Seat Power
Dec 5, 2013, 6:28 pm
#16
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: TUS, SEA, OTP, OMR
Posts: 868
Ouch!, I exclaim, as someone who spent 34 years with the agency.
Sure, we had our setbacks (the Advanced Automation Program of the 90's is a good example that came immediately to mind) but I take exception to the sweeping indictment you have made here.
I think you should remember your judgment on FAA's perceived lack of progress the next time the plane you fly on successfully executes a GPS approach in poor weather. The technology was pioneered here in the Alaska Region and with cooperation from industry (most notably, AS) is now in place. It's one of many examples where FAA embraced technology and led the way to a safer NAS.
Sure, we had our setbacks (the Advanced Automation Program of the 90's is a good example that came immediately to mind) but I take exception to the sweeping indictment you have made here.
I think you should remember your judgment on FAA's perceived lack of progress the next time the plane you fly on successfully executes a GPS approach in poor weather. The technology was pioneered here in the Alaska Region and with cooperation from industry (most notably, AS) is now in place. It's one of many examples where FAA embraced technology and led the way to a safer NAS.
I've been on the other side of this (trying to get avionics approved and 337s for flight testing). My own experience with the FAA is if it advances the state of the art, they don't like it. And if you finally get them to accept it they do it grudgingly and with the greatest amount of delay possible (even when there's no need for the delay).
I once spent hours talking to someone at the FAA about a piece of autopilot software. They wanted "proof" that a particular piece of software would eventually reach a certain state. I pointed out that this is mathematically proven to be impossible to prove (see "Halting Problem"). In FAA land, such fundamental laws of logic apparently don't apply.
In fairness, I will say that aviation in the US has been exceedingly safe in the past decades. Nonetheless, my own experience is that the FAA has significantly delayed a number of advances for no appropriate reason.
On the other hand, with the recent ruling that the personal electronics may be used during taxi, takeoff and landing, maybe the Grinch has finally found the true meaning of Christmas?
Dec 5, 2013, 6:36 pm
#17
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: TUS, SEA, OTP, OMR
Posts: 868
... the plane you fly on successfully executes a GPS approach in poor weather. The technology was pioneered here in the Alaska Region and with cooperation from industry (most notably, AS) is now in place. It's one of many examples where FAA embraced technology and led the way to a safer NAS.
Dec 6, 2013, 7:53 am
#18
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: JNU
Programs: HH D, AS MM/MVPG for life/AL, Awesome Wipes VIP Club, NEXUS, Hertz 5-Star Gold
Posts: 2,893
Seat Power
Thank you for your perspectives. I realize there are always two sides to a story. The purpose of my post was to share the other side, because there most certainly is one.
Dec 6, 2013, 11:58 am
#19
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SEA
Posts: 239
The plane is in GSO for heavy maintenance, seat replacement and the seat power mod. There can be many reasons the plane has been delayed, issues with the FAA is probably the least likely. Should be in service late next week.
Next plane is N584AS. I believe it is also getting a new style of overhead bin that are similar to the ones in the Sky interior, but with 42 to 46 greater carry on capacity.
Next plane is N584AS. I believe it is also getting a new style of overhead bin that are similar to the ones in the Sky interior, but with 42 to 46 greater carry on capacity.
Last edited by Putzy; Dec 7, 2013 at 9:49 am
Dec 18, 2013, 11:02 pm
#23
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: FAI
Programs: AS MVP Gold100K, AS 1MM, Maika`i Card, AGR, HH Gold, Hertz PC, Marriott Titanium LTG, CO, 7H, BA, 8E
Posts: 42,953
Wirelessly posted (beckoa's BB: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.694 Mobile Safari/534.11+)
Saw the release this morning ^
'bout time
Saw the release this morning ^
'bout time
Dec 22, 2013, 5:21 pm
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,194
Dec 22, 2013, 9:00 pm
#25
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SEA
Programs: AA EXP (2.5MM), Hilton Gold, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 4,859
Dec 23, 2013, 12:50 pm
#27
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Western US
Programs: WN CP, WN A-List Preferred, AS MVPG 75k, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 554
I've seen on separate occasions someone attempt to use a hair dryer, and one of those small portable mixers (magic bullet or similar). FA stopped those stunts fairly fast.
Dec 23, 2013, 2:41 pm
#28
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SEA
Posts: 239
Each seat row has 110VAC/325W shared between the three seats. Couldn't find any info about the USB port output. If you really have to know, you could try contacting the manufacturer.
http://www.astronics.com/index.asp
http://www.astronics.com/index.asp
Dec 24, 2013, 11:36 am
#29
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: Alaska MVP 75K / SPG Plat (100 Nights) / NEXUS
Posts: 220
Each seat row has 110VAC/325W shared between the three seats. Couldn't find any info about the USB port output. If you really have to know, you could try contacting the manufacturer.
http://www.astronics.com/index.asp
http://www.astronics.com/index.asp
Looks like 2.5W (5VDC@500mA) per USB port so if you wanted the faster charging (ie 10W), going to need to bring your iPhone/iPad/Android AC-USB adapter.
Cheers,
Kermee
Dec 26, 2013, 12:13 pm
#30
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: RSW
Programs: Delta - Silver; UA - Silver; HHonors - Diamond; IHG - Spire Ambassador; Marriott Bonvoy - Titanium
Posts: 14,185
So, from the photo it seems each passenger has an AC socket and a USB connection? Wonder what happens to bulkhead people?