The Mad, Mad Summer of 2022

In Ask the Pilot… The Mad, Mad Summer of 2022. In 30 years of commercial flying, I've never seen anything like this. (askthepilot.com) More...

The Secret Lives of Flight Numbers

Where Do Flight Numbers Come From? Do They Harbor a Secret Meaning ? (askthepilot.com) More...

The Airport Lounge Crisis

In Ask the Pilot: The Airport Lounge Crisis. Crowds, kids, noise... has the premium class lounge hit a breaking point? (www.askthepilot.com) More...

The Zen of Airline Route Maps

Point to Point: Alaska Airlines’ Throwback Flights, and the Weird Zen of Airline Route Maps. (www.askthepilot.com) More...

This is Your Captain Sleeping..... Will the New FAA rest rules make a difference?

Patrick Smith's (hey that's me) ASK THE PILOT column takes a look at the new flight/duty time rules... An excerpt: "...Perhaps the most important change is the one stipulating that pilots must now receive a minimum 10-hour rest period between assignments (i.e., workdays), with an opportunity for at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. Until now, not only have rest periods been reduceable to as few as eight hours, the very definition of “rest” itself has failed to account for… (www.salon.com) More...

The Truth About Flight Tracking. How the NY Times Got it Wrong

Since the MH370 disappearance, there's been so much media fixation on how planes are and aren't tracked. Most of the reporting, though, has been erroneous or misleading. Here's an example. (www.askthepilot.com) More...

Ask the Pilot: Out of Africa

Now in Patrick Smith's ASK THE PILOT: Something a little different. A mini-memoir of flight and travel: AFRICA IN TWO PARTS "...I enjoy the flight into Dakar. The way the Cap Vert peninsula appears on the radar screen, perfectly contoured like some great rocky fish hook — the western-most tip of the continent, and the sense of arrival and discovery it evokes. There it is! Africa! Eastbound over Senegal, crossing into Mali. Predawn plumb-light, then sunrise. A hot red sphere balanced… (life.salon.com) More...

Public Address Madness at a Terminal Near You.

Now in Ask the Pilot: The Scourge of Airport Noise. Public Address Madness at a Terminal Near You. (askthepilot.com) More...

A Pilot's Take on Landing Gear Problems

Gear problems are great fodder for the media machine, but seldom if ever deadly. Published in Slate magazine. (www.slate.com) More...

Ask the Pilot: Food!

Up now in Patrick Smith's ASK THE PILOT column: What do aircrews eat at 35,000 feet? Are "office" romances a thing of the past? How long do crews stay together, and why can't cockpits be fitted with a secure side entrance? This and more... (life.salon.com) More...