Eating Right on Your Flight ... and Other Travel News

While there may be little you can do about your hectic schedule or what food airplanes are serving these days, the nutrition experts at DietDetective.com have recently compiled some useful information on the health value of the food major airlines serve to passengers. Next time you board, you'll at least know what the better options are. Bon appétit!

{Rotary Alternatives}

As the Crow Flies in Gotham

Have you ever waited in line for a cab at Newark Liberty International Airport or at Kennedy International Airport? Have you ever been stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic inside New York's Holland Tunnel when you were scheduled to be having lunch with
a client?

Well, if you're in a hurry and not accustomed to watching taxi meters, U.S. Helicopter offers an unbeatable deal. For $169, a helicopter taxi service will whisk you from Newark or Kennedy to a downtown Manhattan heliport near Wall Street in 8 minutes flat. Meanwhile, if you're flying out of Newark on Continental, you can check your bags at the same heliport in Manhattan without having to check them again when you touch down at Terminal C. (Passengers at other airlines will have to recheck their bags.) But, with just an 8-minute ride to the airport, perhaps there will be some time to spare.

{Aisle Chatter}

Shorter Boarding Times Curtail Delays

After limiting the amount of food passengers get, tightening the distance between seats, and routinely overbooking flights, airlines continue to look for ways to generate revenues. While some airlines are charging for snacks, others are attempting to limit turnover time by boarding passengers faster.

Since all airliners board frequent fliers first, these changes may not be immediately apparent to the many consultants who have "status" at their preferred airlines. However, the increased efficiency may have an impact on the frequency and length of delays.

For instance, after merging with America West Airlines, US Airways inherited its "reverse pyramid" method of boarding designed by engineers at Arizona State University. The engineers created a system of boarding passengers by zones in a V-shaped pattern, where interferences between passengers are minimized.

It turns out that the new approach shortened boarding time by 2 to 5 minutes and has reduced delays by 21 percent.

Other airlines have also devised new approaches to boarding. AirTran Airways employs a "rotating zone system," wherein the plane is divided into four zones and passengers board in alternating portions: back first, then front, then middle. United Airlines uses the "Wilma" system, through which passengers with window seats board first, followed by those with middle seats, and lastly those with aisle seats.

But while these airlines have undergone boarding makeovers, several airlines have stuck with their original approaches. Many airlines continue to board passengers the classic "back to front" way. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines has boarded passengers in the order in which they check in for their flights since 1971. The airline's method allows passengers to then pick their seats on a first-come, first-serve basis once they step on board. However, though this method may cut down boarding time by incentivizing passengers to come early and be prepared at the gate, many bemoan the chaos that ensues upon stepping into the aircraft.

Kristin Anderson, a manager at Kurt Salmon Associates, describes the Southwest approach as, "Just terrible. People sit in the front, and other people are trying to move to the back, and everyone is trampling over everyone else."

Interestingly, the most successful advancement in boarding efficiency may have nothing to do with complex boarding strategy, but rather with the recent crackdown on gels and liquids. It goes without saying that the less people carry on board, the less interference there is in those narrow aisles.