Skip to main content

Things worse than clear air turbulence

Now that the airlines have started to count the number of ice cubes they carry on a flight, they have also have entertained the idea to do away with on board movies and other forms of entertainment no matter how long your flight is.

The fuel price rise is the culprit. Some US carriers have started to charge for second piece luggage. Some are also considering charging good cash for carry-ons (this will force an airline cultural change for Pinoys).

Anyone who has taken a ride on small prop driven planes would understand. Any useless weight (payload) on an aircraft costs money! Those who have taken small planes are required to weigh in prior to boarding. The captain has the right to refuse boarding to chubby humans!

But US airlines have been charging extras for 1) food 2)movies and 3) blankets for some time now. If you want these creature comforts,then buy a first class ticket. (BTW, having been in 1st class,the only diff between the food in 1st class and economy class is that they serve the SAME KIND OF food on china plates in 1st class!)

The airlines are likely to charge movies on a pay-per-view basis on economy class. When the price of oil gets to 200 dollars per barrel, they would probably charge food on an order basis.

But on some flights, the airlines have found it profitable to cater to people's cultural tastes. On some flights from China to the USA, they provide a DVD player for rent. Some Chinese people bring their DVDs on board!

Maybe the US carriers flying from Manila to the USA may cash in on the same idea. They can provide videoke ala "magic sing" on trans-Pacific flights. Since Pinoys are known to spend ooodles of cash on this kind of entertainment, the airline is bound to make heaps of money.

The price of a "token" is 5 dollars (which is the price of a beer on a US domestic flight). As a special deal, the Pinoy crooner can get a free beer on the side.

What if all in the cabin wants to sing "My Way"?

What if a riot ensues?

Then that would be a One Way route to the immigration detention facility at the airport!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Simoun's lamp has been lit, finally.. not by one but by the many!

"So often have we been haunted by the spectre of subversion which, with some fostering, has come to be a positive and real being, whose very name steals our serenity and makes us commit the greatest blunders... If before the reality, instead of changing the fear of one is increased, and the confusion of the other is exacerbated, then they must be left in the hands of time..." Dr Jose Rizal "To the Filipino People and their Government" Jose Rizal dominates the Luneta, which is sacred to the Philippine nation as a place of martyrdom. And many perhaps all of those executed in the Luneta, with the exception of the three Filipino secular priests martyred in 1872, have read Rizal's  El Filibusterismo . Dr Rizal's second novel is a darker and more sinister one that its prequel but has much significance across the century and more after it was published for it preaches the need for revolution with caveats,  which are when the time is right and who will in...

Kung bakit dapat maging wikang pambansa din ang Ingles

Isang kakatwang eksena ang nasaksihan ko sa isang pribabdong opisina kamakailan lang. Dalawang empleyado ang inatasang bigyan ng solusyon ang isang isyu tungkol sa logistics. Ang isa ang tubong Davao at ang isa ay taga Iloilo. Ang unang wika nila ay Cebuano (Bisaya) at Hiligaynon (Ilonggo). Ang dalawang wika ay halos pareho ngunit may mga katagang iba ang kahulugan sa isa't isang wika. Ginamit nila ang wika nilang kinalakihan at hindi sila nagkaintindihan. Ang nangyari tuloy ay gumamit na lang sila ng wikang Ingles! Yung na nga rin ang sabi ko. Mag-English na lang kaya kayo! At bakit di wikang Filipino ang ginamit nila? Sa totoo lang, marami pa rin ang hindi bihasa sa Filipino upang gamitin ito sa mga larangan tulad ng logistics. At hindi lamang sa mga larangang teknikal, sa mga biyahe ko sa ibat-ibat lugar sa Pilipinas, ang mga naka-paskel sa mga CR o palikuran tungkol sa pagtitipid ng tubig ay naka sulat sa 1)Wika ng rehiyon 2) Wikang Ingles 3) at minsa'y sa wikang Filipino S...

Marikina River and the "janitor" fish

My newest environmental science research project is to determine the evolutionary biology of invasion by the "janitor fish" in Marikina River. Today we made our first survey and collections. Marikina River is the"greenest"in Metro Manila but that is just on the surface. One master's student is doing her thesis on biotic integrity and a volunteer MD is working on the project too. The "janitor fish (Pterygoplichthys sp) is the dominant fish now in the river,displacing traditional Marikina food fishes such as dalag and hito. The fish are collected and left to rot on the riverbanks. Despite this, there is still some subsistence fishing on the river. The highest densities of the fish are observed near sewage outfalls where they find food to eat. It is likely that the fish can be controlled if we can clean up the river! BTW the name "janitor fish" insults janitors. The fish thrive in dirty rivers and don't clean them up. Janitors on the other hand, ...