Airport
As political leaders scramble for fresh excuses to maintain 40 years of flinching from a decision on a second Sydney airport, let’s eliminate one of them.

It is not just a Sydney issue. It is not even just a NSW issue. It is a national issue, and this entitles people outside the state’s borders to expect action within them.
The congestion at Sydney Airport adds around 25 minutes to the time it takes a scheduled airline fight to get to Melbourne.
Continue reading "Sydney’s second airport is a national issue" »
They waited for the plane to land before it happened. Given the violently bumpy landing that was definitely a good thing. But not such a good thing for the woman three rows in front with the toddler and the baby, who projectile vomited in unison all over their seats.
Mad Men ´The Carousel´ from Emilio on Vimeo.
“Great way to end a holiday,” the mother announced mostly to herself as we stared, opened mouthed, watching her and vomit-covered husband as they jostled with their kids and attempted to deplane before their fellow passengers. The rude air hostesses didn’t even offer a sympathetic smile. But that’s another story.
As we’ve seen this week, air travel can go wrong for all kinds of reasons. But what if the ash cloud never went away? What if we reverted to a world without aeroplanes and overseas holidays? Maybe this idea fills you with dread. But think of the positives…
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Chris says:
Lol, no one will be doing much living either. Read more »
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marley says:
@Justin - ah, got you. Guess you’d better take a freighter and put her in the hold! Read more »
To fly, or not to fly, that is the question/Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of disgruntled travellers/Or to take flight against a sky of troubles/And by opposing, end them?

Like Hamlet, airlines face a lose-lose situation. Do they cancel flights at the expense of customer good will or risk planes falling out of the sky from catastrophic engine failure? Because, let’s be honest here, there are no good plane crashes.
In June 1982, Capt Eric Moody and his crew were flying from Kuala Lumpur to Perth when all four engines on their British Airways jumbo jet failed. Without knowing it, they’d flown into a volcanic ash cloud. For the next 13 minutes, the lives of the 248 passengers and 15 crew were in the balance. Without engines, they were ditching into the sea. That they restarted the engines and saved 268 lives is well known and dramatised on TV shows. But what if the outcome was different?
Continue reading "It could’ve been ashes to ashes, dust to dust" »
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Gregg says:
@Phil. ” To an extent sure, you are paying for a service that isnt able to be provided. “ Have you bothered to read the fine print Phil and you can remain ignorant of what a re natural causes beyond an airlines control if it makes you feel warmer and… Read more »
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Gregg says:
@Anubis, Yes there were economic aspects in Virgin’s decision though I think they have also cancelled some flights now with ash clouds being lower. It is up to the airlines whether they want to start doing that type of thing to avoid the ash clouds at their normal operating altitudes. Read more »
It all started with Bob.

Sorry, I mean, “Bawb….”
“Baaawwwwwb…!”
Even if you really didn’t want to listen, there was very little choice, the American woman’s voice rang out across the terminal in a short, high pitched southern Florida squall.
Continue reading "Don’t pack your accent when you go overseas" »
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Desmond Myers says:
Hi, I’m an American living in Germany and having been surrounded by German, and some English in German accents, it’s been a while since I’ve heard what we sound like. Well, I heard it today. Fucking tourists. An army of them. A screaming, fat, language butchering, in the way bunch… Read more »
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Andrew Robinson says:
Americans aren’t necessarily stupid, they’re just brought up to be totally ignorant of the world beyond their borders. Remember in the 80’s, there was the famine relief song “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, by Band-Aid from the U.K., then the America did one, and there’s was called “We Are The… Read more »
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