Star Alliance Lost Another Airline

The Star Alliance has lost two airlines in the last two months (though they don't leave until 2014).  US Airways bought American and is going oneworld after the merger and today it was announced that TAM, as part of their merger with LAN, is going to be a oneworld carrier too.  This new (though not shocking) development will limit awards in South America, especially to small and medium cities.  Star Alliance is still my favorite for awards, but it's not the far and away winner any more.

TAM 777 Landing at FRA

I'm not counting Blue1 in this because it was disbanded by SAS.  The biggest loss is that their airplanes looked outstanding.  They also good availability (all coach carrier) around Scandinavia.  Spanair (also tied to SAS) stopped flying last year, complicating trips in southern Europe.  I enjoy connecting in MUC and FRA, but I do miss the flexibility.

Guess Which One I Flew

Guess which of these was my aircraft this weekend.  Yup, the CRJ.  I was connecting in SFO and saw about a dozen planes that made me think 'oh, I want to go on that one.'  The CRJ did not evoke a similar reaction.

British Airway 747 Looks Great

Upgrade List Tension

I had some drama at the airport this morning, there was no traffic, Pre-Check was a breeze, and my aircraft was at the gate two hours early, but I was #1 on the upgrade list with zero seats remaining.  Then I looked again and one seat was available.  The upgrade cleared just before boarding started and I grabbed a window seat too.  A good start to my travel day.

Upgrade List Tension

Slow News Day

It's a slow news day, no mergers, no smoking deals, and I don't have any flights booked until mid April.  All that aside, a Untied 747 can still create some excitement.  It looks great and is going somewhere far away and interesting.

United Airlines 747-400 White Over Blue

Japanese Airlines Work A Little Different

Japanese carriers work a little different than American and European carriers.  They seem to enjoy flight more than anyone else.  Two examples are the ground crew waiving (after a respectful bow) to their departing 777.  I also spotted a Panda colored 767 (ANA also did a Pokemon 747 that has since been repainted in normal colors).

Bow Then Waive After Push Back

ANA's 767-Panda

Fun Picture

Sunrise at the airport is always a great time, too bad you have to leave two hours before sunrise to enjoy the view.

Denver Morning

Milwaukee Airport's Deserted D Terminal

Milwaukee's Mitchel Airport has a creepy deserted terminal that I never knew about until I flew through it last week.  Since Frontier changed their hub operation in Milwaukee to a lonely outpost, there are just two flights to Denver and a less than daily one to Mexico.  For this minor operation, Frontier has 26 gates and an entire terminal to themselves. There were several restaurants, but only one is open.  The closed ones still had all the fixtures and supplies to open any day, but are deserted.  The ground level gates with zero flights a day sill had a moving walkway and escalators running. It is an airport ghost town 

Moving Walkway to Nowhere

I'm surprised the airport authority doesn't move Frontier to an unused gate (they only need one or could share even) in another terminal and close the D terminal until traffic picks up enough to necessitate it.  The costs to keep a terminal up and running must be exorbitant and Frontier's landing fees don't cover the operation.  It would also remove a creepy ghost town, it was seriously disturbing (Omega Man?).

View On The Way Into Milwaukee

MKE still has a cool airport museum, I enjoyed browsing through it again.