Passing time on the tarmac...

[activpop]

Sitting here waiting for first leg of return trip back to Oregon. Copenhagen to Reykjavik.  Icelandic Air does something I've never seen any other airline do...load a plane from back to front. What a simple concept that works. What's with these American airlines anyway?

I'm anxious to get back. Right before I left I picked up this beauty. Been looking for a while for a low milage single owner Griso. This one popped up less than 200 miles from me. So much to do to get ready to leave had no time to register it. But Monday morning it will be real easy for me to get up real early to be first in line at DMV after spending time here.

[p6x]

Air France used to do that too.

Calling passengers from row number to row number, starting from the back. Business and First class passengers could board at their own will.

It is difficult to understand if there is any time gain by doing it this way. Because initially, this was the objective;

Now Air France uses the board by group number which most airlines use.

I like the way Southwest does it, without assigned seat; I think it is the most efficient and fastest way to board.

Air travel has seriously deteriorated over time. Not only because of the newly implemented security measures. The number of passengers that use that mode of travel has exceeded the capacity of the infrastructures in several ways.

Airports are too small in many of the major hubs. Access to the airports, terminals are no longer coping with the flow. The number of gates available to board passengers is finite in many cases.

At least, in Europe, fast trains supplement or replace short haul flights. All European airports are connected to the cities via rail.

The lack of alternatives to flights for long distance travel in the USA is a major problem. Any weather issue, even if localized in one part of the US can disturb air travel everywhere else. In Houston, you can only access either IAH or Hobby via road. There have been cases when passengers had to leave their cars and walk to the terminals. We have also seen some absurd issues happening, such as passengers stuck in a plane under the sun with no air conditioning in Las Vegas.

I have been using air transport frequently since 1980; my last flight to Boise Idaho proved the point. A weather system forced an extended stay in Denver, at least we made it back in the early hours of the morning. But this is the lack of alternative transport that I think will become unbearable.

A fast train connecting Dallas / Houston / Austin should be a de facto project.

By the way, I flew Iceland Air to New-York several times in the 80's. DC8.... because it was the cheapest way to get to New York from Paris. The plane ticked included a train trip to Luxembourg, where the flight initiated, and a stop over at Reykjavik both ways.

I love Iceland too....

 

[activpop]

My travel throughout Sweden and Denmark without a car was easy. Europe set this up decades ago with train stations in every city and then some. The US put its energy into the Interstate system. We will never improve on the way we travel, we just don't have the infrastucture and it aint starting now. We just add more lanes. 

[activpop]

And I think I would love Iceland too, just havent spent enough time here other than plane changes.

[PJPR01]

4 hours ago, activpop said:

My travel throughout Sweden and Denmark without a car was easy. Europe set this up decades ago with train stations in every city and then some. The US put its energy into the Interstate system. We will never improve on the way we travel, we just don't have the infrastucture and it aint starting now. We just add more lanes. 

We're still waiting after 20 years for the "high speed" train between Houston and Dallas...what makes it even worse is that if it does happen, it will be done by Amcrap...which means the safety record will be questionable...as they have trouble with "slow speed" trains too!

Having a Eurail pass, city pass or other monthly pass makes it so easy to get around in Europe...Freccia Rossa or Bianca, TGV, OBB High Speed, IC trains...an amazing, smooth and fast network with very few incidents.  China is developing ultra latest generation high speed trains that will probably rival Euro trains and Japan...meanwhile, we have Amtrak!  

[p6x]

4 hours ago, activpop said:

And I think I would love Iceland too, just havent spent enough time here other than plane changes.

May I make a recommendation?

Try this: https://www.buubble.com/

Remember that Northern Lights are never guaranteed, because occurrence depends on the Sun's activity and the delay to go with it. So it is a hit or miss. However, the experience to be in a transparent bubble in the middle of the winter is a lifetime memory.

 

[LowRyter]

30 minutes ago, PJPR01 said:

We're still waiting after 20 years for the "high speed" train between Houston and Dallas...what makes it even worse is that if it does happen, it will be done by Amcrap...which means the safety record will be questionable...as they have trouble with "slow speed" trains too!

Having a Eurail pass, city pass or other monthly pass makes it so easy to get around in Europe...Freccia Rossa or Bianca, TGV, OBB High Speed, IC trains...an amazing, smooth and fast network with very few incidents.  China is developing ultra latest generation high speed trains that will probably rival Euro trains and Japan...meanwhile, we have Amtrak!  

Actually a rail triangle from Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Houston might make sense, of course it will never happen in Texas.  If you have a good memory, that was the inspiration for Southwest Airlines in the early '70's.  When Bill Keleher was asked about competing with American Airlines, he said "no, we're competing with Greyhound."   I think that killed a lot of cool movie plots with busses in Texas like "The Last Picture Show" and "The Getaway".   Oh, I've not seen it but "Chainsaw Massacre". 

[LowRyter]

4 hours ago, activpop said:

My travel throughout Sweden and Denmark without a car was easy. Europe set this up decades ago with train stations in every city and then some. The US put its energy into the Interstate system. We will never improve on the way we travel, we just don't have the infrastucture and it aint starting now. We just add more lanes. 

Worse, we had rail but tore it down.  A little before my clear memory but I do remember the local train station.  I once believed that my parents put me on a short train hop to visit my grandparents but am told that it never happened (dreamed it or false memory or mom forgot).   No one needed a train ticket when gas was  $.25 9/10 and everyone had a V8.

[LowRyter]

9 hours ago, activpop said:

Sitting here waiting for first leg of return trip back to Oregon. Copenhagen to Reykjavik.  Icelandic Air does something I've never seen any other airline do...load a plane from back to front. What a simple concept that works. What's with these American airlines anyway?

I'm anxious to get back. Right before I left I picked up this beauty. Been looking for a while for a low milage single owner Griso. This one popped up less than 200 miles from me. So much to do to get ready to leave had no time to register it. But Monday morning it will be real easy for me to get up real early to be first in line at DMV after spending time here.

I've always wondered about that and finally asked.  But it has to do with privilege, since the expensive seats are in the front and those people also get dibs on the most convenient overheard.  

[Lucky Phil]

11 hours ago, activpop said:

Sitting here waiting for first leg of return trip back to Oregon. Copenhagen to Reykjavik.  Icelandic Air does something I've never seen any other airline do...load a plane from back to front. What a simple concept that works. What's with these American airlines anyway?

I'm anxious to get back. Right before I left I picked up this beauty. Been looking for a while for a low milage single owner Griso. This one popped up less than 200 miles from me. So much to do to get ready to leave had no time to register it. But Monday morning it will be real easy for me to get up real early to be first in line at DMV after spending time here.

Simple but sometimes dangerous. Have you any experience with weight and balance and the impact on C of G ?

 

Phil  

[LowRyter]

12 minutes ago, Lucky Phil said:

Simple but sometimes dangerous. Have you any experience with weight and balance and the impact on C of G ?

 

Phil  

since the seats are assigned it makes no difference.  

[audiomick]

16 minutes ago, Lucky Phil said:

Simple but sometimes dangerous.

I think he is only talking about boarding, Phil, not loading. I've seen the process a number of times. They call up a block of seats and get them in, then the next block. Good idea, I reckon. It minimises the time you spend standing in the aisle waiting for some Richard to get his shit together so you can get past to your own seat (and hold up the people behind you who want to get past...)

[Lucky Phil]

48 minutes ago, audiomick said:

I think he is only talking about boarding, Phil, not loading. I've seen the process a number of times. They call up a block of seats and get them in, then the next block. Good idea, I reckon. It minimises the time you spend standing in the aisle waiting for some Richard to get his shit together so you can get past to your own seat (and hold up the people behind you who want to get past...)

So was I Mick. Boarding a commercial jet can sometimes be a bit interesting for the ground crew due to weight and balance of the pax loading from the rear. On Boeing 737 800's I would sometimes see the nosewheel an inch off the ground and need to stop baggage being loaded into the rear hold or stop boarding and get the porters to load the front hold because they were loading pax from the rear and even without baggage in the aft hold we had an issue in some circumstances.

Rear boarding first or boarding from the rear is not always an option depending on the aircraft, the parking bay, the fuel load, the baggage etc. 

 

Phil 

[Lucky Phil]

49 minutes ago, LowRyter said:

since the seats are assigned it makes no difference.  

How so?

 

Phil

[LowRyter]

1 hour ago, Lucky Phil said:

How so?

 

Phil

Passengers will be sitting in the same seats, regardless of how they enter the plane.    What, am I missing something?

And regarding a passenger placement, I can't recall having to be rerouted to another seat for weight and balance.  The economy flyers allow first come seating, so w & b aren't an issue there but they are typically full flights.

I guess I must've missed something here.  So I'll admit ignorance now before I'm corrected. 

edit:

Now that I've read the rest of your point, your saying while on the ground that back loading the plane is an issue until the front is loaded?  OK, I get it,  the plane teeter-totters on the ground, the tail might hit the ground?  I've never heard of that but I get the point.   I have no idea if that's an issue but I'll take your word on it Phil.

Once in the air, then it's OK.