Writing from Kuala Lumpur — It’s great to know people who can do math. My friend Steve Hart creates a picture of the task facing those who are searching the Indian Ocean for the missing Malaysian Flight 370. To find a piece of the Boeing jumbo jet’s wing, in an area of the sea that is 190,000 square miles is the equivalent of searching the state of Rhode Island for something the size of a bathmat.  Yes, it seems overwhelming but promising news is emerging from Australia today as the nation’s prime minister told reporters satellite photos from the Indian Ocean southwest of Perth, reveal two pieces… Read More…

Writing from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — I heard two very interesting comments during today’s press briefing by the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation into the disappearance of Malaysian Flight 370 on March 8.  The first was the admission that on day six, investigators feel they are no closer to knowing where to go to find the missing Boeing 777. In a spoof on Twitter, @raykwong shared this photo of the ever expanding search area. In reality, only the South China Sea, the Gulf of Thailand, the Andaman Sea and the Indian Ocean are being searched for the plane and its 239 occupants. Twenty seven thousand… Read More…

Terminal 3 at Delhi Airport In her very funny book, Holy Cow, Aussie writer Sarah Macdonald writes about her first visit to India. After multiple delays in her attempt to fly home she describes the country as “Hotel California, where you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” I hadn’t been in the country more than 10 minutes when I realized just what she meant. This is the curious story of an airport hotel where check in is difficult enough, but once you have arrived leaving is impossible. The dramatic increase in international air travel is fueling a worldwide boom… Read More…

As if we were waiting in the passenger boarding area for news of a delayed flight, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is providing just the merest trickle of information about the airport hotel it has long promised to bring to John F. Kennedy International Airport. It is astonishing to me that the 19th busiest airport in the world does not have even one hotel on premises. Not the new one promised, not the replacement for the old Ramada at JFK that closed in 2009. Nice view from my room at the Hilton Charles de Gaulle Compare this to Paris, where I… Read More…