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flying
Rip Empson
November 21st, 2012

GateGuru Looks To Improve The Holiday Travel Experience With New Design, Last-Minute Rental Car Deals

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Holiday travel season is underway, and, though it comes with the promise of turkey hangovers and time spent with loved ones, it also means having to endure high gas prices, inclement weather, traffic and crowded airports. GateGuru is releasing a new version of its iPhone app today with a revamped interface and several new features aimed at taking some of the anxiety out of security lines and… → Read More

Jon Orlin
November 13th, 2012

SeatID Launches Service To Book A Flight Based On Your Social Network

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A new startup, SeatID, wants to change the way you fly. Their service lets you use your social network to help pick your next flight and seat assignment. SeatID is available starting today on the Ukrainian airline AeroSvit and the company plans to sign up major international airlines and online travel services soon.

Whether passengers will want to share their flight and seat info is a big and… → Read More

Jon Orlin
December 15th, 2011

Choosing Your Airline Seat Based On Your Social Network

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You have a long flight coming up. You don’t want to get stuck sitting next to (fill in the blank here). What if you could use your social networks to select your seatmate, based on your friends or common interests? Would that make for a better flying experience?

Such a service is going to be launched next year. The developer is not some bootstrapped startup. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines… → Read More

Jon Orlin
October 4th, 2011

Is It Really True The iPad Makes Flying More Fuel Efficient?

ipad cockpit

Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook made a lot of strong claims about how well Apple products are doing at today’s iPhone event. But one of those claims sounded like quite a stretch.

Cook talked about how the iPad is being used in many different places, such as schools and airplanes. Cook said “in the cockpit, pilots are using it. They are replacing 40 pound flight bags full of paper manuals and… → Read More

Matylda Czarnecka
August 14th, 2011

This Electric Plane Is Powered By Its Own By Solar Hangar

Plane and hangar

Aviation enthusiasts interested in greener flying might put an Elektra One plane on their wish lists. PC-Aero‘s electric aircraft can fly for up to three hours on one charge with a 100mph cruising speed. The charging happens inside a solar-powered hangar included in the plane’s anticipated purchase price of $145,000. → Read More

Kyle Thibaut, Contributor
January 12th, 2011

Southwest Airlines To Start Implement Green Landings. Wait There Exists Such A Thing?

First off, what am I talking about when I say “green” landings? Well, how about energy-efficient landings? Does that do anything for you?

Aiming to cut greenhouse emission, save money and reduce delays, Southwest Airlines has begun to implement GPS based RNP, or required navigation performance, which is fundamentally similar to the older RNAV, or area navigation, but different. Different because… → Read More

Dave Freeman, Contributor
December 31st, 2008

Pilots can now spy on you at night, look creepy

Want to live out your “Blue Thunder” fantasy? Now you can legally get military-spec night vision goggles for when you are flying your helicopter. In the past, there were no FAA approved night vision goggles for civilian use — you were taking your chances when you were flying at night, and typically doing instrument based flying. Now you can use night vision, assuming you buy your gear from … → Read More

August 6th, 2008

Freesky suggests airlines dismiss per flight pricing for in-flight Wi-Fi service

I can’t say for sure that Freesky and their so-called ‘reports’ should be trusted but something about their latest regarding in-flight broadband leads me to believe that they’re dumb, like, really dumb. They’re suggesting that airlines should change the pricing plan of in-flight Wi-Fi services like Aircell’s GoGo from a flat fee to pay per minute. Umm. What are you smoking over… → Read More

Doug Aamoth, Contributor
June 24th, 2008

American Airlines testing in-flight Wi-Fi tomorrow

Hey, here’s a happy surprise for anyone who may happen to be flying from New York (JFK) and Los Angeles on American Airlines tomorrow. The company will be conducting “a dress rehearsal” of in-flight Wi-Fi service, called GoGo, provided by Aircell. American has a fleet of 15 767-200 airplanes that have the Wi-Fi connections installed and ready to go, so assuming the flight tomorrow goes off… → Read More

Matt Hickey
June 17th, 2008

United to iPodify its flights with video

Looking to one-up Virgin America and the Linux-based RED in-flight entertainment systems, United said yesterday it’s rolling out iPod-connected video and audio systems into the seat backs of its airplanes. Using a standard dock connector, passengers will be able to watch their iPod’s content on a 15-inch screen right in front of their eyes. The iPods will charge at the same time… → Read More

Nicholas Deleon
June 6th, 2008

Body scanners that can see through clothing to be installed in 10 U.S. airports soon

Body scanners that can “see” underneath clothing will be installed in 10 of the country’s biggest airports within the next few weeks. Airline passengers in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. can look forward to scenes like the kind depicted in this photo here. How they’ll be used: The scanners bounce harmless “millimeter waves” off… → Read More

March 27th, 2008

I'll still ignore Deltalina even though she's easy on the eyes

Katherine Lee is the new face of in-flight safety for Delta and it’s a welcome change from the monotony we’ve been subjected to for the last couple decades, but are her pouty lips and good looks enough to make you pay attention? → Read More

October 30th, 2007

Virgin America: Eh, it's ok.

The excitement I felt before boarding my first VA flight was quickly extinguished upon entering the main cabin. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to fly VA wherever they fly going forward, but it wasn’t that cool. The lighting was certainly more pleasant than the usual drab on other airlines and the scenery was significantly better as well. The in-flight entertainment system was… → Read More

Vince Veneziani, Contributor
April 19th, 2007

International, Jet-setting Playboy? Use Flyclear

For those of us who fly frequently, we know that going through the security checkpoints over and over is a pain in the ass and a huge hassle for geeks due to our abundance of electronics on hand. Well if you’ve got $100 a year to shell out and are ready to pay a $28 one-time fee, try Flyclear for a change. This clear, credit-cardesque device allows you to speed through airport security… → Read More

Vince Veneziani, Contributor
February 6th, 2007

Southwest Giving Customers A Free Nintendo DS

Now this is my kind of airline! Southwest today announced that select members of its Rapid Rewards program would be receiving a Nintendo DS Lite and a copy of Brain Age. Who’s getting one and who isn’t? Southwest has chosen customers based on mileage and membership length, basically meaning that your father who flies business class all the time is getting a DS and you aren’t. → Read More