The best of April 1, 2013 | Airline Biz Blog

It being the day it is, let?s round up some of the better bits of airline news and writing today:

?

? Delta Air Lines is introducing double-decker armrests.

?Say goodbye to confusing elbow etiquette. Introducing the new Double Decker Armrest. More arm space, less elbow rubbing ? middle seats will never be the same again.?

? Southwest Airlines unveiled a hot air balloon?for commercial air transportation.

Said the carrier: ??Enjoy taking it slow with a scenic view while traveling from Boston to Denver. You will have a full 31 hours of seemingly never-ending ground-peeping, star-gazing, and gusty nap time. (DISCLAIMER: Travel time greatly depends on wind speed).?

? JetBlue Airways announced service to three new destinations: April River Airport (APR) in?Papua New Guinea; Ilford Airport (ILF) in?Manitoba, Canada; and Gold Coast Airport (OOL) in Coolangatta,?Australia. Put those three bag tags together, and you?re on quite a journey.

?They asked and we listened,? said Shirley Eugest, director of miscellaneous for?JetBlue?Airways. ?We?re all about meeting demand and our loyal customers told us they wanted to fly to these locales. We?re looking forward to serving these three new routes and introducing our signature product to the people of?Papua,?Ilford, and Coolangatta.?

? The website gadling.com has a series of exclusives, including that Hawaii wants to move to the other side of international date line, that Loch Ness travel officials made up the monster stories to attract tourists, that hotel mints are helping make us obese and that hunting humans is the No. 3 sport for the ultrawealthy.

? Gadling.com also has US Airways chairman and CEO Doug Parker announcing that he?s decided to call off the merger with American Airlines because he couldn?t deal with the issue of the airplane livery post-merger.

Among other goodies:

? Virgin America on its website says it?ll offer Main Canine Select for its animal friends. For dogs, it will provide special vents to reproduce that head-out-the-window feeling. In addition, ?Socialize at ?open air? lavatories, complete with mood-lit fire hydrants designed by Frank Gehry.?

? UPDATE: Southwest Airlines chairman and CEO Gary Kelly told employees Monday that the carrier was modifying its pet policy to allow pet armadillos on board, in honor of Texas State History Month. ??They?re not real pretty, but they are real lovable.?

? Virgin Atlantic Airways says it will be offering see-through floors with its glass-bottom airplanes.

? WestJet, which last year on April 1 said it was launching child-free flights, this year says passengers can now bring any kind of animal on board, not just dogs and cats. And no kennels will be necessary.

? The Cranky Flier website has the news that Virgin America will rename itself as Alitalia America.

? US Airways says it will imitate migratory fowl to cut its fuel costs. ?Utilizing the latest in ADS-B technology, and taking a cue from Canada Geese,?US?Airways?today announced it was going to begin a test of formation flying of all east bound aircraft from its PHX hub. Flying in a ?V? formation enables aircraft to utilize wake from the lead aircraft to pull the following aircraft ahead and reduce fuel burn. Flights first to depart PHX will take the ?lead bird? position, and as they reach their destinations, will drop from the formation and the next arriving aircraft will take the lead position in the ?V.? It is anticipated the new procedure will save approximately one million gallons of fuel a year. The test will run for one day only ? today, April Fools Day.?

? Oh, and JetBlue announced a no-joke special for the day: ?If you?re named April and flying JetBlue today, you?ll receive a JetBlue credit equal to the amount of the fare you paid for today?s flight, because JetBlue understands that this should be your day, not the fools. No fooling!?

Source: http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/the-best-of-april-1-2013.html/

aaron rodgers Joe Webb Fiesta Bowl Jeanie Buss NFL playoff schedule 2013 Bronson Pelletier andy reid