Sunday, November 26, 2023

Southwest, Southwest, Southwest

I tested positive for Covid again, on Thanksgiving Day as a matter of fact, and I've been sequestered to the basement ever since.  I'm running out of things to do.  I don't feel terrible, but I also don't feel great.

I found remembered about this blog that I wrote years ago and started going through past posts.  I was a funny guy!

My hobby time is now mostly consumed with airplanes.  It used to be consumed with politics, but now I HATE politics.  Both sides suck.

So since I am all about airplanes now, here are some Southwest planes.  Southwest Airlines dominates BWI.  

To date I've photographed 641 unique Southwest Airlines planes, including 424 -700 series, 180 -800 series, and 52 Max 8s.  If you didn't go to Baltimore City Public Schools, you'll quickly know that this doesn't sum to 641. I also had the pleasure of photographing one -500 series, and three -300 series.

Southwest has 813 active planes, including 393 -700s, so I'm not sure which ones I missed, but I know I've photographed more than are now active.  There are 207 -800 series, so 27 planes away from photographing all of them.  And there are currently 213 active Max 8s.  There are also some Max 7s on order.  I can't wait to see those!








Saturday, January 14, 2023

Does Spirit Airlines Really Suck?

For the uninitiated, Spirit Airlines is a U.S.-based ultra low cost carrier (airline) commonly referred to as an ULCC.  Their planes are easily identified by their bright yellow livery and earned the nickname "flying bananas" by aviation enthusiasts.  Fares for flights on ULCCs are generally cheaper than mainline airlines like Delta and United, and somewhat cheaper than low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines, though there is much debate within the airline and business community as to whether Southwest Airlines is really still a low-cost carrier, but that's a topic for a different discussion.

Fares for flights on Spirit Airlines, are kept low by offering no-frills flights.  There is no free drink, no free snacks, and customers are encouraged to perform tasks themselves, such as reservation check-ins and baggage check-ins.  Additionally, the planes are packed with as many seats as possible with little to no pitch in the seats, so the more paying customers that they can get on the plane, the more money they can make per flight.  What they don't make in per ticket revenue, they can make up for in volume of ticket sales.  The lack of amenities and comfort are not necessarily bad things.  To the contrary, ULCCs have opened air travel to a group of people that previously had not been able to fly.  Lower income families can now fly to Orlando, for example, for much less than $1,000.


Much to Spirit Airlines dismay, they have earned a sordid reputation due to fights and disruptions on their planes.  Thanks to cellphones, you can find numerous videos of arguments, shoving matches, and outright brawls on the planes.  Click here to view some.

I had never flown on Spirit Airlines, but in September my wife said she wanted to go to Las Vegas.  While reviewing fares, Southwest was about $270 per person one-way.  Spirit Airlines, on the other hand, was about $79 per person one-way.  I convinced her that we could survive on an ULCC for 5 hours and we would save a lot of money.  Plus, as an aviation enthusiast, I want to fly on all airplanes on all airlines!  

As my wife's and my 25th anniversary was hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic, we decided that this trip would be our celebration.  My wife, my 22 year old daughter, and I flew Spirit Airlines flight NK691 on Spirit Airlines Airbus A320 N923NK from BWI to Las Vegas on Monday September 19th. 

The first 4 hours of the flight were uneventful.  With my window seat, I was enjoying the view of middle America, identifying the Mississippi River, Oklahoma City, then the American Southwest desert.


On the flight, there was a large muscular middle aged man sitting in the row diagonally behind us who was loud and obnoxious the entire flight.  He then ordered 3 party platters (is that the right name?).  The flight attendant (FA) brought the drinks and the passenger started consuming them immediately.  Then the FA returned a few minutes later saying the credit card wouldn’t go through, it was declined. The passenger said he didn’t have another credit card, but would give him $100 cash.  The FA said they couldn’t take cash.  The passenger said he’ll have to settle it with Spirit when we land.  Overhearing this, I thought the situation to be awkward, but given the circumstances, having the passenger settle it with Spirit after the flight lands seemed like the only reasonable option.

The FA said the bill needed to be satisfied NOW. The passenger then got LOUDER and told the FA to get out of his fucking face (his words). He repeated it 2 more times with increasing loudness and more profanities including homophobic slurs.  There were 2 sets of gay couples in the row in front of us.  The FA held his position and the large burley passenger put his hand on the FA’s chest and forcefully shoved him away knocking him into other passengers, including my 22 year old daughter who was sitting in the aisle seat. The FA then left and there was no further intervention from the flight crew.

The entire plane was aware of the situation and there was an uncomfortable sense of awareness.  Some passengers were requesting male passengers to rally and be ready to subdue the passenger, who was easily the largest passenger on the flight.  

My family talked about repositioning ourselves as I was in the window seat, but we decided against that as it would be obvious to the drunk raging passenger about what we were doing, and we didn’t want to draw any response from him, but we gave my daughter instructions to get out of her seat immediately and climb onto us or over the seats if it got worse. I overheard the lady in front of us asking the same questions to her partner.

All flight service was immediately suspended as was announced over the intercom.  I fully expected an immediate landing, but the flight continued.  The next 45 minutes of the flight were anxious, scary, and stressful as the passenger continued to angrily rant about how Spirit sucks, how the FA is a fucking dick-sucking bitch, and the passengers were all a bunch of fucking pussies.  This rant never ended for the remainder of the flight.  Mind you there are several small children on the flight, as well.  We were certain things would get worse when the plane landed - the guy was BIG, like a weight lifter, and tall.  

Finally the plane landed and he starts soliciting passengers to get his back if push comes to shove.  We waited anxiously expecting the police to board the plane.  The flight attendant instructed all passengers to remain seated.  We knew what was coming.  The flight attendant and pilots disembarked the plane.  What was going on? When were the police coming?  But after about 10 minutes a flight attendant finally informed us we could deplane.  As we were in front of him, we scurried off of the plane as fast as we could.  Other passengers outright ran off of the plane.

We finally made our way down the aisle and onto the jet bridge were we were met by 10-15 police officers in tactical gear waiting to board. As we made our way up the jet bridge and into the terminal, there was another set of police officers waiting, along with a crowd of well over 100 people.  I can imagine their curiosity as they see lots of police running to the gate. We decided to wait a while so we could see the passenger get arrested and brought off of the plane, but alas, after 20 minutes we gave up and decided to get our baggage and head to our hotel.

This could have been prevented.  First, stop selling alcohol.  I know selling alcohol is profitable, but I’m confident that these in-flight issues are ALL alcohol-related.  Secondly, NEVER give the alcohol to the passenger UNTIL the charge is processed.  Finally, though the passenger was abusive and obnoxious the entire flight, the FA should have de-escalated IMMEDIATELY.  Once that passenger raised his voice and told the FA to get out of his face, LEAVE.  Further intervention needs to be done on the ground for the safety of the passengers and the crew.

Now comes my rant.  I'm calling this a "Fine or Whine?", as is used on the aviation podcast Airlines Confidential, which, coincidentally, is hosted by former Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza.  People can send in a complaint and Ben and his cohost determine if it's a passenger whine, or if the complaint is legitimate (a fine).

When we got to the hotel, I posted on Twitter that we never expected to be on one of the Spirit Airlines flights where a fight broke out.  Very little time elapsed before I got a response requesting more information. after which I sent them what I typed above.

In response, Spirit Airlines offered us three $50 vouchers for a future flight, a voucher which would expire on December 21st, 2022.  I thought that was a generous response from them.  

My wife said hell no, she was never flight Spirit Airlines again.  She was more than willing to pay more money NOT to fly on Spirit Airlines.  I, on the other hand, was more than willing to fly on Spirit Airlines again given the cheap fares, so I took them up on the offer.  

After talking with my 20 year old son, he said that he hasn't been to too many states, so I asked which state he wanted to go to and he said Texas.  I decided on December 21st (the deadline to use the voucher) to book a flight from BWI to Dallas Fort-Worth (DFW).  I booked the flight online and entered my voucher number, but to my surprise, it only reduced the flight cost by $8.90, not the $50 value of the voucher.  I tried several times, switching from my laptop to the Spirit Airlines app, then having my wife try herself, all with the same results.

I then called Spirit Airlines.  After 20 minutes or so, a customer service representative (CSR) answered my call.  Unfortunately, you could tell she was working from home as you could hear a child in the background, and the call suffered from an intermittent echo. I explained my predicament and the CSR vowed to help me.  She attempted to book the flight on her system and got the same results.  Only $8.90 was taken off.  She told me I wasn't going to be able to use the full value of the voucher, but she had no idea why.  Well, this isn't an acceptable answer.  I then took to Twitter.

I sent message indicating that I was unable to book a flight using he full value of the voucher and informed them that when I called Spirit Airlines directly, they were unable to solve the issue.  The response from Bonnie was to review the voucher policy, which I read, and I found  no restrictions about using the full value of the voucher that would seem to apply to this situation.  I was then asked to provide information about the flight I booked, including the reservation confirmation number, the pairing cities, intended dates, and the voucher number.  I replied that I hadn't yet booked the flight, so I didn't have a reservation confirmation number, but provided the details of the intended flight. As it was already late in the day, I also requested an extension of the deadline as they were unable to explain why I was unable to use the full value of my voucher.

The next response asked me please provide the reservation confirmation number and they assured me that they were going to help me resolve the issue.  

I followed-up that I was confused, because I already informed them that I did NOT book a new flight, but requested an extension of the deadline and assistance in determining how I could use the full value of my voucher.

The next response was from Sage on the 24th, and she requested confirmation of the email address used on the original flight when we went to Las Vegas, which I provided.

The next response was from Yasmin on the 26th, and she asked me to provide the 6-digit confirmation code from the flight from my new flight booking.  I replied that there was some ongoing confusion.  I re-emphasized that I was given a $50 voucher, but was unable to book a flight using the full value of the voucher, and that I had requested an extension of the deadline as Spirit Airlines has yet to determine why I was not able to use the full value. I re-iterated that I had NOT booked a new flight yet and would not do so until the issue was resolved.

The next response came from Nics on January 1st and informed me that they were experience higher than normal customer requests, but assured me that he would help me if I could provide him the reservation number of the flight in question.  

<Sigh>

My next response was: "So clearly no one is reading what I wrote.  I’ve provided the information 5 separate times.  NO NEW flight has been booked as I have not been able to determine why the full value of the voucher is not being used."

I then got another response from Nics on January 4th.  He assured me again (assuming it is the same Nics) that he would help me resolve the issue, and asked me to provide the reservation confirmation number.  At this point, I'm thinking that all responses are automated responses.

I performed a copy and paste from my previous message.  "So clearly no one is reading what I wrote.  I’ve provided the information 5 separate times.  NO NEW flight has been booked as I have not been able to determine why the full value of the voucher is not being used."

Later that same day I got another response, though with no name on it.  I was asked to provide the reservation confirmation number.  It's like Groundhog's Day!

On January 6th, I received a response from Jessa and she said she located my voucher number, but informed me that unfortunately it has expired, but asked if there was anything else she could do for me. She then politely asked me to complete a survey to let them know how well they are doing.  Blahahahaha! 

As you can tell, dealing with Spirit Airlines is a losers' game.  You will NOT get an appropriate response.  I firmly believe the system is designed to be aggravating so that you eventually give up. 

What are your thoughts? Have you ever had any bad experiences dealing with Spirit Airlines? 


Sunday, September 18, 2022

Southwest Airlines - new photos!

 Since I don't follow politics as closely as I used to, I filled my time with photographing airplanes.  Really nerdy, right?  I don't care. I love airplanes.  I always wanted to be a commercial airline pilot.  But this is as close as I got.

Back in 1987 when I was in the 10th grade, we had a lesson in career planning. I investigated being an airline pilot.  There were 2 paths to becoming an airline pilot - join the military and learn to fly there with either the Air Force, the Navy, the Marines, or the Army (did you know that the Army has more pilots than the Navy???), or pay for your own pilot's license, which in 1987 was over $10,000.  Granted, that was about 2 years worth of tuition at the time, but the career path was difficult.  Entry-level pilots were paid like $19,000.  I could make more than that at Burger King, and no one's life was in my hands.  So I want to college and got a degree in Business and Finance.  Now I have a camera and photograph those planes.

Fortunately, the airlines got smart as there has been a dearth in military pilots, and suddenly after Covid subsided, though only moderately, there is now a pilot shortage.  So airlines have created their own airlines schools.

BWI (Baltimore Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport) is dominated by Southwest Airlines.  Southwest doesn't use a "Hub-and-Spoke" system like Delta, United, and American, but Southwest's domination at BWI makes it a fortress.  That's a real airline term.  

Since I have LOTS of photos and opportunities to photograph Southwest planes, I have made it my objective to photograph EVERY Southwest plane.  I'm up to 580 unique planes.  Southwest, according to planespotters.net, has 707 active planes, with 37 parked, for a total of 744 planes.  So, good math would indicate that I have about 160 to go.  However, I have photographed multiple planes that have been retired or sold, so I probably have closer to 170-180 planes to photograph.

Here are 4 of them.







Lisbon Volunteer Fire Department

I read recently on Facebook that Lisbon Volunteer Fire Department in Woodbine, Maryland was donating Engine Tanker 44 to Hindman Volunteer Fire Department in Hindman, Kentucky.  I knew that I needed to get to the station to snap some photographs before she was gone.

If you follow the news, you know that Kentucky has been especially hard-hit with flooding this summer. Hindman VFD lost all of their equipment due to the flooding.  Lisbon VFD, on the other hand, was planning to to acquire a new engine tanker.  With Howard County having a reserve tanker, Lisbon made the thoughtful decision to donate the old tanker to those in need.  The new tanker is on order and the mismatched red tanker will fill-in until it arrives.

Engine Tanker 44 is a 1992 Pierce Lance. 

Fortunately (tongue-in-cheek), Blogspotter doesn't allow you to upload multiple photos at the same time and for each photo it defaults back to the main directory so that you have to navigate to the root directory for the photo multiple times.  Idiot.






Sunday, September 11, 2022

Condor Wraps Up BWI Flights for the Summer

This upcoming week wraps up the 3x weekly flights from Condor Airlines at BWI.  

The German-based airline has been flying Boeing 767s from Frankfurt (FRA) to BWI three times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.

Condor Airlines is now wholly-owned by an investment firm after previously having a significant ownership by Lufthansa and Thomas Cook.  Thomas Group went defunct in 2019.  It was reported that Poland's LOT Airlines would purchase Condor Airlines, but that deal didn't materialize.

According to Condor's website, it appears that the airlines will restart service again to BWI in May of 2023 with flights on Mondays and Saturdays, then moving to a Monday / Thursday / Saturday schedule in June of 2023.  But as we know, everything is subject to change.

It was fun seeing Condor at BWI this summer.  Maybe one day I'll even fly on that
airline. 



Friday, September 02, 2022

Lufthansa - New 787

This week Lufthansa took delivery of it's first Boeing 787.  This model is a 787-9.  If you're a U.S. planespotter like myself, it may be a while before you spot this plane.  According to Simply Flying, Lufthansa will be flying this plane on the shuttle route between Frankfurt (FRA) and its southern neighbor, Munich (MUC).  This is an uninspiring 35 minute flight, as I observed with the most recent flight which was performed by an Embraer ERJ-195-E2.

Therefore, for the time being, U.S. planespotters will need to be satisfied with the 747s, A330s, and the A350s, which for me is fine.

Friday, March 24, 2017

Aberdeen Fire Department Steals Photos?

I was looking for the make and model of an old firetruck of which I took a photo several years ago.  It's a vintage Mack from the Aberdeen Fire Department.  When I looked on their website, low and behold - they have a photo of Heavy Rescue 251 - THAT'S MY PHOTO!!!  I don't think I've ever posted it to this blog - I couldn't find a photo.  However, I have posted it to my Instragram account - MarylandFiretrucker.

Aberdeen Fire Department - did you steal my photo?

Here's the guilty photo:

http://www.aberdeenfd.org/news/fullstory/newsid/229303

Here's my photo:


Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Obama's War on the Bathroom

The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.

Yes, another phase of my life that is super busy and jam-packed with kid activities, work, and craftbeer drinking has been upon me for the past few fortnights.  With Martin O'Malley dropping out of the Presidential race to pursue a career in trying to convince the country that climate change will kill all of the polar bears, I have found politics less interesting.  The Democratic crime bosses are doing their best to give Bernie Sanders a beat-down, reallocating his delegates despite his wins in states such as New Hampshire, Nevada, Wyoming, and Kentucky.  Brain-washed Republicans think Trump is the second coming of Ronald Reagan.  Good grief, we live in interesting times.

So, to borrow from Peter Griffin, you know what really grinds my gears?  It's Obama's new directive to public education institutions that they must immediately allow people to use the bathroom of the gender with which they associate.  This means that they are not using the bathroom that correlates to their gentiles, ie. their biological assignment.  This action, in my opinion, is creating a path to criminal behavior that will be impossible to stop.

For the record, I'm not against transgender or using the bathroom of the gender with which they associate.  I truly believe that some people are born thinking they should be the opposite sex.  I don't think this is a fault and I don't think they should face discrimination nor be punished.  Now it gets complicated.

However, here's my problem.  I have 2 daughters.  It is my job to protect them from harm.  I am not allowed in the female bathroom to protect them for multiple reasons, the main reason being that I am a heterosexual guy.  There are many ways that we have instinctively been able to tell something is wrong and can react appropriately to save ourselves.  One of those is when you see a person of the other gender in your bathroom.  "Dad, there's a guy in the bathroom!"  "Quick!  Call the police!"

I don't think this is as much of a problem for guys finding a women in their bathroom.  I've been to concerts.  You always see girls in the guy's bathroom because the lines are shorter.  No one makes a big deal about it, except for the occasional jackwagon who wants to "whoooooo!!!!" the girl.  My only concern in these cases is: are there any guys that are going to try and take advantage of these girls when they are vulnerable, i.e. urinating with their pants down.  I would glady shove that guy's head into the wall.

Which sort of brings me to my main point.  If my daughters see a man in the women's room prior to last week, then this automatically triggers the fear in their mind that something is not right.  A guy doesn't not belong in the women's room.  Fight or flee.  I want them to flee.

Last week Obama sent an executive order instructing all public education institutions (assuming it's all public education institutions?  Does it apply to private education institutions?)  to allow people to use the bathroom of their gender identity.  There is no law requiring this.  Only Obama declaring it so.  Now, though unlikely, my daughters may find themselves in the women's room with another man (biologically speaking).  Do they flee?  You better damn well bet they are going to flee.  Is Obama going to hold himself criminally responsible if another man uses this situation to his advantage and strolls into the women's room to take pictures or force himself upon a girl?  I think not.  Do I think transgender people are going to perform this crime?  No.  Do I think opportunistic creeps are going to perform this crime?  Hell-fuckin yes!  It's already happening.  Google it!

How do we stop this type of behavior?  Can we trigger the alarm when a guy enters the girls bathroom?  Nope.  It might be a transgender person.  We must tolerate this behavior and cross our fingers and hope that nothing bad happens.

Further questions to ponder, which may have already been answered - are trans-gendered people now allowed to use the locker room of their choice?  What about the showers in the locker room?  I can only imagine someone taking a shower with the girls because he's pretending to be a girl.  The 17 year old in me thinks this is cool.  The father in me wants to keep a pipe close at hand.

What's the solution?  I don't know.  Perhaps more individual bathrooms?  Privacy bathrooms?  Regardless of the laws, we must learn to protect ourselves and our children from harm.  And if this means not allowing our daughters to use the bathrooms, then unfortunately, that's the way it must be.

Obama, you have failed again.






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