Airplane @ MindSay

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

 

Aug. 12, 2008 - Servicemembers traveling for official business, including deployments, will continue to receive full reimbursement for reasonable, authorized excess baggage fees, defense officials said.  A recently updated fact sheet from the Department of Defense Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Committee explains department policy regarding excess baggage in light of new charges many airlines have imposed for checked baggage.

 

As airlines struggle to offset increased fuel and operating costs, many have started charging additional fees for services such as baggage shipment, the fact sheet explains. Commercial airline practices vary widely regarding fees for shipped baggage. Some charge for each bag, others for a second or third bag, and others for any bag over a specified weight limit.

 

Many airlines waive some or all excessive baggage fees for military members traveling on official orders, said Dave Castelveter, vice president of communications for the Air Transport Association.

 

But for those who don't, the fees are reimbursable if authorized on the travel order, according to the DoD fact sheet.

 

Servicemembers' commands will reimburse any fees charged for the first checked bag. However, the command may opt to limit how much it will pay for additional luggage in light of the length of the travel and mission requirements, the fact sheet explains.

 

To claim reimbursement, the traveler must submit the receipt and claim the charge on a travel voucher.

 

The excess baggage fee issue gained widespread attention after news reports that a commercial airline had charged a soldier deploying to Iraq $100 to cover the cost of a third piece of luggage. The incident prompted Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander George J. Lisicki to fire off a letter to the Air Transport Association asking for a break. Lisicki asked the ATA to negotiate an agreement with its member airlines to exempt servicemembers traveling on official orders from paying fees on a third piece of luggage.

 

"I completely understand the financial constraints the airline industry is in, but I also know the military traveler is an extremely small fraction of the total passengers carried," he wrote. "Those who wear the uniform today are a special class of citizen who enables everyone else to enjoy every liberty our great country holds dear. They deserve special treatment because they have earned it."

 

Lisicki emphasized that he wasn't asking the airlines to give military travelers first-class lounge privileges or other executive perks. "What I am requesting is for your member airlines to begin allowing all military personnel traveling on orders to check a third bag without being charged," he said. "This should not be a difficult decision to reach, but it is one that needs to be made."

 

James C. May, Air Transport Association president and chief executive officer, explained in his response to Lisicki that military members on official duty travel at rates negotiated between General Services Administration and individual airlines. May said he expects those contractual arrangements -- reached before spiraling fuel prices forced the airlines to begin charging fees for excess baggage and other services -- to be renegotiated in the future.

 

Until then, many individual airlines have established policies creating special exceptions from certain baggage limitations for Defense Department travelers on official orders, he told Lisicki.

 

May said he would forward Lisicki's letter to ATA's member airlines, which by law must make all fare-setting and service-policy determinations independently. These policies include excess-baggage fees. Meanwhile, May emphasized the commercial airline industry's "long and proud history of supporting our nation's military men and women."

 

"They routinely offer special fares for military personnel and families, attempt when possible to accommodate unplanned schedule changes and generally seek to do what they can to show their appreciation," he wrote.

 

May said the airlines also support the Fisher House Foundation and various other programs that support the military.

This is paradise.

I arrived in Brazil yesterday, after a long flight with a four hour layover at JFK. My mum, being the lovely considerate woman that she is, ordered me a vegetarian meal for the plane. Unfortunately, the vegetarian meal also serves as the diet meal: not only did I miss out on the crackers and brownie, but my breakfast included a mini bagel while everyone else received one of more normal proportions. At least the flight was relatively smooth and the quintessential crying baby fell asleep soon after take-off.

My flight arrived in Sao Paulo at about 10am, but the SEE-U van was not scheduled to leave until 12:30, so I wandered around the airport for a while. I learned that women in Brazil (or at least in the Brazilian airport) are even more inept than American women when buying pants. Lots of muffin tops and bare ankles. Lots of whisker-wash too; I'm not sure which is more abhorrent. By 11:00 I was bored of aimlessly perusing souvenir shops and book stores full of trashy romance novels and maps in Portuguese, so I headed over to the Pizza Hut in terminal 2, the meeting place selected for our group.

There were a few girls waiting around a table; I identified them by the nearby pile of backpacks and suitcases. Oh, and the Columbia t-shirts. Everyone was very friendly and seemed interesting; we went through the standard introductions of what's your name, where are you from, what's your major, etc. Most of the participants hail from Columbia University (although I am the only Barnard student), but one attends NYU and another is from Delaware Valley College.

At 12:30 we loaded our luggage into a large van and drove for about an hour to our site. It was wonderful to step outside the airport after traveling for so long; palm trees planted on the roadside waved in a light, warm breeze, surprisingly warm since this is the Brazilian winter. The drive was beautiful, down a winding gravel road along the side of white cliff faces and through thick woods. Right after leaving GRU we passed through a residential area on the outskirts of Sao Paulo; the brightly painted concrete houses and dark-haired children sitting on the curbs reminded me of the neighborhoods of Belize City.

After driving for about an hour, we reached our destination: the Instituto de Pesquisas Ecologicas (IPE). The location is absolutely breathtaking--it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The center overlooks a deep blue reservoir; black and brown cows graze peacefully in the foreground, munching on green grass dotted with patches of wildflowers. There are some kayaks that we can rent and I would love to spend some time paddling across the water. The scenery also includes miles of tree-covered mountains stretching into the horizon. The Atlantic Forest isn't jungle-y like the Amazon, but it is amazingly lush.

We're all staying in a two-storey rectangular brick building with red shutters and external stairs; the rooms are small, containing two twin beds with only a few feet between them, but very comfortable. I was afraid we were going to be roughing it, but that's not the case. I think the mattresses may even be Tempur-pedic. (I slept very soundly last night.) There have been no hot showers as of yet, which is marginally disappointing, but it makes it easy to wake up in the morning. A brisk shower never hurt anyone and I'm sure it saves a lot of water overall.

The food has been excellent so far. For lunch yesterday we had green salad, rice, and a meat dish. I'd love to lose a few pounds while I'm here (what a great bonus). For breakfast this morning we had granola, yogurt (delicious!), crusty rolls, cheese, and lots of fruit. A great array of fruits--bananas, apples, oranges, mangoes, papayas, passion fruits, etc. All of the produce is grown in a nearby garden...I'd love to see it.

We had our first class after breakfast and went over some orientation topics: general safety and appropriate behavior, class schedules, grading criteria, etc. I'm really excited to start learning about this beautiful place; I think the educational material will be heavy but not too difficult, and I can't wait to spend time in the field. We each complete individual projects during our five week stay here, but I have no idea what topic I would like to study.

After class we went for a hike around the area, through a wide pasture, over several hills, and down a narrow path veiled by low hanging vines and thick shoots of bamboo. We saw some enormous spiders, lots of pretty flowers, and a sloth. Taking advantage of such a slow-moving organism, I took too many photos (as usual). When I upload them onto the computer I probably won't be able to decipher their subject, since the sloth was quite high up and my camera's zoom is less than ideal. He was very cute though and climbed down a bit to watch us as we watched him.

We have class again tonight until about 6:00. Afterwards, I'm hoping to finish the paper that I still have not turned in from the end of spring semester. I have about 20-pages so far and I just need to do some revision and add some more primary source references. It's by far the lowest quality writing that I've done all year, but I'm so burned out. At least it will be done soon and won't be hanging over my head. Hopefully Professor Rieder (who I hope to coerce into advising my thesis) will forgive me and won't judge my abilities too strongly based on this one assignment. He did tell me at one point during this semester that he thought I was brilliant. (I almost fainted.)

Ok, with my new Creative Zen, I have been listening to podcasts with any free time I have.  There is this one podcast - again - called Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase.  Here is another story from her show (paraphrased):

A plane was going to Houston.  This blonde lady enters the plane and plops herself in a first class.  She says to the flight attendant (FA), "I am blonde, I am beautiful, I going to Houston, and I am sitting in first class."

The FA says, "Ok, fine.  Let me see your boarding pass."

The blonde hands over the pass, and it clear shows a coach class seat.

The FA says, "I sorry, but your assigned seat is in coast.  You have to go sit there."

The blonde says "Nope.  I am blonde, I am beautiful, I going to Houston, and I am sitting in first class."

The FA finds another FA to help her out.  She tells the lady that she has to move.  "Nope.  I am blonde, I am beautiful, and I am sitting in first class."

The FA's are all baffled as to what to do.  So they ask the Captain for help.  He looks back, see the lady, and says, "It's ok.  I speak 'blonde' - my wife is blonde.  I'll help"

The Captain gets up, approaches the lady, says a few words to her.  The lady confidently get up, and goes the back of the plane - no fuss at all.

The FA are all amazed, and asked the Captain what he said.

"I told her that the First Class wasn't going to Houston."
====

Being that this was her second blonde joke, and the host is blonde, makes me wonder if this really happened.

The last few days here in Linyi have been rainy and gray. This is the kind of weather I expect in winter, so it is not altogether unwelcome. I’m just glad that our trip to Mt. Tai coincided with blue skies. Anyway, although the skies are overcast today, our students were able to fly. Flying here has been a little hit and miss over the last month. The closer we get to winter, the greater the chance for low visibility. Fall is the best time for flying, but the number of clear days are slowly dwindling.

There are other challenges here that limit flying, and I’ve been meaning to post about those. I had some setbacks because of my grad school classes, however, and couldn’t spend a lot of time writing blog posts. Today I will share something that maybe can’t be considered a challenge, but is something unexpected, nevertheless.

One of today’s flights was delayed slightly due to a “runway incursion.” Not that an aircraft was at risk of colliding with another aircraft or vehicle, but rather a dog had wandered too close to the runway. Wildlife are often a problem at big airports, especially birds. A bird strike can damage airplane surfaces and engines. At many airports, loud noises are used to scare birds away. At others, poison is used to deal with them. I’ve even heard of some airports that employ trained hawks to keep birds away. A friend of ours who flies in Africa sometimes has to deal with elephants and giraffe wandering onto the runway. I’m really not sure what the procedure is for a dog, but today we felt sure someone would just try to scare the poor thing away.

Instead, someone was dispatched to “take care” of the dog. With a shotgun.

I guess the moral to this story is dog may be man’s best friend, but man is not always dog’s best friend. Dogs and airplanes don’t mix at our local airport.