Pan Am did have a very good First class meal service, and that upper deck lounge AAH! the good old days! I remember one flight with QANTAS LHR to MEL where in first class they came by with a trolley and carved the roast beef as you decided whether you would have rare or medium cuts. Thanks to Ken Tubbs the FSD (the Silver Fox!) the inflight service was amazing. Lufthansa had a 747 with a giant barrel of Lowenbrau in the cabin so passengers could help themselves. But the best flight I ever had was with Cathay Pacific MEL to LHR via BNE and HKG in 1991 with it's first 747-400 an inaugural flight, Being a Marco Polo club member in First class, they firstly served Louis Roederer Kristal Champagne, vintage of course. Beluga Caviar with all the trimmings, a Coq au Vin to die for accompanied by a 1978 Chateau Latour, to finish, one of the best Creme Brulee's I've ever had and a sumptuous cheese platter to finish! Oh and a Hennessy Bras Arme' cognac to top it off. It's a shame thos

(Written on 2020/08/05)(Permalink)

Isn't it time we had a single global organization that is responsible for checking aircraft safety and airworthiness? Instead of every country having to certify each aircraft type. Quite a number of nation state authorities become political puppets and are headed up often by people who have no knowledge of aviation matters let alone technical expertise. Maybe ICAO could be the right organization? It would need to be funded by all countries though and that might be a big problem.

(Written on 2020/02/28)(Permalink)

Thank you Sully for your wise observations. AS a humble ex commercial pilot with a mere 16,000 hrs on dear old DC9's many years ago. I remember vividly my first instructors words "Follow your checklists, and FLY THE BLOODY PLANE!!" It seems to me that these days most new pilots do not receive enough "stick time" before being let loose. They are mostly system monitors these days and that is not good.

(Written on 2019/10/15)(Permalink)

The entire Boeing management team from the Board and CEO down needs to be fired. With this debacle appearing and coupled with the US military refusing to take delivery because of "debris" found after delivery of aircraft. KLM sending 787's back because of the same thing, the MAX saga. It is clear that the entire company is being mismanaged.

(Written on 2019/10/12)(Permalink)

My very first flight instructor back in the 60's always said. Follow your checklists and "Fly the Bloody Plane!Nothing else matters" Sadly we are now in age where pilots should be applying this rule, but are not able to in a lot of cases.

(Written on 2019/09/25)(Permalink)

Remember the old catchphrase "I'm not going if it's not a Boeing". Sadly, that is no longer true!

(Written on 2019/08/29)(Permalink)

Marty, Where we are going we don't need roads

(Written on 2019/08/21)(Permalink)

As former aircrew with over 16,000 flying hours. It's time to re-evaluate the entire process of training the people who build, and people who fly today's aircraft. My first instructor told me never to forget "remember your training, follow the checklists, but most importantly "FLY THE BLOODY PLANE!!" Too much reliance on these automated systems and minimum training hours for trainee pilots makes for bad cockpit management and the possibility of errors being missed, as well as not having the traditional "Feel" for flying a plane. I talk to a lot of current Captains and First Officers who say they are only given minimal training, and the airlines are pushing them harder than ever before to ignore such things as weather hazards and non essential failure items, in order to make schedules and make more $. We all need to stop and re-consider the entire structure of the global airline business and ATC shortages, as well as considering the implications for passengers with lack of good

(Written on 2019/04/21)(Permalink)