Which Aircraft

Boo Boo

Sounds like a fun trip for you too!!! Are you going to Disneyland etc? I think San Diego is lovely, gorgeous climate too. We flew into San Fran last time and hired a car to drive down H1, Carmel, 17mile drive down to Santa Barbara and then did all the touristy things in LA, Christopher our son was only 8 then, so Disney was top of the agenda along with Universal and Knottsberry Farm. We've been to Hawaii 4 times now - our favourite islands are Kauai, Ohahu and Big Island. All a matter of taste I think - but Kauai is just beautiful it's where they filmed Jurassic Park etc., you must go. It is a long way if you go straight there, but we've always broken our trip in California and then gone onto the Islands, its around 5hrs 30mins. We've been with Hawaiian Airlines First Class (Business really) and that was good - but this time we're flying with AA. Got a great deal and it was on the "More Room" airline which is around 35" so for such a short flight I didn't really see the need for paying an awful lot more. You must go - the Islands are beautiful...

Hope we both have fantastic trips and look forward to reading your trip report when you get back.
Annex

[mitchja]

quote:Originally posted by declansmith
I dont want to spoil this thread for anyone however, finding out which aircraft you are due to fly on could be a security issue.

I think this is confidential information really, as making this information known to 'anyone out there' could mean a specific threat to an aircraft on a specific date on a specific route.

So I would ask that people dont ask for the aircraft info but just to wait until the day.

I hope this makes sense and people understand.

I agree totally - upto a few months ago VS were not even very keep on releasing seat maps of their aircraft.

Regards

In a way i see your point but if it was that much of a security issue VS wouldnt show the seat plans plus if some one wanted to do something to an aircraft they could track it's history using the web and work out a pattern for it.

And to get a rough idea of the layout all people have to do is dig out some cabin pic's off the net to study plus most the aircraft have the same seat arangement so it only take's a couple of ret flight's for people to work thing's out.

God how bad do i sound[:0] but just goes to show no matter how secure we try to make thing's they will never be secure and someone will get around it[:(!].

Cheers

Phil

[Decker]

at the risk of sounding like an anorak.... [:(]

if you WANTED to do such a thing you'd want to make extra sure it'd work. So you'd choose the ones where there were less chances of the plan going awry.

So given a choice between plotting two scenarios, 1 - could be any one of these OR most likely THIS and 2 - could be any one of these....

most malevolent factions would plump for (1) thus making (1) more dangerous...

quote:Originally posted by Decker
at the risk of sounding like an anorak.... [:(]

Anorak you never:D

Cheers

Phil

[Decker]

ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzip

Do snorkel parkas count?

Well if you want to look like Rodney then yes Dave:D

Cheers

Phil

Knowing an aircraft seating and plan and where a specific aircraft is flying to on a specific day is a secuirty risk.

I am sure in the view of VAA they would not be happy knowing about aircraft data going around.

We all know the flight deck is at the front of an aircraft regardless of where the seats are!!!

At the end of the day if there going to target an aircraft they will target the one flying to the destination they choose regardless of it's name or reg name.

Cheers

Phil

quote:Originally posted by pegitt
At the end of the day if there going to target an aircraft they will target the one flying to the destination they choose regardless of it's name or reg name.

Cheers

Phil

What if its at the start of the day and not the end?

I agree with pegitt, I cant see a benefit from tracking and targetting a specific aircraft. I should think a terrorist would simply target a plane going to a specific location on a specific day.

Nevertheless lets all jump on the paranoia bandwagon and go along with the decision!

Apologies for bringing this up again, but it appears i missed it the first time around.
On one hand I do agree with pegitt BUT....
looking at the bigger picture, i can see why this is a security risk/issue. Aircraft can differ quite a bit from each other despite being of the same type (e.g. B747-400). Therefore "if" something were to be planned it is going to be handy for the "planner" to know specific details about a/c operating. An example of this might be operation of flight deck systems differing between two a/c.
I am aware of several differences between a/c of the same type in the VA fleet.

Dont get me wrong...i am torn on this one!

I can see that the more info a terrorist has, the easier his (or her) 'job' will be, but equally I don't want to live in a 1984 world where there is no freedom of information. Off the top of my head I can't think of any hijack/terrorist act in the past where knowing the specific reg would've helped the aforementioned demented individual (type maybe, but not reg) although who knows what they're planning in the future? [V]

I have no problem helping out with reggies but if the general concensus is that it's a bad idea then I'll go along with that. To be honest though, there is so much swapping around that an allocation is likely to change half a dozen times in the week prior to the flight anyway!

Cheers
Alan

Alan,
I wholeheartedly agree with you.
If we took the line on "Which Aircraft" then the majority of this and VS own website should be removed.
i.e. seating plans, best seat for a terrorist to sit in to cause mayhem?
From Pix's list you can estimate which aircraft will be on which route?
Don't mention the names of crew members on specific flights, might make them hostage targets?
No mention of when an aircraft is going in for service/upgrade, might let the terrorists know and they could then infiltrate the repair hangar?
No mention about who supplies items, could allow terrorists to poison food/gifts etc..?
Don't mention that you are in the Clubhouse and offer to let a V-Flyer member in with you, could be a terrorist wanting to bow up the Clubhouse?
No trip reports, far too much information for a terrorist on a particular aircraft/route?
No discussion about security at a particular airport?

Yes, i know some are far fetched, but this is what happens or could happen if you allow paranio to let loose.

As has been said, a lot of times, aircraft are changed at the last minute, the security for passengers and crew is high (most places)and if the terrorist wnats to plant something on an aircraft, he/she is not really bothered if it one 747 or another 747, they are more bothered about how to get it on board a particular flight routing.

I have a disagreement with my travel agent about the aircraft on flight VS001 on 30th November from LHR to EWR. He tells me it is an airbus, my own info from the availability tool is a 74S (I presume that S means suites). As we are travelling Upper Class, the suites make quite a difference to our choice of flight!

Who is correct?

Many thanks in advance for any help,

Michael

The VS001 is currently being operated by a 744.
All LHR 744's are now fitted with suites.

quote:Originally posted by Vrocking
The VS001 is currently being operated by a 744.
All LHR 744's are now fitted with suites.

Is it ALWAYS operated by a 744?

Yes the VS1 is always a 744

Well, in the end it turned out that the agent had us booked on the wrong flight - VS009 instead of VS001. He mistook my '16:00 departure time' (24hr) for '6:00 departure time' (12hr). So I am quite pleased that I did all this research, as without it we would have arrived much later than we wanted, to Kennedy instead of to Newark. Anyway, thanks everyone for being so helpful. The trip is a combined 45th birthday for my wife and a family wedding, and from what I hear the UCS will really add to it all.

quote:Originally posted by declansmith
I dont want to spoil this thread for anyone however, finding out which aircraft you are due to fly on could be a security issue.

I think this is confidential information really, as making this information known to 'anyone out there' could mean a specific threat to an aircraft on a specific date on a specific route.

So I would ask that people dont ask for the aircraft info but just to wait until the day.

I hope this makes sense and people understand.

Excuse me for going against the crowd, but how is it in any way a security risk to be told the exact aircraft on which you are flying? You are always told the aircraft model when you book, and most airlines will have uniform IFE, seating, etc. for the same aircraft type. Even with Virgin, the most extreme example of variation between the same aircraft model that comes to hand, knowing the exact plane only tells you the IFE system and whether it has UCS. The rest is obtained on booking.
If a terrorist wanted to cause trouble, then none of this information which some people want to confidentialize would be of use. A terrorist is most likely to attack a plane on take off and landing; up to date flight schedules/status/running times are freely available, meaning that any strike could be planned and timed extremely accurately without the help of IFE details.

Everyone seems just a touch paranoid...