16
MARCH2015
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
I
nDecember,aUnitedExpressregional
jet took to the skies outfitted with
Wi-Fi,the firstofmore than200E170,
E175 and CRJ700 jets slated to get
Wi-Fi bymid-year.Customers in pre-
miumcabinsmayalsonotice theairline
getting freshwith them thismonth—
fresh food,that is,which replaces snack
boxes onmealtime flights longer than
800miles.Also, by the end of the year,
customerswillbeable toenjoywatching
inflightmovies andTV shows on their
personal devices.
What’smore,muchof this ishappen-
ing inside brand-new planes.United
Express carriers are taking delivery
of 125 Embraer E175 aircraft,which
offer wider seats and aisles, larger
overhead bins and power outlets in
United First.We have also retrofitted
BombardierCRJ700aircraftwithnew
cabin interiors.
Senior Performance Manager
JamesonAño says customers are also
experiencing improvements on the
ground,with a refurbishedTerminal B
forUnitedExpressatHouston’sGeorge
Bush Intercontinental Airport, as well
asnew jetbridgesandmodernizedgate
areas atChicagoO’Hare’sTerminal 2.
“With all these changes to make
UnitedandUnitedExpressservicemore
consistent,the linesareblurringbetween
themainlineandtheregional jetservice,”
Añoexplains,notingthatUnited’sgoal is
an improvedexperiencenotwithstanding
airplane type. “There are a lot of good
thingswehave set the stage for anda lot
ofgood things thatwill come to fruition
in2015.”
—A.AVERYLRE
Doyouhaveaquestion
forCaptainBowers?
Youcanwrite tohimat
connections
ExpressYourself
Couldyouexplain
thepurposeof
deicingaplane?
Wedeiceaircraft
toensureall
snowand iceare
removedprior to flight
and toprevent any
snow still falling from
adhering.Weonlyuse
twoof the four types
ofdeicing fluid: Type I
andType IV. Type I isa
propyleneglycol–based
fluidand ismixedwith
hotwaterat apreset
ratio to removeany ice
or snowalreadyon the
aircraft. Ithasa limited
“hold-over” time, soafter
applyingType I,we then
applyType IV,which is
alsoapropyleneglycol–
based fluidbut is thicker
and ismoreeffective in
preventingcontinued
snowfall fromadhering.
If it isnot snowing, and
we justneed to remove
snow,weonlyuse
Type I.
Q
A
AskthePilot
withcaptainmikebowers
UnitedAirlines is changing theway customers
thinkof regional jet service
