air travel

Staycation, all I ever wanted

"Staycation ... a portmanteau that combines "stay" and "vacation" and refers to a holiday that takes place either at or near home."

With gas well above $4 per gallon this summer, and with airlines raising prices and canceling flights because of high fuel costs, it's not too surprising to find a word like "staycation" gaining a toehold in the North American lexicon. Google now finds nearly 200,000 web pages that use the word -- most of them added within the last few months, if my casual browsing is any indicator.

But even back when fuel wasn't so pricey, some of my favorite vacations were spent within a 50 mile radius of home. It's easy to forget how many parks, museums, nature walks, boat rides, and all-around fun can be found close to where you live -- which makes a staycation a perfect opportunity to reconnect yourself to your home town.

So I'm curious: Is anyone out there planning a staycation this year? Where are you, and what do you plan on doing?

Umbra on short-haul flights

Dear Umbra, I work in the touring music business, based in the U.K. but touring worldwide. I have noticed recently that the record companies are booking cheap flights for short distances, e.g., London-Manchester, about 200 miles. Over such short distances, there is no saving in time, due to travel to and from airport, checking in, […]

A techno blog for the doubters

Stumbled on a great site -- Low Tech Magazine. Here's a short bit from just one of many beautifully illustrated and thought-provoking posts:

Airlines, cargo ships increasingly desperate due to rising fuel costs

Globalization was built on cheap oil. As that era draws to a close, so will the current phase of global integration, whether Thomas Friedman, Wal-Mart, and all those involved in intercontinental trade like it or not.

The current transportation infrastructure is based on cars, trucks, airplanes, and cargo ships, which together consume about 70 percent of the gasoline used in the United States. While the greatest focus has been on cars, trucking and airline companies are facing collapse.

The International Air Transport Association just published a new report in which they call the situation of many airlines "desperate." According to The N.Y. Times:

If price of oil, which is now just below $130 a barrel, averages $107 over 2008, the aviation industry would lose $2.3 billion for the year, the chief executive of the group, Giovanni Bisignani, said. Should it hold at $135 a barrel for the rest of the year, the industry will lose $6.1 billion.

Last flight out

Richard Heinberg bids adieu to cheap flight:

The airline industry has no future. The same is true for airfreight. No air carrier has a viable plan to make a profit with oil at current prices -- much less in years to come as the petroleum available to world markets dwindles rapidly. That's not to say that jetliners will disappear overnight, but rather that the cheap flights we've seen in the past will soon be fading memories. In a few years jet service will be available only to the wealthy, or to the government and military.

Tom Friedman on the need to invest in infrastructure and revitalize the U.S.

Sometimes Tom Friedman drives me crazy, but he often has a good nugget hidden in the middle of his columns, like this one last Sunday:

A few weeks ago, my wife and I flew from New York's Kennedy Airport to Singapore. In J.F.K.'s waiting lounge we could barely find a place to sit. Eighteen hours later, we landed at Singapore's ultramodern airport, with free Internet portals and children's play zones throughout. We felt, as we have before, like we had just flown from the Flintstones to the Jetsons. If all Americans could compare Berlin's luxurious central train station today with the grimy, decrepit Penn Station in New York City, they would swear we were the ones who lost World War II.

I've often wondered what would happen if Germany, Italy, and Japan fought a world war against the U.S., Russia, and Britain in today's world -- but on a more positive note, perhaps we can move past the "private wealth, public squalor" contrast that John Kenneth Galbraith pointed to long ago.

Seattle artist illustrates statistics on waste, health, and consumption

A graphic -- very graphic -- look at the numbers that define America.

As nonstop flights between the U.S. and E.U. increase, what will be the effect on climate?

Throw open the skies and get your passports ready! You may have heard by now that the proverbial jump across the pond is about to get much easier and, perhaps, cheaper. As of March 30, an “open skies” agreement between the United States and the European Union has gone into effect, opening up more possibilities […]

Notable quotable

“I wouldn’t want anyone taking those medicines and having to make decisions in a safety-sensitive position.” — Dr. Robert Bourgeois on the pills, “including lorazepam, an antianxiety medicine; Imitrex for migraines; Provigil to increase wakefulness; and Darvon Compound-65 for pain” being taken by Capt. John Cota, pilot of the container ship that plowed into the […]