New airline concepts

      1) Describe two new airline business model concepts that are discussed in this article (excluding Norwegian).

One concept is that of taking an airplane and having only business class seats on board.  Although there are less overall seats, each customer gets more room and pays more for seats compared to economy seats.  Another concept is ultra-low-cost carriers, which is where airlines charge cheaper seats and add additional costs to customers based on what they would like, such as checked baggage, assigned seating. 

2) Do a little research and discuss two airlines (an airline for each concept) that are embracing these concepts. Give basic details of the airline, such as location, bases, destinations, equipment, etc.

Wizz Air is an ultra-low-cost airline concept.  They are based in hungry and operate into airports all over Europe among other places.  Wizz airline currently operates the Airbus A320 exclusively.  Their fleet is fairly new.

Business class airlines have come and gone in the past few years.  Eos airlines was one such airlines that operated Boeing 757s in business class configuration.  They went out of business in 2008.  They flew routes that were between London and New York City.  They expanded that service to include other cities on the East Coast.

3) Compare and contrast the two business models that you discussed. Which one do you think will be more successful? Why?

I believe that the Ultra-low-cost business model works better.  Even though it is less seats for the business class airlines to fill per flight, they rely solely on passengers paying for more expensive seats on an airline that has limited routes.  Even with more airlines charging for services like the ultra-low cost airlines do, passengers continue to pay these additional fees to get cheaper tickets to their destination. 

4) Discuss the global impact of these airlines? How will there innovative business ideas impact the overall global industry?

I think these concepts will have a positive impact on the industry.  It will force existing airlines to evaluate their current practices and see if they need to change anything to keep up with these new airline concepts.  The thing I hate seeing with these new airlines is when they do stop operations, most due to financial trouble, they often shut down operations with no advanced warning.  This often times strands many passengers away from home with no option but to buy a ticket at the last minute at an expensive price. 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101763454#.

Space Tourism

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two recently crashed while performing tests last week.  While it is still early to say exactly what happened, it is believed that the feathering system, which is used for the re-entry of SpaceShip Two was deployed too early causing the spacecraft to crash killing the co-pilot and injuring the pilot. 

Space travel has been a hot topic as of late.  There has been a shift of space travel from government programs such as NASA to private companies.  Space X has successfully launched a number of rockets to the international space station with supplies.  Virgin Galactic has been developing a couple of different spacecrafts that they hope will allow customers to buy a ticket into space.  Scaled Composites has been working with Virgin Galactic is designing the spacecraft.  Their first version SpaceShip One was the first private spacecraft that could be reused and won the X-Prize as a result.  Customers have been purchasing their spot with Virgin Galactic when it becomes operational for customers.

The FAA has some regulations when it comes to space travel.  Some of the regulations can be found in Title 14 CFR Chapter III- Commercial Space Transportation.  It deals with general definitions, procedures of space travel and licensing of space travel, including such things as launch license, safety and reentry sites that can be used.  https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/regulations/

I believe that with enough time there will be space tourism to the general public, however right now I am not entirely sure when it will happen.  Much like when passengers were flown on commercial aircraft, it was those individuals that were wealthy that enjoyed flights first.  As technology advanced and air travel became safer, more reliable and profitable more individuals could afford to fly.  This is bound to happen with space tourism as well.  Hopefully it will be affordable in my lifetime!

From the management side of the space tourism aspect the current job market is seeking individuals with engineering backgrounds for many of the jobs at hand.  Once there is a fleet of spacecraft for tourism there will be a need for managerial positions to organize flight schedules, crews, the required licenses and waivers, just to name a few

http://www.space.com/27651-space-tourism-virgin-galactic-spaceship-crash.html

Cargo Operations

1) As a result of the Colgan Air accident, the FAA institute new flight and duty regulations. Summarize  these new regulations and describe how they are different from the old flight and duty regulations.
Airlines had two years to start the new rest and duty rules of their pilots.  These new rules place more rules on the number of rest a pilot must have.  The new rule requires that pilots get at least 10 hours between their shifts.  Of those 10 hours of rest, 8 have to be uninterrupted rest.  This means that the 8 hours would not start until the flight crew is at the hotel and resting, unlike previously where the rest period would begin the second the pilots stepped off the aircraft.  In addition to these rules, pilots now must have 30 consecutive hours of rest each week that they work. 
2) Cargo carriers are exempt from the new rules. What are the current flight and duty limitations for cargo carriers?

Cargo pilots are currently operating on the older 8 hours of rest between shifts which could be interrupted rest unlike their commercial pilot friends. 

3) Why do you feel that cargo carriers have been excluded from the new changes? Value of life? Public perception? Too much money for the carrier? Other reasons? All the above?

I think the reason that the rules have not been applied to cargo pilots is the simple fact that cargo pilots are not carrying paying passengers but are instead simply flying boxes and pallets around.  I think if the public know exactly how many hours cargo pilots worked with little rest they would call for change.  I do not think the reason is too much money for the carrier because these new rules have cost the commercial airlines additional money to be in compliance with the new rules.

4) Do you believe cargo carriers should be included in the new rules? Why or why not?

I do believe that cargo carriers should be included in the new rules for the simple fact that they fly the same type of aircraft as many of the commercial airlines. They are flying these aircraft over the general population and are flying into the same airports that commercial aircraft fly into. 

5) Finally, what would be the impact to your career if cargo carriers were to be included in these new rules - Pilots, address this from a pilot perspective, management address from a management perspective.

From a management perspective including these rules would cost the company some time and money.  There would have to be additional employees hired to fill in the spots that pilots would be required to rest.  Additionally there would be a need to change the company OpSpecs to reflect these new changes.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-20/should-cargo-and-passenger-pilots-fly-with-different-rest-rules