chuck1

Has anyone had the map and channel 9 on the outbound USA-international segment?

I hope they can still keep the map and channel 9 on for thr outbound portion but I fear at least the map might have been disabled for all segments rather than risking a rogue flight attendant from turning it on!

What is the best way to let UA know I love the map and channel 9?

Is it 1kvoice?

dcshungu

As per United PR's post, the airlines and ATA are united and working on these issues, but I do not understand the logic here. You'd supposedly rather fly with a carrier that did not offer CH9 in the first place than with United because a US Government directive has forced them to turn this channel off? How would this get you ahead? It is great to let United know of your displeasure so that they would work harder to get the intl CH9 back on, but I do not understand why you would shoot the messenger. Besides, I think that CH9, which I seldom listen in on (my thing is the classical music channel) and appears to be off most of the time anyway:

is probably overrated. Is the complaint real or is it memorex because TSA has decided to shut if off? The threat against UA for a federally-mandated black out of a channel that appears to be off most of the time may be characterized as "serial whining" rather than "constructive whining." I am sure that UA already got the point from those who have stated how much CH9 and the map mean to them without threatening to boycott them over this...

Speaking of cool in-flight things, in 2008 I flew ANA between NRT and OKA and was thrilled when suddenly the projectors in the cabins began projecting live video feeds of our approach for landing, exactly as the pilots were seeing it from the cockpit -- like a "flight simulator" that you could not control. It was the only time I'd seen this offered by any airline and I do not know if ANA offers it for their transpac flights, but it would certainly also be ordered off, at least for US-bound flights

dcsnowwake

remember channel 9 on intl flights isnt a big deal as there only required 10 minute position reports, or abnormal stuff, so once over the atlantic its kinda pointless to listen to the UHF of channel 9.....
but once back in US airspace or intl airspace then it become fun!!

if they kept it to domestic thats fine, but i will be sad if they got rid of it all togetehr, esp with my ATC and pilot backgound....this is a HUGE reason I fly UA....esp over ORD with all the holds and step downs and all, SO MUCH FUN!

Omnivore

Losing CHannel 9 would be totally sad, however not totally unexpected, I hope they're able to keep it!

As for your sig DC, GO DYNAMO!

ssh

Thanks for doing what you can. About all I have at my disposal is comments to the TSA blog, their Twitter account, and other ways that I can find to communicate the inanity of their "directives". If there is anything more we as the flying public can do to communicate to the bureaucrats who probably expect to be exceptions to their own rules when they fly, please let us know.

Thanks...

repus

I flew YEG->SFO today. While checking in, I was informed that a new policy came in that restricted people to 0 carry on items except for purses so my laptop bag (which is actually a small backpack) would have to be checked.

I was told that I could carry my laptop in my hands but not take the bag with me. It looks like the policy was inconsistent as I saw others with full roller bags on the flight.

Security was tight (no complaints here) with all passengers getting patted down. The YEG staff security check point was well run and they brought in a lot of additional staff to ensure that it was done quickly (maybe 20 mins through security).

On the flight, they didn't allow anyone up within an hour of landing, but aside from that it seemed business as usual.

CommittedLurker

EK has this on all seat back screens. They offer 2 views: a "cockpit" view as you mentioned and a view directly below. I don't know if they offer it on US flights though.

You're right. It's pretty neat.

jason8612

Wirelessly posted (Blackberry 8900: Opera/9.80 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.2.13918/1280; U; en) Presto/2.2.0)

My flight on the 26th had ch9 and no hour rule.
I'm not gunna sit there for the last hour bored out of my mind, and if I gotta go, ill go wherever that'll be.
Tsa once again ruins air travel

eyevision

The whole thing is absurd. The idiot was on a watch list, but that wasn't enough to subject him (or any of the other half million individuals on said list) to additional screening coming into the US from a foreign country.

But because of said idiot, an entire nation of passengers not on any watch lists at all must now be subject to additional restrictions and screening?

Outstanding. My question: how are UA flights from Canada operating? I know Air Canada is a mess, but I'm thinking ahead to my upcoming UA flight from YVR to SFO. The whole thing is not much more than an hour, when you factor in taxi times.

peterjs

anyone know if United is enforcing this rule? I see TSA is now saying that airlines can interpret some of these rules however they wish to.

All I know is that if United makes me sit in my seat for the last hour - then I will no longer fly with them. This is a typical over-reaction and of no practical use in deterring terrorism.....an hour seems a totally arbitrary time period. How on earth are people with kids supposed to cope?

And how does a hand baggage limit of 1 piece help deter a terrorist...?

sensei

I think the logic behind that rule is that given the additional security prior to boarding, 1 piece slows down the process less than 2+ pieces would.

notquiteaff

And then put it where? Unprotected in the overhead bin? (that's where they required all personal items/bags to be during my recent FRA-IAD flight).

Tell me about it. My wife was forced to gate-check her rollaboard, and I -- standing right next to her -- was allowed to carry mine on (we both had laptop backpacks as personal items). Can't get any more inconsistent.

I wonder if a pat-down would have found the explosives in the panties of the crotch bomber...

Agreed, except that in FRA (where my wife's rollaboard was gate-checked) there was NO search of the bags at the gate... well, at least for the first four or five people that included us... not sure what happened later (but there was no setup with tables etc. to facilitate carry-on search).

djmp

I'm trying to figure the LHR security delays. Is there one massive line into the gate 40-50 area? That might explain why the 12:05 ORD flight is being significantly more delayed than the 12:00 IAD for example.

I have a 12:05 UA949 ORD flight and a tight connection coming up :-(

Antipode

I flew international into the US today and the 1 hour rule was not in effect. Also, despite the FA making an annoucement that the map would be turned off, it was, in fact, left on.

OtleyFlyer

Certainly last time I flew from LHR this was the case. There isn't much space near the entrance to really add extra capacity either.