Image courtesy of haynes on Flickr

That’s right, a duck. A customer recently headed through security with a live duck. TSA, the government agency that handles all security screenings, stopped the duck owner and relayed that only dogs and cats and limited other, small approved animals can fly. The traveler explained, “It’s OK for me to bring the duck because I’m a magician!”

Sure enough, the duck-handler produced (not out of thin air) a stack of paperwork that documented the aquatic-animal’s extensive travel history. After reviewing the evidence and evaluating that this fine-feathered friend would provide a relatively quack-free flight, duck and owner were cleared for takeoff.

Read previous editions of You Can’t Make This Schtick Up

Our A320 soars above the new playground! Captured by our crewmember and photographer Stephen Tornblom

Our first playground build of 2012 took place in Long Beach, California last week Thursday was a great success! More than 200 volunteers, including our Long Beach crewmembers and our community partners at KaBOOM! and elsewhere joined forces to build local kids a safe place to play in just one day!

Check out the below images from the build and vote for the home of our next KaBOOM! playground!

Learn more about our partnership with KaBOOM! and past playground builds.

Image courtesy of weanders on Flickr

Today we honor Presidents Day, the American Federal holiday dedicated to honoring our first president, George Washington, and our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. These two foundational leaders have helped to shape the twin values of democracy and equality that have made America shine brightly in the global landscape.

For those of us with a vested interest in air travel, whether for work or play, the holiday brings to mind the time of year when airports are especially lively with travelers trying to take advantage of the extra day or week off from work and school. We hope you’re escaping to somewhere warm and tropical!

Some recommended reading for Presidents Day:

• A Washington Post article highlighting the most underrated presidents in American history
• Arts and crafts tips, including instructions for making a pretzel log cabin, and Abraham Lincoln finger puppets
• Fun and little-known facts about America’s presidents
• Freaky secrets of the Presidency
• Who was the first president to fly on official business in an airplane?

What are your plans for Presidents Day? Are you traveling with us or maybe just daydreaming about it? If so, where are you headed (or where would you like to be heading)?

For more than a decade, the Boston Business Journal has hosted the Book of Lists Gala—a large networking event for local executives. The gala was held at TD Garden, and it was our second year sponsoring it. Over 1,000 attendees represented top businesses in Boston from a variety of industries, and learned about our service and offerings.

To help add more color, we enlisted our maintenance team for their expertise!

Our aircraft are painted by a business partner down in Roswell, New Mexico. Paint is always checked when our aircraft receives an in-depth inspection. Touch-ups may also take place in between if they are needed. It’s important to keep an eye on paint condition, because it serves a larger purpose than making our planes look pretty—it also protects our aircraft.

Artists everywhere, put those paintbrushes down! Aircraft are always spray-painted. Stencils and masking are used to apply specific designs—like with the Red Sox livery!

A clean, temperature (and humidity)-controlled environment allow for effective curing during the paint process. If the humidity is too low, water will evaporate from the paint, causing the fluidity and covering capacity to decrease. A high humidity can dilute the enamel and form an uneven surface on the plane.

Typically, one coat of primer and two to three coats of top coat are used on each plane depending on the color (some shades are more transparent than others so they require more coats). For example, a coat of white must be applied before a layer of red paint for it to be truly red.

A freshly-painted aircraft might feel rubbery to the touch. Since aircraft paint has flexible coating designed to handle pressurization and temperature fluctuations, it is thicker and more rigorous than regular paint.

A great place to play for school-age kids (ages 5-12) will improve community health, develop children’s social skills and combat childhood obesity. KaBOOM! and JetBlue know that kids play harder and get more exercise when they play in an unstructured way. This playground will provide the perfect space for unstructured play and, given the high number of kids served at the Fairfield YMCA, would be an important part of the solution to the neighborhood’s obesity problem.

Members and nonmembers of the Fairfield Branch will all benefit from its programs and will rally together to make this playground project successful. Hundreds of volunteers have signed up to support this activity. They view the Fairfield Branch as a safe community space that brings together neighborhood children and will donate their time, money and efforts to this project. Through working with its members, parents and volunteers, the Fairfield YMCA’s project planning committee is ready to build a great new place to play.

The playground is the 12th built by KaBOOM! and JetBlue in an effort to fight the play deficit and save play. We’ve helped to build playgrounds in Greater Boston, Massachusetts; Salt Lake City, Utah; Kissimmee and Orlando, Florida; and Long Island City, New York, among others.

Learn more about our partnership with KaBOOM! and past playground builds.

The Contenders

The Panel

Brett Snyder, better known as Cranky Flier, is basically the world’s biggest aviation geek, with stints at USAir, America West, United, and even Eos (remember them?!) under his belt. He lives in Long Beach and can often be spotted volunteering at LGB Airport. Despite his name, Cranky is a really nice guy. Find him at crankyflier.com or on Twitter @CrankyFlier.

Henry Harteveldt is an airline and travel industry analyst and co-founder of Atmosphere Research Group, a travel industry research firm. A true aviation veteran, Henry worked for many years at TWA and Continental. He lives in San Francisco — but spends most of his time in airplanes — and tweets his travel industry thoughts (and lots more) from @HHarteveldt.

Benet Wilson, affectionately known as the Aviation Queen, is one of the aviation industry’s leading voices. Currently head of Media Relations at AOPA, the general aviation organization, Benet was previously a journalist with Aviation Week. An airline geek at heart, Benet has worked at Delta, Mesa Air, and Rolls-Royce North America. She lives in Baltimore, where she recently started private flying lessons. Check out her blog at aviationqueen.com or her Twitter feed @AvQueenBenet.

The Winner – Santo Domingo!

What the expert judges had to say about the winning cake:

Benet: I like this!! So tasteful, this could have actually been Brett’s wedding cake! This is my choice.

Brett: There is no way this is my wedding cake. Accuracy is key – that is a 747 that apparently borrowed its wheels from a tricycle. Automatic disqualification. Come back when there’s an Airbus in its place and it might win.

Henry: I’m willing to overlook the fact they topped the cake with a 747, and chalk that up to the team’s belief in B6 and the airline’s potential. Good job with B6 branding, and the tiers of the cake are nicely proportioned. For me, this cake is the best.

The Lee County Board of Commissioners and the Boston Red Sox will host a grand opening celebration on Saturday, February 25 at 11:30 a.m. where they will officially open the ballpark and Spring Training Complex to the public. Executives and crewmembers from the official airline of the Boston Red Sox (yours truly), will also be on hand to help officially open JetBlue Park. The grand opening ceremony will be followed by an open house from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., open to all fans.

During the open house, fans will have an opportunity to walk freely around JetBlue Park and enjoy concessions and entertainment on Fenway South Drive – a street festival reminiscent of Yawkey Way in Boston. Much like at Fenway Park in Boston, the street will have entertainment including, face painting, magicians, stilt walkers, a bounce house, obstacle course, and other games for children. As well, to help support Florida’s Blood Center, a blood drive will be taking place during the open house for those who are able to make a blood donation.

February 25 also marks the date of the first full squad workout of the 2012 Red Sox team. Fans will have an opportunity to walk around the practice fields of Fenway South in addition to JetBlue Park where, for the first time, both major and minor league teams will train together at a single complex.

Other key dates this Spring Training season include:

• Sunday, February 19: Pitchers and catchers report – the Player Development Complex will be open to the public free of charge.

• Saturday, February 25: First full squad workout, opening celebration, and free open house.

• Saturday, March 3: First college exhibition games featuring Northeastern University at 2:35 p.m., followed by Boston College at 7:05 p.m.

• Sunday, March 4 - First official Grapefruit League Game matching the Red Sox and Minnesota Twins at 1:35 p.m.

See the unveiling of our new Red Sox livery
Learn more about our partnership with the Boston Red Sox
See the renderings of JetBlue Park

Effective immediately, customers may book tickets for combined travel on JetBlue and Japan Airlines through JAL’s gateways at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). Customers may book their connecting travel by calling Japan Airlines or by contacting their preferred travel agent.

Image courtesy of joi on Flickr

JAL offers twice-daily nonstop service from both LAX and JFK to the carrier’s hub at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, where travellers may connect onward to most major cities in Asia including Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Seoul, Shanghai, and Taipei.

From New York, JetBlue offers easy connections between JAL-operated flights and cities up and down the United States’ East Coast including Buffalo/Niagara Falls, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and cities throughout Florida. From Los Angeles, JetBlue and JAL will offer connecting service to Boston, New York, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Boston – Asia service to begin in April
The Japanese carrier plans to begin nonstop service between Tokyo-Narita and our Boston focus city later this year – an exciting new route that marks the commercial debut of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the U.S. market – making Boston the third connecting point between JetBlue and JAL. The new service between Boston and Tokyo, operated by JAL as part of its transpacific joint business agreement with American Airlines, will be the only nonstop link from New England to Asia.

With a mid-day arrival and departure time, JAL’s new service is perfectly timed for onward connections with JetBlue to destinations throughout the Northeast and Florida.