Little Airlines

With global deregulation for airlines there are new concepts emerging. One of these new ideas is being implemented by La Compagnie, which runs between New York and Paris. They have modified 757's to have 74 seats that are all business class. Business class is where the airlines make the most profit so why not make an entire flight business class? Even with less seats than a 757 would normally have the profit margin is still greater. Another concept is ultra-low-cost carriers. The idea behind ultra-low-cost carries (ULCCs) is that the price of tickets are much lower than your average airline but there is an additional cost for just about everything such as luggage, meals, and even printing a boarding pass. If you travel light and don't eat during the flight then it is a good deal otherwise it ends up being about the same even though it seems like such a good deal.

La Compagnie, "The Company" is a French based company that prides themselves in the services they provide to the customers. Their all business flights start with exclusive access to the Icare Lounge in Terminal 1 at Paris and the “Art & Lounge” space located on the ground floor level of Terminal B at Newark Airport. Each seat is equipped with a personal Samsung Galaxy Pro tablet that has preloaded with magazines, books, and many other features such as real time flight tracking. Each seat reclines to 180 degrees and has a built-in message feature. They also offer a custom menu and in flight wine tasting.

Ryanair is a ULCC operating more than 1,600 daily flights from 71 bases, connecting 183 destinations in 30 countries and operating a fleet of more than 300 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Similar to Spirit, the coast of tickets is much cheaper than most airlines but everything costs extra. With most things in life you get what you pay for. Ryanair is not known for its quality or customer service. One flight to Lanzarote  from Dublin was diverted due to weather and forced to land at a different airport. Once on the ground Ryanair left its passengers to fend for themselves to find and pay for their own transportation to the island that they were supposed to land on.

I believe that airlines like La Compagnie will be more successful. There will always be people traveling overseas that can afford the cost of business and are willing to spend the extra to fly in comfort. Even in a recession there will still be people traveling for business and people with wealth looking for a good way to travel. There may not be as much room for expansion because there may be a problem filling a flight from St. Louis to Oakland with all business class whereas New York to Los Angeles my be easy. ULCCs may seem like a good idea and can be successful but could be fragile. Ryanair is currently having financial issues because it was expanding so quickly. If a customer has a bad experience with an airline they are not likely to go back even if the cost is lower. I believe that the success is also more closely related to how the economy is doing at the time. Personally I would rather pay a little more to fly with companies like Southwest and Delta then try to save a few dollars to deal with a ULCC.

I do not believe that these carriers will have a great impact on the global industry. Carriers like La Compagnie will have such a specific clientele and have limited routs that I do not think that it will have a big effect on the already established carriers. I also believe that ULCCs won't have a big impact unless they can figure out how to improve service without raising the cost of tickets. Although they will take some of the business from other carriers I really do not think that they will last.

https://www.lacompagnie.com/en
http://corporate.ryanair.com/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2848573/Ryanair-passengers-forced-pay-taxis-ferry-tickets-flight-Lanzarote-diverts-different-Spanish-island-stormy-weather.html

Space Tourism

On October 31, 2014, Virgin Galactic Spaceship Two broke apart in flight during a test flight, fatally injuring the co-pilot. Virgin Galactic is attempting to be the first commercial flights to space. The cause of the crash seems to be pilot error. The aircraft had adjustable wings that were pointed to the back of the aircraft and moved to make the aircraft to more of an L shape for landing. The co-pilot pulled the lever around the same time the aircraft was breaking the sound barrier causing it to essentially disintegrate in air.

 Space tourism is basically taking civilians into space for pleasure purposes. Russia has already accomplished it and planes to do it again in 2015. Even though Virgin Galactic had a major setback it will not stop the program. There does not seem to be any real time frame yet but there are still people holding onto their tickets.

There are a few regulations for tourists space flight but since it has not had a real impact yet the regulations are few. Basically the pilots need to be both physically and mentally qualified and the passengers need to be informed about the risks involved in space flight. The link below contains the FAA regulations for space tourism.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/07/virgin-galactic-tragedy-revealed-spaceshiptwo-disaster

I do not see space tourism taking off at any point in the next 10 years and even then it will still be limited to a glimpse in space for the rich. We are a long way away from any type of routine space flight and do not believe it will happen in my lifetime.

The requirements to became an astronaut or fly in space aren't as high as most people might think. A bachelor degree is required and vision corrected to 20/20 and only 1,000 hours of PIC time in a jet aircraft are a few of the requarements. Skill does play a big part but like most jobs in aviation it will come down to who you know and not necessarily what you know.

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/human_space_flight_reqs/

Cargo

The FAA has recently changed the flight duty regulations for the airlines to ensure that the crew gets the proper amount of rest. There were many changes that are in the links below, but the main change is that the crew is now given a minimum of 10 hours off, ensuring at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. The old rule was 9 hours that could be reduced to 8 hours between flights, not guaranteeing any amount of sleep. They are also limited to how many hours they can fly in one day and the number of night hours they can fly. The FAA decided that cargo pilots do not need as much rest as airline pilots and made them exempt from the new policies.

The FAA said that cargo operations are not included in the new regulations because it would cost the industry to much money. The Cargo Airline Association said that the FAA has overestimated the amount by at least $235 million. For an industry that is supposed to be concerned about safety, the FAA has made it clear that profit takes priority over safety.

I believe that cargo pilots should have the same requirements as the airlines. The fact that the requirements are different tells me that they are only concerned about money. If an airline flight crashes then they have to deal with all the extra publicity and compensation for the passengers and their families. If a cargo flight crashed due to fatigue they only lose the pilots and the cargo so why not push the pilots as much as they can?

I believe that if the regulations for cargo were the same it would be a benefit for pilots. Most cargo flights are at night so it would have a big impact on the hours a pilot could fly in a day. It would also make sure that the pilots are getting proper rest between flight which is a major safety issue. Fatigue has contributes to many aviation accidents. I would mean more jobs for pilots because they would need to hire more people to keep up with the flights since the flight hours would be limited. Overall I don't see any negatives other than money for enforcing the same regulations for everyone, but unfortunately we all know money is what really drives the industry.



http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=13273
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/13/ups-pilots-urge-more-rest-for-cargo-crews/6402615/