steve mnuchin is that you?
Catching the Great American Eclipse at 35,000 Feet
31–40 of 124 posts
Re: Catching the Great American Eclipse at 35,000 Feet
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There are lots of examples of Americentrism Such as the fact that that word refers to the USA and not the whole of the Americas :)
The USA is the only country with America in it's name as far as I'm aware.
Before the USA, North America was called America and all of its inhabitants (or at least the British-descended ones -- any history buffs?) were "American".
It is a little tongue-in-cheek, but I find it amusing that the history of the word itself is an example of what it describes.
Re: Catching the Great American Eclipse at 35,000 Feet
#33I travelled last minute London -> Chicago -> Portland -> Salem to see my first total eclipse. The Saturday night flight to Portland was packed with excited passengers, all talking about the eclipse. The captain (Spirit Airlines) even announced the flight as the 'Eclipse Express', to cheers from everyone.
Re: Catching the Great American Eclipse at 35,000 Feet
#34Is anyone else bothered by the term "American" eclipse? I don't think astronomical events have any notion of nationality.
Stupid title indeed. On the other hand it certainly eclipsed America. At least part thereof.
Re: Catching the Great American Eclipse at 35,000 Feet
#35Does anyone have pointers on where I could get an estimate on average maintenence costs / flight hour & fuel costs for a Boeing 737-900ER? Interested in working up a rough number for how much this cost to make happen. Can't imagine it was profitable. And very cool! Edit: Per Boeing [1], they quote $151 / flight hour in actual service on a 737-800. Random site [2] gives fuel on a 737-900ER as 0.17 km per litre / 0.40…
That $151/hour is only maintenance. Fuel, crew, and depreciation will add substantial amounts on top of that.
There's no way that a 737 costs $151/hr to maintain. Small, simple, 4 or 6 seat single-engined airplanes (albeit on the high end) cost that much. Commercial airliners are going to be in the thousands of dollars per hour.
Re: Catching the Great American Eclipse at 35,000 Feet
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
The USA is the only country with America in it's name as far as I'm aware.
Before the USA, North America was called America and all of its inhabitants (or at least the British-descended ones -- any history buffs?) were "American". It is a little tongue-in-cheek, but I find it amusing that the history of the word itself is an example of what it describes.
> Before the USA, North America was called America and all of its inhabitants (or at least the British-descended ones -- any history buffs?) were "American"
History is overflowing with perpetual name changes for countries, regions, cities, etc. There's nothing unusual about it other than that in this case it applies to the US, which as the sole superpower is a magnet for over-inflating such ridiculous non-issues.
Re: Catching the Great American Eclipse at 35,000 Feet
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Alaska is a great airline. I fly about 70k miles per year on them and am very rarely disappointed.
What do you like about them?
Being in Seattle, they're the local airlines for me, so a lot of my flights go through them. They have top to bottom great customer service - from the call centers to check in staff to flight attendants. Everything just works with them. I've had odd requests/problems here and there before, and the call center staff really try to work with you to solve the problem. And they're US based, not a call center in India.
I also never get the feeling the check in agents are just mailing it in. I've had bad experiences before with agents before (a tired AA agent once just through my suitcase on to the belt right after I told him I was checking in a firearm), but it seems Alaska cares a lot more and they're better trained (more consistent).
They also are a great community partner here and sponsor a lot of events and organizations including things like Pride celebrations.
Re: Catching the Great American Eclipse at 35,000 Feet
#38Re: Catching the Great American Eclipse at 35,000 Feet
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Alaska is a great airline. I fly about 70k miles per year on them and am very rarely disappointed.
What do you like about them?
I also really like them as an Airline, and use them often to go to and from Hawai'i. Their staff is usually very kind and the planes are clean. I don't remember the seat sizes.. I am not a 'big' person so not an issue for me (at least yet)
Re: Catching the Great American Eclipse at 35,000 Feet
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
That $151/hour is only maintenance. Fuel, crew, and depreciation will add substantial amounts on top of that.
There's no way that a 737 costs $151/hr to maintain. Small, simple, 4 or 6 seat single-engined airplanes (albeit on the high end) cost that much. Commercial airliners are going to be in the thousands of dollars per hour.
You're right. On closer examination, that's specifically airframe maintenance. So that would exclude engines and probably other important and expensive things.