Free-Form Friday 09JAN

Aviation appetizers for your happy hour

1. Chaos at Schiphol

   I’ve noted how the US media never lets airport weather-related chaos go to waste, but the same thing can and does happen overseas. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport this week due to heavy snow and a shortage of deicing fluid. This obviously hit Dutch carrier KLM the hardest.
   
   Now Schiphol would not be my first choice of European airports to be stranded at, but it also wouldn’t be my last, especially if the heavy snow did not affect the delivery of bitterballen and stroopwaffels.¹
   

   

   Just imagine snow everywhere here due to copyright laws. (Photo by Rita Candeias on Unsplash)

   
   The highlight of the press coverage was a video of ramp workers having a snowball fight. I realize there’s not much to do when there’s no plane to push back, but maybe not the best look guys.

2. AA + AT&T + Viasat = Free Internet!

   American just made the latest advance in the wifi wars by launching its own free internet service, with plans to have the entire fleet covered by this Spring. This is a big step for American as it counters Delta’s earlier move to free wifi on its mainline fleet and United’s move currently in progress. It’s also a big moment for Viasat as it battles to maintain its market position against the Starlink behemoth.
   

   

   I hate using the same image as every other site covering this story, but it it’s the only image AA put out for this launch. (Photo Courtesy American Airlines)

   
   As we’ve discussed, free wifi doesn't work without an underwriter (or underwriters), and for American that patron is AT&T.² Also unsurprisingly, you must be an Advantage Member to access the service. I know you’re not going to read the fine print on the portal page because you want to check your Instagram, but you can’t say I didn’t give you the heads up on what you might be sharing.

3. Alaska Addendum

   I tried as best I could to wedge a reference to Alaska Airlines’ seminal 1980’s TV commercials into my post yesterday about their new livery.
   
   So I’ll do it here instead. Growing up in Southern California, these ads littered the airwaves and were a staple of my tv-watching youth.
   

   

   “Excuse me miss, do you have two quarters for two dollars???”

   
   They also may be the greatest commercials of any kind ever created for any industry at any time.³
   
   They were also so incredibly prescient about what flying would become . . . scarily so.
   
   Watch, laugh, sigh, and we’ll talk next week.

Notes

1. I did a lot of work in greater Amsterdam at one point in my career, and unfortunately I don’t have much to say about Dutch food after these two — apologies to my loyal Dutch readers!

2. AT&T has gone through a lot of corporate iterations, but it’s remarkable that the original phone company still has its name in the game when it comes to magic data beams in the sky

3. The only other commercials I will even consider for debate are the Budweiser Wassup!!!! ads — we are serious communications connoisseurs here on this Substack!