Peanuts, Blankets & a Survey

Northwest and Delta were, not that long ago, standing in line at their respective government Office of Bankrupt Companies. Remember the money the Feds gave to the airlines post-9/11? Evidently that didn’t help out in the long run. Funny—and I don’t mean “ha-ha”—how things like that work out.

Those of us in Detroit who travel by air have been fairly dependent on NWA. While some would-be wags like to refer to it as “Northworst,” I’ve generally had good experiences with the carrier, both in and out of bankruptcy. But NWA worked hard—too hard—to cut costs, and they got to the point where everything from peanuts to blankets were extracted from the cabins. Oddly enough, a “low-cost” carrier like Southwest could still pass out nuts, but not Northwest, which went in the opposite direction. Sad, really. – Read More

Spending in Automotive Vehicle Systems and Materials

Click here to complete the survey and be entered to win a $100 Visa gift card

autofieldguide Sponsor:
Telematics

2009 Mazda6 S Grand Touring

2009 Chrysler PT Dream Cruiser Series 5

2009 BMW 123d

2009 Ford Focus Coupe SES

2009 Hyundai Genesis V-6

Driven Archives

A Vehicular Hat Trick
As hockey fans everywhere know, three goals in a single game constitute a hat trick.  A 69-year-old German woman pulled off a vehicular version: she was involved in three different car crashes in less than an hour. – Read More

Upgrading to Coach Class
Forget about making corporate executives fly coach to their business meetings, why not have them fly cargo? That’s what a 21-year-old baggage handler in New York did when he fell asleep in the cargo hold of a JetBlue airplane headed to Boston. – Read More

Gitmo: Your Next Vacation Spot
Want to get away from all of the negative mojo plaguing the country? Before you think about heading off to Nassau or Bermuda, why not try Guantanamo Bay? According to Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008, Gitmo is a “relaxing, calm, beautiful place” that's a “looot of fun!”  – Read More

Playing Poker with Jim Press
Don’t accuse Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press of having much of a poker face when it comes to what he’s hoping for as regards to getting the company out of its financial mess. Press pushed the envelope of wishful thinking when he drove out in a Fiat 500 at Chrysler’s press conference during the New York Auto Show. – Read More

Save the Competition
Toyota says it is rooting for GM’s success. “We want GM to keep going,” Toyota executive Masayuki Nakai told the Associated Press, emphatically denying the Japanese automaker sees GM’s demise as an opportunity to steal sales from its competitor. – Read More

Upcoming Industry Events:
Hannover MESSE – April 20-24
PMTS 2009 – April 28-30
Great Designs in Steel – May 13
MoldMaking Expo ’09 – June 22–26
Time Compression Expo ’09
June 22–26

The Future Looks BIG
If you’d like a glimpse into the future first-time American car buyer, have a gander at the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics study, released in April 2009. The report found nearly one in every five U.S. preschoolers is obese. The study is relevant to automakers insomuch as most first-time new car buyers tend to be in their early to mid-thirties.  ...Read More