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Google Assistant will soon check into your flight for you
Frequent travelers will soon receive a godsend courtesy of Google. The company is rolling out a new feature to the Google Assistant that will let you check in to your flights just by saying "Hey Google, check in to my flight." You won't have to dig through emails or screenshots to find your confirmation number while standing in front of a kiosk. Assistant is already clever enough to know what it is, and will work with airlines to seamlessly complete your check in.
United flight crew inadvertently shares cockpit codes online
You don't need lax airport screening to create security risks aboard flights. As the TSA found out, you just need someone to post the wrong details on the internet. The Wall Street Journal has learned that a United Airlines (yes, it's in the news again) flight attendant mistakenly posted cockpit door access codes online. While the Air Line Pilots Association says the situation has been resolved, the codes haven't changed yet. Until then, pilots will have to be extra-cautious -- they're already supposed to look at would-be visitors, but they just got a reminder that they can't take a valid code for granted.
You might be warned if your next flight allows WiFi calling
Between screaming babies, flatulent passengers and that guy ahead of you who insists on leaning all the way back, air travel can be pretty miserable. And that's before you think about the possibility of someone loudly making a call over WiFi during your flight. The Department of Transportation wants to address that last bit, though.
Rimowa's electronic luggage tag is the future of traveling
Nowadays if you're flying with carry-on luggage, you can easily skip the check-in lines by doing it all online ahead of time. Sadly, it requires a few more steps if you have to check your luggage -- you still need to go print out your tag at the airport, tie it onto your suitcase and then drop it off at the counter. The folks over at Rimowa and Lufthansa are hoping to simplify that process, because for Germans, every second counts. In Hong Kong, we checked out these fancy suitcases that are updated with an embedded E Ink display -- a HK$500/€60 premium across the existing range, except for the untouchable Classic Flight series -- and hear about where Rimowa's at with this feature's rollout.
Report: United hacked by the same group behind OPM breach
United Airlines detected a breach in its computer systems in May or early June, potentially putting the movements of millions of Americans in the hands of a China-backed hacker group, Bloomberg reports. This is the same group suspected of hacking into the Office of Personnel Management in June and compromising the privacy of 21.5 million people, the site reports. The OPM breach led to the resignation of Director Katherine Archuleta.
United grounds all its flights due to a network glitch (updated)
We really, really hope you didn't have to take a United Airlines flight this morning. The air carrier temporarily grounded all its flights due to a networking glitch that created "automation issues" across its fleet. United started returning things to normal around 9:20AM Eastern (initially for regional carriers), but not before it created serious chaos -- there are reports of staff having to write boarding passes and baggage tickets, not to mention flight delays that will likely continue throughout the day. It's not yet clear what exactly is at fault. However, this is the second time in as many months that the airline has had to bring everything to a screeching halt due to a network failure. That doesn't mean that you're looking at a systemic flaw, but it definitely underscores the importance of reliable transportation tech. Update: United blames its woes on a router that "degraded network connectivity" with some apps. [Image credit: Shutterstock]
Find a security flaw and United Airlines will pay you in... miles
In the world of digital security, bug hunting is the practice of finding holes in a corporation's security and selling it back so the problem can be quietly fixed. Companies such as Microsoft know that it's far cheaper to pay researchers up to $100,000 up-front, rather than facing a massive public security breach shortly afterward. United Airlines has just started one of its own bug hunting programs, but the airline treats security experts much like it does its disgruntled passengers. Rather than just pay fees out in cold, hard, useful cash, the Joffrey Baratheon of airlines has decided to offer united air miles as a bounty.
Court tosses United Airlines lawsuit over a cheap ticket website
United Airlines can't sue Skiplagged for exposing a loophole in ticket prices... at least, for now. A Chicago court has tossed out United's lawsuit because the airfare website doesn't operate in that jurisdiction. The move lets site owner Aktarer Zaman breathe a little, although he may only get a temporary reprieve. While United hasn't said whether or not it will sue again, it notes that the dismissal was based purely on "procedural grounds." The company still believes that Skiplagged's "hidden city" ticket shopping (where you stop at connecting cities, not the final destination) is verboten -- don't be surprised if it finds another way to take legal action. [Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images]
United Airlines attendants will get the iPhone 6 Plus to help you mid-flight
Now that Apple finally has a large smartphone, it's venturing into places that were previously off-limits. Case in point: United has announced that all of its 23,000 "mainline" flight attendants will get the iPhone 6 Plus in the second quarter of 2015. Staff will initially use the supersized handset to check email and manuals (typically on the ground) as well as handle your mid-flight headphone and snack purchases. The airline isn't stopping there, however. Future upgrades will let crews report cabin problems, and there are promises of more "customer-focused tools" to help you out. United isn't the first American carrier to use giant phones in the air, but its iPhone plans could still do a lot to make your next flight go smoothly.
A fight about seat reclining privileges grounded a flight today
If you've ever flown coach, you know that it doesn't provide much legroom -- in an effort to maximize passenger loads, airlines make a conscious effort of eliminating the divide between seating rows, often cutting out the customer's leg-room in the processes. Some sense of personal space can be regained reclining the seat, but this can impact the leg-room of the person sitting behind you. On a recent United Airlines flight, this became a problem: a passenger was using a device called a Knee Defender to disable the reclining function of the seat in front of them and, well, trouble ensued.
The death of the original jumbo jet, Boeing's 747-400
Later this month, Cathay Pacific's 747 will fly from San Francisco to Hong Kong for the very last time. It's a story we're hearing from nearly every airline still flying the most recognizable passenger jet in aviation history -- rising fuel costs are prompting carriers to ground their fleets, opting to shuttle passengers in more modern (and efficient) airliners instead. Hundreds of 747s still take to the skies every day, but their numbers are dwindling, with Boeing's 777-300ER and 787 Dreamliner, as well as the enormous Airbus A380, picking up the slack. The flagships of yesteryear now litter the desert, with several sites in California serving as a permanent resting place for the plane that was once known as the Queen of the Skies, the Boeing 747-400.
United Airlines app can now scan your passport for international flights
Even if you can check in online, you still have to show your passport somewhere at the airport if you're flying international. United Airlines wants to do away with that step, though, so the company has updated its iOS and Android app with the capability to scan passports on your own. When you check in within 24 hours of departure, you'll have the option to scan your passport using the phone's camera, like how you'd take pictures of a check for a mobile deposit. A third party (specifically, a credentials management service called Jumio) still has to verify your document, but so long as everything's in order, you can get a printable boarding pass. Sadly, you can't have everything -- if you're traveling to a place that requires a visa, you'll still have to line up at the airport. In addition to the new scanning feature, the updated apps now also display when boarding time ends, so you don't spend more time at the gates than you need to. [Image credit: Getty Images]
United activates ViaSat's blazing-fast satellite WiFi on select 737s
JetBlue's Fly-Fi satellite internet has been online since November, but while a handful of United's 737s have been equipped with the necessary components to launch its own version of the service for the same period of time, that legacy carrier has kept passengers in the dark. Until this week. According to travel blogger Wandering Aramean, United has since flipped the switch on its latest WiFi effort. But unlike the Gogo available on its transcontinental 757s and the Panasonic satellite-based service aboard select A319, A320 and 747 aircraft, this latest version connects to the ultra-fast ViaSat-1 satellite, letting you surf at 30,000 feet with speeds you'd normally only find on the ground. We tested the same connection aboard a JetBlue A320 in November, and unlike United's existing connectivity options, which are often sluggish and spotty, this service flies. Unfortunately it's not clear where to find the Ka-band-equipped aircraft today, but if you're on a United 737 with DirecTV, there's a small chance it'll also have ViaSat satellite WiFi onboard. We're also not sure of pricing -- JetBlue is charging an introductory rate of $9 per hour for faster service, with basic connectivity available for free for the next few months, but United has yet to confirm its own fee structure. Based on the airline's current satellite WiFi pricing, we'd expect the new service to run between $10 and $15, depending on the length of your flight. We're of course eager to get onboard, so if you happen upon a United 737 with super-fast internet, please mark the tail number and give us a holler.
United, American Airlines allow electronics use during takeoff and landing too
Travelers on Delta and JetBlue said goodbye to switching their mobile devices off during takeoff and landing just hours after the FAA changed its regulations, and now other airlines have joined the party. American Airlines announced a couple of days ago that the FAA had cleared its flights for the new rules, and United made a similar announcement this afternoon. While larger items like laptops will still need to be stowed at certain points in your journey, the FAA's decision means handheld personal devices like most phones, tablets, e-readers and portable games stay on. There are a few exceptions of course, and in-flight voice calls are still a no-no, but at least you can finally leave those magazines and newspapers at the gate.
United Airlines puts Dreamliner back in the air after four-month grounding
Four months after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded the Boeing 787 Dreamliner with an emergency airworthiness directive, United Airlines is putting the fuel-friendly plane back in the air today. The Dreamliner had overheating issues with its lithium-ion battery, which saw two notable failures prior to its January grounding, but a recent revamp of the battery system might put some fliers' fears to rest. It's worth nothing that the FAA approved the battery fix despite the fact that it doesn't quite address the root cause of the problem, but airline executives don't appear to be overly concerned -- both Boeing CEO Jim McNerney and United CEO Jeff Smisek will be on today's Dreamliner flight from Houston to Chicago. For the moment, United's Dreamliner is limited to domestic flights but if all goes well, it'll return to international travel on June 10th, with a flight from Denver to Tokyo.
United app lands on Windows Phone 8, hopes to become your preferred travel companion
The United Airlines application's been available on Android and iOS for ages, and, after months of being nowhere to be found, it's now (finally) time for the Windows Phone 8 crowd to also get to experience what the mobile ware has to offer. Naturally, this means being able to access and peek many things from within the app, including, but not limited to, booking trips, checking flight status, Live Tile notifications and, of course, viewing your digital boarding pass -- which is good news for those who prefer a mostly paperless voyage. There's plenty more goodies where that came from (such as account access and a feature that pinpoints United Club locations), but you'll have to download the app in order to dig a little deeper -- the link to do just that is down below.
United becomes first US airline to offer overseas WiFi with satellite-equipped 747
Lufthansa's been pulling (relatively) speedy Ku-band satellite internet from the heavens for a bit over two years, but now trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific WiFi has finally made its way to a US-based carrier. United, the first US airline to fly the Dreamliner, announced today that a Boeing 747-400 is currently flying around the globe with a constant connection, letting passengers hop online during any portion of the flight -- taxi, takeoff and landing being are a few obvious exceptions, but there's no requirement that the aircraft operate within range of air-to-ground transmitters, a la Gogo. The installed equipment, manufactured by Panasonic, will provide two tiers of service: Standard, which will range in price from $4 to $15, and a speedier Accelerated flavor, with pricing between $6 and $20. The service, which has also been installed on a pair of regional Airbus A319s, isn't as speedy as ViaSat's future Ka-band offering, but it's a step above what's currently on board. United also announced plans to bring WiFi to its A320, along with Boeing 737, 757, 767, 777 and 787 aircraft -- the airline expects installation to be completed on 300 planes by the end of this year. Still missing on many United flights, however, are power jacks -- it's difficult to take advantage of in-flight WiFi if your laptop is dead. Update: Satellite WiFi historians may be familiar with Boeing's failed Connexion service, which promised a similar solution but dissolved prematurely in late 2006. United's implementation is the first of its kind for a US carrier.
Boeing prepares to deliver United's 787 Dreamliner, we climb aboard for a tour (video)
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is the hottest bird in aviation, and while the American-made airliner has already taken flight with passengers aboard, it has yet to land with US-flag air carrier livery along the fuselage. Japan's All Nippon Airways was the first to take delivery, with the premier pair making their way from the assembly line in September of 2011. Last year Japan Airlines made its first scheduled voyage across the Pacific in a Dreamliner of its own, and we were fortunate enough to fly roundtrip on a domestic ANA flight leaving from Tokyo a few months later. But now the 787 is making its way to an American carrier. As the first US airline to operate the plane, United Airlines is about to take delivery of its first of 50 Dreamliners, which will join the carrier's fleet to service both existing and new routes, such as Denver to Tokyo, which is set to launch in late March of next year. We traveled to Boeing's Everett, Washington factory today for a first look at United's aircraft. While the Dreamliner looks physically identical to ANA's plane, the on-board experience is decidedly different from what we saw in Japan. Though the Dreamliner has a very similar layout to United's bigger 777, it feels roomier thanks to larger windows with dimmable shades, expanded overheard bins and higher ceilings. There's plenty more to see, though, so jump past the break for a video tour of United's new mid-size flagship, and a closer look in photos. %Gallery-161666%
United 787 Dreamliner emerges from Boeing factory, complete with golden head-to-tail 'swoop'
The first US-based 787 carrier is inching closer to its Dreamliner service launch. United Airlines celebrated the plane's rollout today at Boeing's Everett, Washington factory. The aircraft, which is set to begin international service later this year, received a custom livery, which includes a curved "swoop" -- which oddly enough appears to be the focus of design chatter. That may just be because the public has yet to take a peek inside, though we did have an opportunity to hitch a ride on ANA's variant last year, which has been flying throughout Japan since late 2011. Despite All Nippon's head start, United's flavor has garnered much attention domestically, marking a massive milestone in the Dreamliner's delayed launch. Hit up our source link below for a few more (exterior) views, courtesy of United.
United upgrading Gogo in-flight WiFi on its premium service fleet, speeds will reach 9.8 Mbps
It won't be enough to cancel out the Engadget editor using in-flight WiFi to upload photo galleries (sorry, guys), but it should make web surfing from coach a little less tedious. United has just announced that it will be upgrading its Gogo in-air WiFi service to take advantage of Gogo's enhanced ATG-4 service, which promises to bump speeds from the current 3.1 Mbps to 9.8 Mbps using directional antennae, dual modems and EV-DO Rev. B. Before you get too excited, though, keep in mind that United has so far only committed to retrofitting its premium service fleet, which includes 13 planes that fly between New York's JFK and either LAX or SFO.
