Thanksgiving Leftovers
Making something out of some more recent industry news.
Like nearly everyone in the US, I love Thanksgiving.
But, I don’t like turkey, and I refuse to join the cult of the leftover turkey sandwich.
However, I also realize I am (probably) in the minority here, so let’s keep with tradition and try to make something tasty like a pot pie¹ out of some news over the weekend.
The Media Got Its Wish (Mostly)
As I noted before the holiday, there is nothing that local news stations love to cover more than chaos at the airport. Well, the affiliates in Chicago got their wish with a boatload of weather-related cancellations over the weekend at O’Hare. Remember that the holy grail for news coverage is people staying overnight in the terminal, and you better believe that Chicago flagship WGN found their man!
Jake Alexander, a traveler going through O’Hare on Tuesday morning, was trying to get to Sweden and said he should already be there. Instead, Alexander said he was coming off a five-hour delay that turned into an overnight stay at one of the terminals.
“Issues with the plane, icing, medical emergencies,” he said. “The whole nine yards.
“… What originally should’ve been just a connection through London is now back down to Dallas, through Helsinki. So I’m getting a whole extra day on my trip.”
Now, don't get me wrong, I feel bad for Jake or anyone who was stuck. ORD-DFW-HEL²-ARN is a looooong day (or days even). Still, I will always find it bemusing how quickly and reliably the cameras are to this kind of story every year. Smooth Turkey Day weekends don't get ratings.
A320 Software Downloading (22% completed, 142 minutes remaining)
This is not a tech ops blog, but the recent Airbus A320 mandatory software update³ did get a lot of attention as it required airlines around the world to ground planes while they made the necessary fix. There were hundreds of cancellations as a result.
The update became required after a serious situation on a Jetblue flight from Cancun to Newark that causes injuries. The software was apparently being affected by solar activity.⁴
Once again, in this business, you never know what is coming next.
Airline Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Travel Tuesday
The US Airline Industry continues to lean in more and more every year with post-Thanksgiving deals pushed to your email inbox and your social feed(s).
When it comes to airline sales of any kind: don’t get your hopes up. The really smart people in airline revenue management and pricing with their supercomputers⁵ aren’t putting stuff on sale that they don't need to. Sure, you might find a good deal on a Tuesday flight from DFW to DTW, but good luck getting the sweet low fare to Cabo.
Additionally, if you see a $19 fare on one of the budget carriers, please remember that it’s not a $19 fare. That is unless you are able to travel with just a backpack and don't mind getting assigned a middle seat or paying for water onboard. If you are that person, please ping me. I’ve yet to confirm your existence.
Notes
Does anyone actually make a pot pie out of leftover turkey??? Great concept but reeks of effort
I had a colleague earlier this year also put on a circuitous routing home via HEL; having been to Helsinki Finavia airport, it definitely doesn’t reflect its infamous airport code
Update was actually a downgrade to a prior version of the software that lacked the issues; everything is a big computer these days
Solar activity is regularly monitored and can have a big impact on navigation and other systems, but it’s obviously not the easiest thing to predict
Oh man, we’ll talk about Revenue Management soon enough, again IYKYK