Offering WIFI Aboard Airlines

Inflight WiFi can be a divisive subject. For many business travelers, or those who have a nicotine-esque relationship to Facebook, the ability to stay connected in the air is a godsend. 

But many see flight as the last bastion of disconnected calm, an enforced time out for reading, reflection or watching movies you wouldn’t bother to view at home.

Even airlines can’t agree on its value. 

On Wednesday, United, Delta and American announced that they're within weeks of launching Internet service on international trips. 

And earlier this month, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad announced that all its flights would be connected by the end of 2014. 

But the same week, Qantas decided to ditch its pilot program, which had offered the service on its A380s. 

(It’s not a big issue in Canada yet: Just two Air Canada flights, between Los Angeles and Toronto and Los Angeles and Montreal, offer Internet service.)

According to Qantas, the number of people who took advantage of WiFi during the trial was “extremely low.” 

Relatively small download limits (between 9 MB and 35 MB; a movie is about 800MB) and spotty service spurred complaints. As well, the service was offered mainly on overnight flights.

“People preferred to sleep than surf the web,” the airline said in a statement.

At Etihad, offering WiFi is part of its luxe carrier image. The airline’s “Wi-Fly” is the result of a $1-billion (U.S.) agreement with Panasonic Avionics, according to CEO James Hogan. 

“We … offer our guests the most engaging and dynamic inflight entertainment options,” he said in a statement.

So is sky-high WiFi worth it?

PRO

• Working flights: People who fly for work often have a lot on their plates.
• Entertain yourself: Air Canada’s inflight entertainment is good, but most airlines have sparse offerings.
• De-stress: According to one Boeing study, more than 30 per cent of people are either anxious or outright afraid of flying.

CON

• Working flights: For busy flyers, cabin-time can be a palate cleanser: It’s often the only quiet part of a road warrior’s day.
• Entertain yourself: Though WiFi services have the ability to block content according to an airline’s requests, no filter is fool-proof, which means that someone, somewhere on your flight will find porn.
• Missed connections: Sometimes, all you want is to talk to someone.

Stacking Seats

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is proposing stacking seats for passengers to try to fit more people on planes, which surely won’t sit well will travelers.

Airbus has filed a patent with the European Patent Office and US Patent and Trademark Office for a split-level mezzanine seating design that where passengers would be placed on top of one another.

In rows where passengers normally sit six across, the middle rows would alternate between the floor and a mezzanine level to squeeze in two more passengers per row, according to the news site Verge.

Passengers would access the elevated seats by a stair or ladder.

The design, which also lets the seats lie flat, would be used in business class seating, according to the News.com.au website in Australia.

Passengers have become more irate in recent years about giving up more space on planes as airlines try to fit in more passengers to boost revenue.

Just about a year ago, there were a series of fights about reclining seats and legroom on U.S.airlines, resulting in some diverted flights.

A consumer group has asked for a new Passenger Bill of Rights to set minimum airplane seat pitch standards via a petition fro FlersRights.org.

Seat pitch is the amount of space from a given point on one seat to the same point on the seat in front.

Over time, the seat pitch has shrunk in the economy class of passenger planes at many large airlines — also known as legroom.

It’s around 30 inches to 32 inches.

However, there is no mention made as to where passenger might be putting their carry on bags or the ergonomics for stewards and stewardesses in handing meals and drinks to those higher up passengers or the potential accidents that may occur.

Woman Attacks Passengers With Leg

A plane had to be diverted to Gatwick Airport last night after a woman allegedly unleashed a foul-mouthed tirade and threw her prosthetic leg at cabin crew.

A Sussex police spokesman said trouble started when the woman, 48, began "swearing blue murder" and throwing food at staff on the Thomson Airlines flight 297.

The captain became so alarmed by her behavior that he diverted the plane, which was flying from Enfidha in Tunisia and destined for Edinburgh, to Gatwick.

The woman, who is unemployed and from Edinburgh, was arrested by police at the North Terminal.

She was taken to Crawley police station where she is being quizzed by officers on suspicion of using threatening behavior.

Holidaymaker John Smith, 48, from Falkirk, said: “We were coming back from Tunisia when this lady kicked off. She was off her face on drink.

“She was shouting ‘I want cigarettes’ and that she wanted a parachute to jump off the plane.

“She slapped a young girl and then assaulted the cabin crew with her prosthetic leg.

They took it off her, but she started kicking them with her good leg.

“It sounds funny, but it was not a laughing matter at the time. It was serious. She was totally drunk. It was pretty shocking.”

Passengers said the woman had been involved in an argument at the resort in Tunisia and the bust-up had escalated on the bus to the airport.

At Gatwick airport, waiting police officers escorted the woman off the plane and took statements from passengers.

Mr. Smith said the flight had originally been due to arrive in Edinburgh at 11.30 pm but they did not  arrive until 2.30 am the next day.

Sussex Police said: "At 10.22pm on Wednesday (30 July) a 48-year-old unemployed woman from Edinburgh was arrested at the North Terminal, Gatwick Airport, on suspicion of using threatening behaviour while aboard Thompson flight 297 from Tunisia to Edinburgh.

"The flight was diverted into Gatwick after it was alleged the woman had been abusive and had thrown a prosthetic leg and food at cabin crew."

A spokesman added: "She was swearing blue murder, saying she was going to do this and that and the other, so the flight was diverted to Gatwick."

But he refused to comment on reports the woman was drunk when the alleged attack took place.

In a statement, Thomson Airways said: "Thomson Airways would like to apologize to passengers for the diversion into Gatwick airport of flight TOM 297 travelling from Enfidha, Tunisia to Edinburgh on 30th July.

"Unfortunately a passenger became disruptive on board and as a last resort the captain decided to divert the flight to Gatwick. Upon landing, the aircraft was met by local police and the passenger was removed for questioning.

Sleeping Woman Molested

En route from London to San Francisco, the British Airways passenger awoke to find that she'd been groped by a male flier.

APRIL 24--While napping on a flight from London to San Francisco, a female traveler was molested by a fellow passenger who placed his hand down the woman’s shirt and groped her for about five minutes, prosecutors allege.

stock photo -  not female passenger

The victim was aboard British Airways Flight 285 last Tuesday when she was assaulted by Vinay Pochampally, according to a U.S. District Court criminal complaint. The molestation occurred about two hours into the flight.

The female passenger was seated in row 37, behind which was a “bulkhead of the galley and restroom area.” During the flight, Pochampally, who was assigned a seat in row 36 of the Boeing 747, “positioned himself in the gap behind row 37 and in front of the bulkhead,” reported FBI Agent Bianca Betz in a sworn affidavit.

“While in that gap, Pochampally inserted his hand, palm-side down, into the shirt of the sleeping female passenger,” noted Betz. Pochampally’s hand was “underneath the passenger’s shirt and undergarments for approximately four to five minutes, making skin-to-skin contact in the breast and upper chest area,” added Betz.

A section of a Boeing 747 seating chart can be seen below right.

When the victim awoke, Pochampally--who was reportedly intoxicated--quickly removed his hand from her shirt and ran away down the plane’s aisle. According to the criminal complaint, “multiple passengers witnessed the incident” and told crew members what occurred.

British Airways workers confronted Pochampally upon learning of the molestation incident and directed him to move to a different seat for the remainder of the 10-hour trip.

Pochampally was charged with simple assault in a misdemeanor complaint filed Tuesday in San Francisco federal court. It is unclear whether Pochampally is a U.S. citizen, nor do court records identify his lawyer.