If you suddenly decide to find out how many airline companies there are in the world,
you might get thoroughly confused.
Some sources state that the number is higher than 5,000; others claim that there are about
800 commercial airlines.
But whatever the truth is, that's still a lot!
And among all these numerous air carriers, there’s a pretty unusual one: the thing
is, it’s existed for 30 years but has never had a single flight!
From the very beginning, Baltia, a US airline launched in 1989, had great ambitions.
The carrier was planning to provide its passengers with high-quality service in all three of
the classes it was going to offer.
But excellent service wasn't the only thing the airline advertised to attract loyal customers.
Baltia was supposed to operate the only non-stop flight from JFK, New York, to Leningrad, a
big city in the then-Soviet Union which is now St. Petersburg.
Getting permission from the DOT (the Department of Transportation) is a long process.
That's why it took Baltia almost two years to reach this stage.
But eventually, in 1991, with the permission in its pocket, the air carrier was ready to
start scheduled flights between JFK and Leningrad, as well as Riga (Latvia), Minsk (Belarus),
Kiev (Ukraine), and Tbilisi (Georgia).
Meanwhile, the mass media was swarming with news about the new airline company and its
plans to buy a couple of new, and several used, Boeing airplanes.
But then, suddenly, all the articles about Baltia stopped, as if the airline had never
existed.
And only recently did the air carrier reappear, claiming that it still couldn't get the operational
approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration!
By the time Baltia seemingly returned out of nowhere, it’d already been operating
for more than 25 years!
But it still hadn't transported a single passenger or a mere package.
Apparently, the airline has failed the FAA evaluation seven times so far, and most of
its failures have related to the deployment of its evacuation slides.
Desperate, the airline management even moved its hub to Michigan, where it's easier to
get the green light from the FAA than in New York.
And guess what?
Even there, Baltia still failed its certification tests.
It also became apparent that, despite its ambitious shopping plans, the company owned
just one 37-year-old Boeing 747 aircraft.
After being bought, the plane flew only once, from Willow Run Airport to Oscoda, Michigan,
where it was left at the maintenance facility and never flew again.
In 2016, the company had to take its only airplane out of service after a hired expert
honestly told the management that this aircraft wasn't the best to launch the airline with.
So, what do we have now?
A 30-year-old carrier that’s listed as an existing airline company but has no fleet,
tons of debt, and plans as ambitious as they were when the start-up was first launched.
Baltia owners claim that they’re at the final stage of the Air Carrier Certification
process, even though their website doesn't allow you to make any reservations.
Well, we'll have to wait and see!
And wait…and wait…
As we’re waiting… wow this could be a looong video -- how about the rest of the
airlines that ARE functioning?
Want to learn some cool aviation facts you probably never knew?
- If you've ever flown during a lightning storm, you know how terrifying it looks, raging
around you at the height of several thousand feet.
But no worries: modern airplanes are built lightning-proof!
What's more, even though airplanes get hit by lightning much more often than you can
imagine, there haven't been any crashes caused by lightning since the 1960s.
- When you enter a bathroom on board the plane and lock it, it remains unlocked!
(And isn't that a perfect setting for a nightmarishly embarrassing situation?)
The truth is that the design of a plane's toilet door allows flight attendants to open
it in case of an emergency.
Also, thanks to this little trick, the cabin crew can prevent passengers from using the
bathrooms during the takeoff or landing.
- When a flight takes more than 13 hours, flight attendants can use special secret bedrooms
to get rest and deal with exhaustion.
Such bedrooms usually have about 5 to 10 beds inside, and the crew gets there via a hidden
staircase.
-The Boeing 747 is one of the most famous commercial airliners and is often called the
Jumbo Jet or the Queen of the Skies.
It was the very first wide body aircraft which took its first flight on February 9, 1969.
But the most amazing thing about this monster of a plane is that it's made up of more than
6 million parts!
And all these details can be easily controlled by just a couple of pilots who are flipping
switches and pushing buttons with their fingertips!
- For a long time, I used to think that an airplane's lifespan depends on its age.
That's why it was a big surprise for me to learn that, in fact, the length of an aircraft’s
service depends on its pressurization cycles.
In other words, every time a plane flies, its fuselage experiences serious stress.
As a result, sooner or later, the metal starts to crack, and it may lead to a crash.
That means that an airplane used on long-haul flights may serve much longer than a plane
that has several short flights a day.
- Are you not only afraid of flying, but also embarrassed by this fact?
Relax, it turns out you’re not the only one with this fear.
Statistically, more than 80% of the world's population is as terrified of flying as you
are!
Or at the very least, they don't feel particularly happy when they have to climb inside a pressurized
metal pipe with wings that will then take them to a height of several thousand feet
and hurl them through the air at over 500 miles per hour.
And they serve drinks.
You might need one.
- What's the dirtiest place on a plane?
Nope, not the bathroom!
It's the tray table you open to enjoy your fish or chicken.
Such a table usually hosts more than 2,100 colony-forming bacteria, and that's only on
one square inch of its surface!
For comparison, a toilet flush button has 265 bacteria per square inch of space.
Yuck!
Next time, I'll probably use that wet wipe they give me to clean the table rather than
to wipe my mouth.
- The largest airplane in the world is the Antonov An-225: it weighs almost 600 tons!
Compared to this leviathan, the 350-ton cargo plane Boeing 747-8F looks like a baby sibling!
- And how about this unsettling piece of information: during a flight, pilots often fall asleep!
But then, who's controlling the plane I'm on?
Maybe the co-pilot, maybe the autopilot, and maybe no one!
In 2017, the British Airline Pilot Association interviewed 500 pilots, and 43% of them confessed
that they did accidentally fall asleep while flying a plane.
On top of that, 31% of the questioned professionals admitted that sometimes they had woken up
from their nap to see their co-pilot slumbering as well.
- Now, it may sound scary, but a small number of troubled people try to open the airplane's
exterior door mid-flight.
I can't imagine why they would want to do something so pointless and obviously fatal,
but luckily, it's impossible to open the doors while the aircraft is in the air.
And that's not because of complicated or super strong locks, but because of the pressure
difference inside the cabin and outside the plane.
So, unless you notice the Hulk boarding your flight, you have nothing to worry about.
And if the Hulk has the seat next to you, then try not to make him mad.
- Also, think twice before nestling into an airplane blanket.
The unpleasant truth is that most air carriers wash these blankets just once a month.
- Ever used that laser pointer that can drive a cat mad?
Well, you can play with that thing all you want but never - and I mean never! - point
that red dot at a plane.
According to US law, if you do, chances are you’ll spend the next 5 years in prison,
taking a new look at your life.
- What do you picture when you hear the term "the black box"?
Something black, right?
However, the Flight Data Recorder (which is another name of the black box) is bright orange!
First, the particular heat-resistant paint used for these recorders has an orange hue.
Besides, this color makes it easier for rescuers to locate the box after an accident.
- Remember I told you about 6 million details Boeing 747 consists of?
Well, how about more than 140 miles of wiring stuffed inside the jet?
That's half the length of the Grand Canyon!
Plus, the wiring alone weighs about 3,500 pounds!
Okay your turn.
Do you know any other curious facts about airplanes?
Let me know down in the comments!
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