Just in case anyone else in blogland shares my fear of flying, the only things that really help me are:

An amazingly good book that I can lose myself in
Earplugs so I don’t obsess over every change in engine noise
Deep, deep breathing and some inconspicious yoga postures
Becoming very religious on takeoffs and landings
Comfort food (portable)

I overheard a woman say something to her little kid once that also has
helped me on bumpy flights. She told him to think about unexpected
turbulence like they were in a car turning off a highway and going onto a dirt road for a little while before getting back on smooth pavement. With some of the potholes we have around town, this helps me with even the bumpiest airplane rides.

Also, get to know a pilot–just don’t listen to any war stories. My old roommate was a pilot, and knowing him and his friends helped a lot. These guys/gals care deeply about their jobs, and they obsess about our safety even more than we do, believe it or not.

For a more formal way to get rid of this fear, check out www.fearofflyinghelp.com, a free online course by an airline pilot that really, really helps.

Why not kick Monday off with a little bit of silliness? Here’s a look at a “gripe sheet”—a form pilots fill out after each flight to convey to the mechanics problems encountered with the aircraft during the flight that need repair or correction. The mechanics read and correct the problem, and then respond in writing on the lower half of the form what remedial action was taken, and the pilot reviews the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews and engineers lack a sense of humor.

Here are some (reportedly) actual logged maintenance complaints and problems submitted by pilots of a certain airline, and the solution recorded by maintenance engineers.

Problem: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement. Solution: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough. S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit. S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield. S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent. S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear. S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud. S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick. S: That’s what they’re
there for.

P: IFF inoperative. S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield. S: Suspect you’re right.

P: Number 3 engine missing. S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny. S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums. S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit. S: Cat installed.

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Oh great, now a trip to Boston’s airport will include eying advertisements on everything from drinking fountains (that’s “bubblas” in Bostonese) to luggage carousels to seatbacks, clocks, and pedestrian bridges, according to this article from today’s Boston Globe.

Yup, the Massachusetts Port Authority is looking to sell sponsorships for just about everything it can—can’t you just envision “Gate 27, sponsored by Gatorade”? Part of the deal, says the article, is to sell sponsorships around citywide events like the upcoming Democratic National Convention: “…dozens of companies have expressed interest in sponsoring parts of the airport, either by paying to put up banners welcoming conventioneers or for the right to give away samples of their products,” says a representative of the company that is handling the sponsorship program for Massport in the Globe article.

Which leads me to a sponsorship opportunity I hope they really don’t catch onto. From an item in this week’s PromoExtra e-newsletter: “If you’re a marketer who is trying to capture a male audience is a way no one else has, urine luck. A company has developed an interactive urinal display designed to capture the attention of men when nature calls.” The company’s name, believe it or not, is Wizmark.

Do you suppose the day will come when sponsorships not just at airports, but also at shows, end up in the loo? OK, so your attendees probably don’t want urinals that talk back to them about an exhibitor’s product while they’re indisposed, but why not include sponsorship opps in the bathroom, some enterprising marketer is sure to think. After all, attendees may not visit an exhibitor’s booth, but everyone’s gotta go sometime.

As one of my wise colleagues said: Gack!

Comments?

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This survey from the National Retail Association on how the rising gas prices are affecting consumers makes me wonder what affect it will have on meetings as well.

More than a third of consumers said the higher per-gallon price will factor into their Memorial Day travel plans, and while 43.2 percent say it won’t impact their spending, almost a third say they will reduce their travel plans, and more than a quarter say they will eat out less often.

After so many meetings went “regional” after 9/11 due to air issues, when the drive-in mentality set in, will high gas prices keep your regional meeting attendees’ SUVs in the garage? Then again, with airlines already announcing fuel-related fees and rate increases, air won’t be any more attractive as an alternative.

Speaking of all things gassy, The Denver Post reports that Aspen hotels are fueling a smart new idea: “trying to get travelers into town this summer by promising to help them get out of town” by offering a free tank from a local gas station to people who spend three nights at select hotels.

Who knows, maybe a gas rebate to drive-in attendees could be the thing that’d tip them toward coming. Might be worth talking with your hotel and/or the area’s CVB to see if they have anything similar in the works.

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

This survey from the National Retail Association on how the rising gas prices are affecting consumers makes me wonder what affect it will have on meetings as well.

More than a third of consumers said the higher per-gallon price will factor into their Memorial Day travel plans, and while 43.2 percent say it won’t impact their spending, almost a third say they will reduce their travel plans, and more than a quarter say they will eat out less often.

After so many meetings went “regional” after 9/11 due to air issues, when the drive-in mentality set in, will high gas prices keep your regional meeting attendees’ SUVs in the garage? Then again, with airlines already announcing fuel-related fees and rate increases, air won’t be any more attractive as an alternative.

Speaking of all things gassy, The Denver Post reports that Aspen hotels are fueling a smart new idea: “trying to get travelers into town this summer by promising to help them get out of town” by offering a free tank from a local gas station to people who spend three nights at select hotels.

Who knows, maybe a gas rebate to drive-in attendees could be the thing that’d tip them toward coming. Might be worth talking with your hotel and/or the area’s CVB to see if they have anything similar in the works.

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

OK, maybe not all that much fun, but if you want to compare gas prices anywhere in the U.S., AAA is tracking them here.

According to a new report from Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell/Yankelovich Partners, both business and leisure travelers are going for the best price on the road these days. The thing is, they don’t necessarily know where the best price is. The study found that 74 percent of business travelers said they always attempt to get the best prices on travel services when traveling on business. They think they’ll get it first on the Internet (38 percent), then from suppliers (33 percent), then travel agents (29 percent).

But, says a press release from YPBR, “As most practitioners who market travel services know, this perception may, in fact, be erroneous, yet it is one that is has been embraced by consumers, presumably as a result of the singular marketing message communicated by most online travel sellers during the past two years: you’ll find it cheaper online…the effort underway by most travel suppliers to drive consumers to book through their online distribution ‘outlets’ is a prudent one. Now the critical question is from which sites consumers will believe they actually get the best prices: those hosted by third-party sellers or those hosted by dedicated suppliers. The race is on…”

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At the recent Association of Corporate Travel Executives Global Conference, 1,200 delegates from around the world gathered to identify and resolve issues confronting this $150 billion dollar industry. To get a better handle on what’s going on, the organizers polled attendees before, during, and after the conference on a number of issues. Here’s what they found, according to an ACTE press release:

-While 85 percent of the business travelers polled said they’d pay up to $100 (USD) to avoid standing in a long security line at the airport, their companies would not. The poll also showed that with shrinking waiting times at security checkpoints, the U.S. government may be wasting its time developing a program that would be obsolete soon after implementation. ACTE’s European constituency has asked, “What does this program offer for Europeans flying from city to city in the US?”

-Thirty-four percent of polled business travel managers in the EU are looking into travel alternatives in case the US suspends landing rights for airlines that do not provide PNR information (sensitive traveler data). A slightly higher number (39 percent) claim that requirements for fingerprinting and photographs–coupled with the current request for PNR information–could cause their company to look for business travel alternatives.

A recent meeting hosted by the Travel Business Roundtable with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce brought together government folks—including Secretary Of State Colin Powell and Norman Y. Mineta, Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation—and industry leaders to talk about how to both keep the U.S. safe and keep our doors open to travelers from outside the borders.

While it sounds like Powell’s presentation was basically a “we’re with you on this one,” feel-good type of thing, Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz pushed for a cabinet-level post for travel and tourism. “His remarks were met with a resounding applause from the audience,” says the article on the meeting. Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND), Chairman, Senate Democratic Policy Committee also had a concrete agenda: extending the deadline for new biometric passports and the launch of an international travel and tourism promotion.

While folks from hotels, airlines, and other industry segments were optimistic, another terrorism attack could throw us back into turmoil. Also, “Curtis Nelson, President and COO, Carlson Companies, said that the rebound had been phenomenal, but distinguished between leisure travel, which remained quite strong, with business travel, which is the last to see recovery. Robert Crandall, Retired Chairman, President and CEO of AMR Corporation and American Airlines addressed the challenges of the airline industry, which continues to lose money. He also stated his belief that it is wrong to continually pose higher fees and taxes on travelers.” To which I say, then cut it out!

While it’s nice to hear that some in government understand and care about this industry’s issues, I’d like to see a little less talking and a little more action to make what they’re talking about happen.

Scary article from USA Today on high-tech ID cards designed to “prevent armed terrorists from boarding a plane by posing as airport workers or law officers…The Transportation Security Administration still is experimenting with biometric identification systems, which match people’s unique physical characteristics to confirm who they are.” These cards, which the article says are already commonly used in nuclear plants, hospitals and businesses, still are doddering along when it comes to their use to keep unauthorized people out of secure areas of our airports.

Why is this important? According to the article, “congressional investigators created fake law enforcement IDs from software they downloaded from the Internet four years ago. Undercover agents were 100% successful penetrating federal buildings and two commercial airports using the phony IDs…A copy of the report on the penetration test was found later in an al-Qaeda cave in Afghanistan.”

Then again, with all the money it would cost to develop and implement these cards, they could probably hire security guards to watch all these areas! Either way, I wish they’d stop nattering and get a system in place. This ain’t rocket science, folks.

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Worried that terrorists might dress up like airline and airport workers to get access to our planes, the Transportation Security Administration is piloting some new antiterrorism measures at airports in Miami; Newark, N.J.; Boise; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Savannah, Ga.; Fort Myers, Fla.; Providence; and Tampa, according to this article from the Associated Press.

Sounds like they’ll be doing everything from videotaping employees to using fingerprint and eye-scan biometrics to make sure the only ones going into employee-only areas are, in fact, employees.

Wasn’t too long ago that eye-scans were something you’d see in a sci-fi flick, but they may just be coming to an airport near you.

My question about this and the other security measures that have been put in place since 9/11 is: Are we any safer for all this?

Comments?

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