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August 29 2011
The Plane Truth: Boarding by Rows Is the Worst Possible Way, Says Physicist
Let’s face it: boarding an airplane with luggage is just downright frustrating. Not only do you have to puzzle out how you are going to wrestle your carry-on bag into the aircraft’s tiny overhead compartment, but you have to do it while trying not to get swept away by the tugging current of other passengers.
“OK, everybody count off!”
Courtesy of Steffen, arXiv
But surely not all boarding procedures are created equal—simply boarding the plane back to front would be the easiest and most efficient method, right? Wrong. In fact, boarding by sequential rows is the worst possible approach (pdf), according to a new study by physicist Jason Steffen of the Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics.
Steffen tested the efficiency of several different boarding procedures by sending 72 luggage-toting passengers into a movie-set Boeing 757. Among the boarding techniques tested was the zone/block style, where passengers fill the plane back to front, one large group at a time; WilMA, or Window, Middle, then Aisle (how the “l” got where it did is a mystery); and Steffen’s own procedure (imaginatively called “the Steffen method”), which incorporates both the other two techniques (see chart).
Steffen timed ...
February 01 2011
Facebook Addicts, Rejoice: Airplanes Offer Free Access in February
For all those penny-pinching, world-traveling Facebook-users out there, you’re in luck: you’ll be able to check Facebook during your flight and not pay a dime if you fly during the short, sweet month of February.
Of course this means we all need to prepare ourselves for the inane status updates. Like: “I can see my house from here!” And: “Clouds… wow.”
Participating airlines–including American Airlines, Delta, United Airlines, AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, Virgin America, and U.S. Airways–are partnering with Gogo Inflight Internet and Ford to provide airline passengers with free Facebook access. As Mashable reports:
It’ll work like this: Once the travelers are allowed to turn on tablets, phones, laptops and other personal electronic devices, they will be able to access the Gogo Wi-Fi network, and then click on the Ford/Facebook banner to access Facebook.
Of course, the ulterior motive is that you won’t want to stop just at Facebook, in which case you’ll be charged for internet access, starting at around $5. And in March, the Facebook free ride will be over, too.
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Discoblog: Map of Facebook Friend Connections Lights Up the World
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