Marathon Man

So I just saw for the first time this Apple - iPhone commercial where a pilot (or some crew member that could be one) is standing there telling us that his iPhone was able to get a more accurate, quick and up to date weather forcast than ground control. Ground control had this 1.5hr Chicago flight on a 3hr delay due to weather and so he checked his iPhone and called them to ask them to double check. They did so on his advice and then reduced the delay to 30 minutes.

I find it all hard to believe. It's false advertising.

Of course if it is true/possible, then I'm really pissed at the ground control people, because they obviously could do a better job reducing delays!

thoughts? Comments?

MM

dhammer53

I think that commercial was targetted.

Loved it.

jsgoldbe

Yeah, just caught that one tonight. I am sure that I am not the only one who looked to see what airline he was from.

jetskipper

The pilot mentions he contacted his dispatcher, who presumably worked up a new routing for them which wasn't encumbered by the weather. It passes the sniff test.

All of which could be done, incidentally, without an iPhone.

Ted S

You mean you can look up webpages to find your boss's finance's name without an iphone? Or listen to mp3s and make calls without an iphone? Or check the weather without an iphone? I don't believe it!

If you have not see the ad but want to, check it out at http://www.apple.com/iphone/ads/ad13/

bnarayan1511

Did he make the call after the cabin door was closed? If so,

jetskipper

Ted, rejoice! We can do all those things and more, without an iPhone.

But my irrational Apple allegiance will compel me to purchase an iPhone when my Sprint contract expires in February. It's a cool piece of gear.

Marathon Man

yes but does the iphone work in VT? I own a ski condo up there and I heard AT&T phones do not work and if you use one there for an extended period, they could actually cancel your contract. I have no idea though. I do know it can do all these things, but would it actually have MORE info than a dispatcher????? Weird!

Ted S

Really? The apple commercials indicate otherwise.

Just kidding of course... I have a blackjack on at&t. Not as nice a browser, screen or look, but it does all the same stuff for less money.

Back to the original post, here's a nice blog on the subject of whether the people in the commercials are actors or not, but I suppose even if they are paid actors, it's still completely feasible if a system got out of sync or wasn't looked at.

Ocn Vw 1K

jetskipper interpreted the commercial's text correctly, provided that any air traffic control (ATC) delay affected only a particular route and was not a ground delay program into an affected airport (no matter what the route). Assuming the weather viewable by the dispatcher showed a clear route which would be viable when filed with ATC, the dispatcher filed the amended flight plan, ATC cleared the re-route and the flight was no longer subject to any route delay. What's interesting is that 99% of the viewers of the commercial might be impressed to amazed by the incident depicted.

For a different reported instance where cell phones were used by air traffic control in a non-traditional way, see this article about a recent telephone/radar outage at Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center in which Memphis Ctr. controllers used their personal cell phones to contact adjacent centers to coordinate a/c movements/handoffs.

KMHT FF

I could do that on my 3-year old Treo.

I wish FT had a "stroking" GIF.

jetskipper

No.

As mentioned in the ad, the pilot allegedly checked the weather with the iPhone while he was on a weather delay. He then (and this part is implied) called his dispatcher, who viewed the same weather info on his computer, and a new route was created. With the new route, ATC was then able to clear the flight for takeoff.

Of course, the pilot could've checked the weather before ever boarding the aircraft and resolved any route/wx discrepancies with his dispatcher at that time. Alternatively, the issue could have been quickly resolved by switching to a CDR after pushback. But neither of these scenarios would have made for a TV commercial that has surely bamboozled 99% of viewers, as noted by Ocn Vw 1K in his earlier post.

BearX220

The problem with that commercial (I saw it last night during "The Office") is that it's a completely fake account delivered in a format designed to make you think it's completely authentic. The last shot of the spot pulls back to show a black backdrop set up in an airport. You are supposed to think the producers just pulled real people over and invited them to share their real-life iPhone anecdotes. (The "pilot's" casual, halting, unscripted-sounding delivery promotes this perception also.)

But if you look closely you see the "pilot" has no real airline insignia -- his "uniform" is a generic one from a costume shop -- and, as discussed above, his anecdote is highly suspect.

So the whole thing is fraudulent. Which makes one assume that the whole iPhone campaign, which has that same black backdrop set up in parks, malls, etc. so so-called "real people" can share anecdotes in front of it, is fraudulent also. Which should make thinking people wonder if the whole darn Apple / iPhone proposition is fraudulent. And maybe all of human life itself.

CPRich

It's....a.....commercial.

Bobster

My own experience seems to confirm the accuracy of the commercial. I was on a flight where we sat on the ground for 5 hours because of a weather delay. I noted the captain speaking on his cell phone many times, but the phone calls did not help us get in the air any sooner. It was not an iPhone (because it was a few years ago and no iPhone yet).

Therefore, anecdotal evidence based on a single data point proves that not using an iPhone will not save you any time.