Current options:

Flight from BTV to LGA at 07:15, transfer to JFK and flying out at 17:50.

07:15 obviously sucks, we have a party / ball to conclude a business competition the night before so we won't be home early, and then having to be at the airport at 06:00 and enduring a lot of travel time straight after seems like hell to me.

Flight from BTV to JFK at 11:13 arriving at JFK at 12:32 and then until 17:50 to fly further on, with the risk of not connecting and not having any insurance coverage / having to buy a new flight at the counter which would be a really tough one.

Had another call with KLM where they said we'll change your outbound flight from JFK to any airport in the USA as long as its carried by us, since our flight was due to leave JFK at 22:00 but moved up to 17:50 due to "Operational reasons".

They quoted me €510 for the flights to connect with that option, and my return flight from AMS to JFK is €540... They're doing some internal calculations to see if they can get us a better price.

I don't know about the specifics of BTV - but I'd feel pretty ok about a 5 hour buffer between flights.

Why not change to Boston and drive there?

Thank you very much for that suggestion! Way more convenient for us to go back through this route, never came to mind since my knowledge of the US is pretty much zero. An easy 3.5hr drive it is!

Burlington is on the snowy side of the lake, so the weather concern is legitimate. However, that same issue means driving the 3.5 hrs to Boston is subject to the same problem. It's 3.5 hours in good weather, and depending on when you hit the Boston Metro area, you have rush hour traffic issues there as well.

Give yourself a huge cushion to allow for delays.

Flying out of Boston at 19:20, thanks for the concerns and we will take them into consideration, planning to leave Burlington around 10:00, which should give us plenty of time for traffic issues.

Just experienced a medical emergency on a short hop OAK->BUR. First time I'd ever heard a request for someone with medical training to come forward. We were met by an ambulance at the gate. Besides making me feel completely useless, it got me thinking about the procedures for this situation.

1) Does the airline give the PIC guidelines for when the medical condition is severe enough to divert?

2) Does the PIC have authority to exceed the flight parameters, e.g., increase air speed to land faster?

3) What happens if it's a full flight like ours and the person actually dies? Do you move the body to a jump seat or something?

What-happens-passenger-dies-plane.html

The report for the AirAsia crash just came out today. Of course, another senseless, totally avoidable loss of so many lives. Just sick. The rudder (which had a crack) had 23 previous malfunctions, The pilots had no training in cruising altitude upsets, and The pilot gave instructions to point nose down yet the co-pilot pointed nose up. Also, they actually rebooted the computer system which caused the auto-pilot to turn off.

The analyst, aviation expert on CNN stated that too many pilots rely solely on the computer to fly and many airlines (especially international) only train for takeoff and landing.

He made a point of even saying some (or more than some, I missed the exact words he used but he was stating for sure international pilots had almost zero training for in-flight problems) US airline pilots were not trained adequately in "cruising altitude upsets".

I was curious your thoughts on the subject.

A friend of mine is a flight instructor for Alaska Airlines. Even though they are not a top tier airline, competition for pilot jobs is fierce, and they only hire very experienced pilots. They can be very choosy and I imagine the big guys are even more so.

So I fly round trip ORD-CLT on AA about twice a month, and they pimp their credit card HARD through both PAs and flight attendants stalking the aisle with brochures. Do your folks make you push things like that and does it drive you nuts, or is it just part of the gig?

Sometimes FAs get a spiff if someone fills out a CC app that they handed them.

WOXOF, What are your thoughts on JetBlue's approach to hiring and training new pilots. Basically taking a newb and training them from scratch.

http://news.yahoo.com/jetblue-seeks-...164033713.html

Are there any other airports like this or is JFK unique?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcFfVEstt4o

I visited LA tower a few months ago, and their south complex ground control blew my mind. Between planes holding short waiting for planes to taxi out, more planes weaving around trying to get to their gate or the runway, even more planes waiting on the taxiway between the two runways, and all the restrictions on where A380s can taxi, I had no idea what was going on. I think JFK takes the cake on complexity though.

Ground radar is a thing now and probably helps to avoid situations like at 3:00 in your linked video.

Nope---I refuse to let this magnificent thread die.

I have to admit I feel like having "Free WOXOF" t-shirts printed.

As with unexplained plane crashes, in an information vacuum I'm left with rampant speculation.

1) Incarceration?
2) Lawsuit requiring silence on advice of counsel?
3) Alien abduction?
4) Vacation? (nah, that's just crazy)

Worse than that, he's been seen posting in the "absurd thinking in a live game" thread.

What are passengers rights when it comes to being kept on the plane on the tarmac? Can you demand to be let off the plane?

I was once kept on a grounded plane for 4 hours. Turned a 5 hour flight into a 9 hour flight. Not fun.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilt...rmac-1.3384118

[First of all, to everyone wondering where I've been and if I've abandoned this thread: my apologies. It's been mostly procrastination and sometimes just not having my laptop with me (I sometimes use my iPad, but I don't have an attached keyboard and I find the screen keyboard cumbersome for long answers).

Keep the questions coming and I'll get to them. I realized there are a few hanging out there and I'll get to them, either tomorrow or Friday. I'll take this latest one right now, just to get back into the swing of it...]


Because of this kind of event, where passengers have been "held hostage" on a delayed flight, usually due to weather, a law was passed in the U.S. placing a limit on how long you can be kept prisoner. (See my earlier post (#3588) for more on this law.)

IIRC, the time limit for a domestic flight delay is three hours. If we haven't gotten airborne within three hours of leaving the gate, the airline can face a hefty fine. But, as my previous post points out, this can result in the necessity to head back to the gate well in advance of the three hour point (to allow for taxi times back to the gate during gridlock on the ground) and loss of our place in the takeoff line.

So, do you have the right to insist on getting off the plane before the end of this three hour period? Not really, but depending on how much of a fuss you make, the crew might make the decision (with the concurrence of our dispatcher) to return to the gate and take you off. For domestic flights, they will not remove any checked bags you have, as this would further delay the other passengers. So you'd have that inconvenience which you'd have to work out with the company's baggage department.

If you make a disruptive fuss to get off the plane, you might achieve your goal but with the added inconvenience of being met by law enforcement for interfering with the flight.

How many hours do you have in the Seneca? I'm doing some cross country time building right now and I'm in love with it. I'm a bigger guy so coming from the 172 I feel like I'm lounging in a recliner or something. Also, we go a lot faster .

Perhaps. But I honestly don't think it affects safety of flight. Almost every time I fly as a passenger (commuting to work), I see someone who doesn't put their phone in airplane mode. If this was really a life or death issue, I doubt we would just rely on the honor system.

Looks pretty typical to me.

First of all, how much time do you have to connect if you fly to JFK on the same day as your AMS flight? You will likely come in to a different terminal and you'll have to retrieve your bags and then go check in at JetBlue. I would allow a minimum of a two hour connect time and 3-4 hours would be much more comfortable.

Monitor the weather and if there's snow forecast for the day of your travel, it's not a bad idea to fly up the day before as you mention. And that's not because BTV might shut down, which is a rare event unless it's really a lot of snow, but just because there can be significant delays involved, cutting down your connect time.

Flying into LGA and getting over to JFK isn't a big deal and will take 20-45 minutes depending on traffic on the Van Wyck, though you'll have to use a car service or cab. There is also a bus that runs between airports, but I don't know the details on that. If you want a reasonable car service, call Kew Car (718-846-6666) or General Cab (718-487-3000).