare.
“Customers who fly Frontier from Dulles International Airport will love our jaw dropping prices and our friendly service,” said Daniel Shurz, Senior Vice President at Frontier Airlines.
To demonstrate these low prices, Frontier is coupling this announcement with a huge 12 hour fare sale. Until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time May 13, fares on these new flights will be as low as $15 each way for travel through Nov 19. Additional fares as low as $39 will be available through May 17.
“The addition of Frontier to the Dulles family represents a significant, positive development for passengers interested in additional low cost, domestic travel options to and from the National Capital region,” said Jack Potter, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority President and CEO.
Frontier’s announcement comes on the heels of new investment at Dulles. The airports authority has enhanced parking options, concourse makeovers and new food, beverage and retail options coming down the pipeline throughout the year.
“With the Washington area economy growing and the Metrorail Silver Line on the way, Dulles will continue to fill the expanding air travel needs for the region and these new options from Frontier will play an important role. We welcome Frontier aboard,” said Potter.
Frontier is currently in the process of becoming more of an ultra low cost carrier. By cutting certain amenities like free onboard food and beverage options and charging for them separately, Frontier is able to offer very low fares.
”At Frontier, we are committed to offering customers Low Fares Done Right and that means offering choices and friendly service. Customers can easily choose what is important to them and optimize their travel experience for the comfort and value they seek” said Shurz.
The airline will fly A320s on all of the new routes and will use the Z gates, connected to the Main Terminal at the airport, which currently house US Airways flights. The new flights will add a total of 60 new weekly departures from the Washington D.C. area, on top of Frontier’s 21 weekly flights from Reagan National.
The full list of new destinations out of Dulles is as follows: Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Orlando, Fla. Minneapolis/St. Paul, Tampa, Fla., Chicago-O’Hare, Cincinnati, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Las Vegas, Memphis, Tenn., Fort Myers, Fla., St. Louis, and St. Augustine/Jacksonville, Fla.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
When The News Stops Telling Us The News
Ever since Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappeared on March 8, CNN has had wall to wall coverage of the incident, broadcasting live 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and only stopping for commercial breaks and jumping right back to MH370 within minutes.
They've used high tech hologram graphics, full size 777 cockpit mockups and flight simulators and even model planes to fill time. They've discussed theories ranging from the almost expected like mechanical failure or pilot error to the absolutely insane like alien abduction or black holes and everything in between. They've talked to enough “experts” to fill a missing 777, played enough B-roll to last your local news station a decade and shown enough CGI to make a Malaysia Airlines 777 the world’s most recognizable airplane. They’ve discussed every press conference and satellite image for hours, dissected every little piece of mundane news as if it’s a massive revelation and even given weather reports for the search area.
They’ve flashed a breaking news banner across the screen for something as obvious as the fact that a plane will struggle to maintain altitude if fuel runs out. They’ve asked on multiple occasions on the air if there is too much coverage of the incident. They’ve invited a psychic with no background in aviation onto their sister network HLN to give her theory on what she thinks happened. They’ve even been so kind as to put a little graphic in the bottom left hand corner to remind you just how many days of this bastardized news coverage you’ve had to endure.
All this begs the question; isn’t there other news? Why can’t CNN talk about Putin exercising his might on Crimea and the ongoing diplomatic crisis in Ukraine? Or about the mudslide north of Seattle that has resulted in at least 35 confirmed deaths, with many more still missing? Surely there’s more going on in the world than a plane that disappeared without a trace more than a month ago.
CNN will say that it’s boosted their ratings, which is true; since the night of March 7 in the United States, the night the plane was declared missing by the airline, CNN’s ratings in the 25-54 age group have more than doubled compared to the month before, while their competitors at Fox News have only seen moderate gains, and MSNBC has actually seen it’s viewership decline over the same period of time.
I understand everything is a business, but CNN is still supposed to be a responsible news organization. Responsible news organizations actually report the news and keep the speculation to a minimum. Responsible news organizations don’t sensationalize stories and know when a story has exhausted its useful lifetime. Even the ones you’d most expect to still be talking, the aviation community has stopped talking about the story for the most part, only returning to it when there’s actual news.
All the speculation does nothing to help the situation or educate the public. Some of CNN's experts don’t even know what they're talking about. They pronounce things wrong, they get their facts wrong and sometimes I question whether they’re actually experts. Aviation enthusiasts watch CNN's coverage to laugh at it and/or groan. And now it’s not just aviation enthusiasts anymore; there are jokes all over the internet about CNN’s coverage. Sure it boosts ratings, but I'm sure a good portion of people watching are watching for the train wreck.
CNN really needs to tone it down. This case is not a rapidly developing story in which new details are released every few minutes; we learn something new once a day, and sometimes not even that. But instead, CNN keeps going back to it. Their analysts discuss their theories as though they believe them to be fact and some people believe it, when in reality, nobody knows what happened to this plane, and the investigation will take months, most likely years, and that’s if we find the plane at all. CNN is still a lot of people’s go to source for news in a crisis, but this isn’t a crisis anymore. This is normalcy, and it’s time to move on.
They've used high tech hologram graphics, full size 777 cockpit mockups and flight simulators and even model planes to fill time. They've discussed theories ranging from the almost expected like mechanical failure or pilot error to the absolutely insane like alien abduction or black holes and everything in between. They've talked to enough “experts” to fill a missing 777, played enough B-roll to last your local news station a decade and shown enough CGI to make a Malaysia Airlines 777 the world’s most recognizable airplane. They’ve discussed every press conference and satellite image for hours, dissected every little piece of mundane news as if it’s a massive revelation and even given weather reports for the search area.
They’ve flashed a breaking news banner across the screen for something as obvious as the fact that a plane will struggle to maintain altitude if fuel runs out. They’ve asked on multiple occasions on the air if there is too much coverage of the incident. They’ve invited a psychic with no background in aviation onto their sister network HLN to give her theory on what she thinks happened. They’ve even been so kind as to put a little graphic in the bottom left hand corner to remind you just how many days of this bastardized news coverage you’ve had to endure.
All this begs the question; isn’t there other news? Why can’t CNN talk about Putin exercising his might on Crimea and the ongoing diplomatic crisis in Ukraine? Or about the mudslide north of Seattle that has resulted in at least 35 confirmed deaths, with many more still missing? Surely there’s more going on in the world than a plane that disappeared without a trace more than a month ago.
CNN will say that it’s boosted their ratings, which is true; since the night of March 7 in the United States, the night the plane was declared missing by the airline, CNN’s ratings in the 25-54 age group have more than doubled compared to the month before, while their competitors at Fox News have only seen moderate gains, and MSNBC has actually seen it’s viewership decline over the same period of time.
I understand everything is a business, but CNN is still supposed to be a responsible news organization. Responsible news organizations actually report the news and keep the speculation to a minimum. Responsible news organizations don’t sensationalize stories and know when a story has exhausted its useful lifetime. Even the ones you’d most expect to still be talking, the aviation community has stopped talking about the story for the most part, only returning to it when there’s actual news.
All the speculation does nothing to help the situation or educate the public. Some of CNN's experts don’t even know what they're talking about. They pronounce things wrong, they get their facts wrong and sometimes I question whether they’re actually experts. Aviation enthusiasts watch CNN's coverage to laugh at it and/or groan. And now it’s not just aviation enthusiasts anymore; there are jokes all over the internet about CNN’s coverage. Sure it boosts ratings, but I'm sure a good portion of people watching are watching for the train wreck.
CNN really needs to tone it down. This case is not a rapidly developing story in which new details are released every few minutes; we learn something new once a day, and sometimes not even that. But instead, CNN keeps going back to it. Their analysts discuss their theories as though they believe them to be fact and some people believe it, when in reality, nobody knows what happened to this plane, and the investigation will take months, most likely years, and that’s if we find the plane at all. CNN is still a lot of people’s go to source for news in a crisis, but this isn’t a crisis anymore. This is normalcy, and it’s time to move on.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
The 777 Is (Still) The Safest Plane In The World And I Have Stats To Prove It
In the wake of the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370, a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing two days ago, the internet is abuzz with news, pictures, and falsified reports. But a smaller discussion is going on behind the scenes that is far more upsetting to me as an AvGeek.
Tucked away in tiny corners of the internet, members of the general public are swearing never to fly the 777 again. I've even seen some comments calling the 777 the worst plane in the world.
The truth is that the 777 has the best safety record in the industry. The plane entered service in 1995 and before two days ago, only three people have died in crashes or other fatal accidents involving the aircraft. Asiana's crash last July was the first ever fatal accident in the aircraft's very successful career.
Three deaths is rather incredible for a 19 year career. In its first 19 years of service from 1970 to 1989, the iconic Boeing 747 was involved in twelve fatal accidents, accidents which killed a total of 2608 people (Source: airsafe.com, terrorists not included). Included is the Tenerife disaster in 1977, a collision between two 747s which resulted in the loss of 583 as the deadliest crash in aviation history. Also in the 747's first 19 years, the crash of Japan Airlines flight 123, the deadliest single aircraft crash in history in 1985 which took the lives of 520.
The 737, the best selling commercial aircraft in the world cannot hold a candle to the safety record of the 777 either. In its first 19 years of service from 1968 to 1987, the 737 was involved in 21 fatal incidents which killed a total of 1073 people, five of which involved the death of more than 100 people (Source: airsafe.com).
Before you make the claim that the 747 and 737 are much older aircraft and were built and debuted in a time where aviation safety was much different, note this: Airbus' A330 debuted one year before the 777 and has already been involved in three fatal accidents that killed a total of 338 people (Source: airsafe.com). One such accident was Air France flight 447 that was lost over the Atlantic Ocean in a flight from Rio to Paris in 2009.
The circumstances of the flight are similar to the circumstances of the lost Malaysian Airlines flight that disappeared two days ago. Both flights suddenly disappeared at cruise altitude, both flights were confirmed, after they were due to land at their destination, and both were lost over the ocean. The crash of Air France 447 alone resulted in 228 of the A330's 338 fatalities.
The only airliner that can come close to the 777's outstanding safety record is the A340. The A340 debuted two years before the 777 and have not had a fatal accident. However, the 777 has only been involved in two hull loss accidents, three if you assume the worst about the Malaysia Airlines flight currently missing, The A340 has been involved in five. The most notable of which was Air France flight 358 which overran the runway in Toronto during a stormy landing. All 309 people got out in time, but some 43 were injured, 12 seriously.
The 777 has more than three times the amount of aircraft currently in service than A340. This only adds to the reliability and safety record of the 777.
An important note to all fearful fliers who may happen to be reading this: while no aircraft is perfect, no aircraft currently in service could be considered a disaster with wings. Aircraft types have their ups and downs, but for the most part, commercial airliners have never been safer in the history of aviation.
So while everyone else buzzes around worrying about the 777's safeness, that fact still stands that the 777 is closest you can get to perfect. So next time you book an international flight, don't shy away from a 777, book it. Not only is it a great overall experience, it's one of the safest ways to get anywhere in the world. Period.
CORRECTION: The article initially said that Air France flight 358 overran the runway in Montreal, when in fact it was in Toronto. The correction has been made within the article.
Tucked away in tiny corners of the internet, members of the general public are swearing never to fly the 777 again. I've even seen some comments calling the 777 the worst plane in the world.
The truth is that the 777 has the best safety record in the industry. The plane entered service in 1995 and before two days ago, only three people have died in crashes or other fatal accidents involving the aircraft. Asiana's crash last July was the first ever fatal accident in the aircraft's very successful career.
Three deaths is rather incredible for a 19 year career. In its first 19 years of service from 1970 to 1989, the iconic Boeing 747 was involved in twelve fatal accidents, accidents which killed a total of 2608 people (Source: airsafe.com, terrorists not included). Included is the Tenerife disaster in 1977, a collision between two 747s which resulted in the loss of 583 as the deadliest crash in aviation history. Also in the 747's first 19 years, the crash of Japan Airlines flight 123, the deadliest single aircraft crash in history in 1985 which took the lives of 520.
The 737, the best selling commercial aircraft in the world cannot hold a candle to the safety record of the 777 either. In its first 19 years of service from 1968 to 1987, the 737 was involved in 21 fatal incidents which killed a total of 1073 people, five of which involved the death of more than 100 people (Source: airsafe.com).
Before you make the claim that the 747 and 737 are much older aircraft and were built and debuted in a time where aviation safety was much different, note this: Airbus' A330 debuted one year before the 777 and has already been involved in three fatal accidents that killed a total of 338 people (Source: airsafe.com). One such accident was Air France flight 447 that was lost over the Atlantic Ocean in a flight from Rio to Paris in 2009.
The circumstances of the flight are similar to the circumstances of the lost Malaysian Airlines flight that disappeared two days ago. Both flights suddenly disappeared at cruise altitude, both flights were confirmed, after they were due to land at their destination, and both were lost over the ocean. The crash of Air France 447 alone resulted in 228 of the A330's 338 fatalities.
The only airliner that can come close to the 777's outstanding safety record is the A340. The A340 debuted two years before the 777 and have not had a fatal accident. However, the 777 has only been involved in two hull loss accidents, three if you assume the worst about the Malaysia Airlines flight currently missing, The A340 has been involved in five. The most notable of which was Air France flight 358 which overran the runway in Toronto during a stormy landing. All 309 people got out in time, but some 43 were injured, 12 seriously.
The 777 has more than three times the amount of aircraft currently in service than A340. This only adds to the reliability and safety record of the 777.
An important note to all fearful fliers who may happen to be reading this: while no aircraft is perfect, no aircraft currently in service could be considered a disaster with wings. Aircraft types have their ups and downs, but for the most part, commercial airliners have never been safer in the history of aviation.
So while everyone else buzzes around worrying about the 777's safeness, that fact still stands that the 777 is closest you can get to perfect. So next time you book an international flight, don't shy away from a 777, book it. Not only is it a great overall experience, it's one of the safest ways to get anywhere in the world. Period.
CORRECTION: The article initially said that Air France flight 358 overran the runway in Montreal, when in fact it was in Toronto. The correction has been made within the article.
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