Subject: misc.transport.air-industry posting guidelines FAQ
Date: 11 Apr 1996 07:08:39 GMT
Summary: This file contains posting guidelines for the moderated
. misc.transport.air-industry newsgroup.  Read this file before
. attempting to post to this newsgroup

Posting-frequency: Bi-Weekly (11th/27th of each month)


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Welcome to the moderated misc.transport.air-industry newsgroup. This 
group is intended for discussion of the airline/air travel industries. 
Discussion of personal air travel belongs in the rec.travel.air group. 
Buying and selling of travel belongs in the rec.travel.marketplace group.  
Buying and selling of aircraft belongs in the rec.aviation.marketplace
group.  Technical discussions of aircraft design belongs in the 
sci.aeronautics.airliners group.  

The moderators' goal is to maintain an active and open discussion 
without burdening readers with excessive traffic that is not relevent to 
the newsgroup's charter. 

This file is the "m-t-ai posting FAQ."  The following guidelines
specify what role the moderators will play in determining the content
of this group.  A separate FAQ will include answers to various
questions that are frequently asked on the group.  This file is posted
twice per month.



Recent Modification History

29-Feb-96  Added rejection for posts written in a language other than English.
29-Feb-96  Added references to rec.aviation.marketplace.
29-Jan-96  Added suggestions for changing subject lines and editing
           quoted text.
29-Jan-96  Added alt.flame.airlines to list of related newsgroups.
12-Jan-96  Added sci.aeronautics and alt.disasters.aviation to list of
           related newsgroups.
09-Sep-95  Added section on airline/airport abbreviations and how to
           obtain a list of codes.
12-Aug-95  Expanded list of related newsgroups and added descriptions.
12-Aug-95  Added sci.aeronautics.airliners to introduction section and 
           did some reorganization.
18-Jul-95  Updated moderator list
16-Jul-95  Added section on how to post articles to misc.transport.air-industry
15-Jul-95  Finally received permission to cross-post to misc.answers and
           news.answers.


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Subject:  WHAT WILL M.T.A-I MODERATORS ACCEPT?

Any posts that discuss issues regarding the air industry are welcomed 
here, provided they do not fall into the reject category (see "WHAT WILL 
M.T.A-I MODERATORS REJECT?" below). Appropriate discussions would 
include, but are not limited to:
 * Airline deregulation in Europe, effect on member states, and 
   passengers.
 * The financial health (or lack thereof) of airlines.
 * Airliner models as related to airline routes, resource allocation,
   capacity, etc.
 * Comments about the industry from insiders (most US airlines have one
   or more employees who read/post to the net, we hope to attract 
   serious comments from these posters to this group).
 * Discussion of all aspects of airline management.
 * Fare changes and discussion of their effects on airline yields.

Press releases from airlines and other airline industry-related 
corporations (i.e. Boeing, Airbus, McDonnell Douglas, IATA):
 * As long as the content is largely informative and not blatant 
   advertising.
 * Announcements of fare sales, route changes, aircraft purchases,
   leases.

Topics can range from small cargo charter operations in the far east to
major international passenger carriers such as British Airways,
American, or Lufthansa. All aspects of commercial aviation operations
are welcome.


--------------------------------------------------------------

Subject:  WHAT WILL M.T.A-I MODERATORS REJECT?

The following types of articles will be rejected:

1. FORMAT PROBLEMS
   Posts rejected for these reasons will be returned with a note
   explaining why. For the time being, the moderators will lean on 
   the side of liberalism.
   A. Post does not quote enough of the previous post to provide 
      an understandable level of context. 
   B. Post quotes a long previous post in its entirety and does not 
      provide any new content. "I agree" posts fall into this category.
   C. Post quotes text without proper attribution.
   D. Post includes an attribution line for a previous post, without 
      including any of material to be quoted.
   E. Followup postings that do not have an adequate "References:" 
      header. The "References:" header allows threaded news readers to 
      place the post in its appropriate sequence, along with other 
      articles on that subject. Without the "References:" header, news 
      readers treat the post as if it starts a new thread. If this 
      happens to your posts, please complain to your local system
      administrator to provide better news posting software.
   F. Posts not written in English (unless a particular audience is
      targeted).


2. COMMERCIAL POSTS
   Any post that involves the intent to sell or buy something directly.
   These types of posts will be returned to the poster with a pointer
   toward rec.travel.marketplace and/or rec.aviation.marketplace:

   Examples: Tickets for sale, frequent-flyer coupons for sale or 
             trade, looking for tickets, become-a-travel-agent-and-
             get-free-travel-that-isn't-really-free, cheap calling card
             offers, pyramid schemes, scams.

   Hyped-up press releases will also be rejected.

   In addition, off-topic posts selling things NOT related to travel
   will also be automatically rejected. These include spams and other
   cross-posted messages (usually on how to make money).


3. MISDIRECTED QUESTIONS OR ANNOUNCEMENTS
   The following types of posts will be returned to the poster with a
   pointer toward rec.travel.air. The general rule of thumb is that
   misc.transport.air-industry is a forum for discussions about the
   industry in general, while discussions about personal travel 
   belong on rec.travel.air.
   * "What is the 800 number for Air Foobar?"
   * "What is the cheapest fare between Podunk and Peadum?"
   * "Please suggest a good travel agent in Peoria."
   * "How do I do courier travel?"
   * "Does anyone have experience with Air Foobar?" or
   * "Let me tell you my recent horror story with Air Foobar!"
   * "I want to blow up Air Foobar's corporate headquarters because 
      my luggage got lost, so what would be the best explosive?"
   *  Announcements of new web sites that pertain to air travel.
   * "Which is more comfortable, Air Foobar or Air Barfoo?"

   The moderators will accept the above types of posts *IF* they are 
   related to the industry. Example: 
   * "Airfares between Podunk and Peadum have systematically risen ever 
      since Air Foobar pulled out of the market."
   * "Will travel agents be able to survive after the commission cap?" 
   * "Courier travel is being declared illegal."
   * "Is Air Foobar's service deteriorating?"
   * "How well is the XYZ baggage system working?"
   *  New web pages linking to airlines.
   * "Has Air Foobar's tight seat pitch prevented them from attracting
      business travelers to buy high-yield, full-fare tickets."


4. MISCELLANY

   Misc.transport.air-industry has a large (and growing) readership,
   which includes professionals from several airlines and other
   industry-related companies.  In an effort to maintain a professional
   and interesting level of discussion, the moderators will reject posts
   for the following reasons:
   *  Posts that containing profanity, particularly when the post offers
      little other redeeming content.
   *  Duplicate posts (from the same poster) or identical posts on the 
      same topic (from the same or different posters).

   As the newsgroup readership grows, the amount of traffic is starting
   to increase.  The following suggestions will make the group easier to
   read:
   *  Use an appropriate subject line on your posting.  If a thread
      moves to a new area, be sure to change the subject line.
   *  Be sure to edit down quoted text to the minimum possible.


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Subject:  HOW TO POST TO MISC.TRANSPORT.AIR-INDUSTRY

   Generally, you should be able to post to misc.transport.air-industry
   as you would any other newsgroup.  Your posting will automatically be
   forwarded to the misc.transport.air-industry moderators.  The
   moderators will review the post to make sure that it conforms to
   these posting guidelines and then approve it for distribution.  If your
   article is rejected, you will receive a note explaining why.

   Because your article needs to be approved, you should not expect to
   see it appear immediately in the newsgroup.  The post will usually
   appear within a few days of your submission, and usually faster.
   
   If, for some reason, you find yourself unable to post to the
   newsgroup (e.g. your submission does not appear in the newsgroup and
   you do not receive a note from the moderators), you should contact
   your local news administrator.  Most posting problems are caused by
   misconfigured news software.  
   
   If all else fails, you might try framing your post as an e-mail
   "Reply."  Draft your (follow-up) article as if you were e-mailing a
   reply to the original article.  Change the "To:" line of the e-mail
   to air-industry@kei.com,  Please, only use this approach as a last
   resort and ask a local guru for help if these instructions don't make
   sense to you.


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Subject:  WHEN ALPHABET SOUP IS NOT A TASTY DISH

Each airport is assigned a three-letter abbreviation, and each airline
has a two character (letters and numbers are used) abbreviation.
Regular readers to the group recognize an amazingly large number
of these codes, and regular posters use the codes liberally in their 
postings.  

As a rule, you should limit the number of airport/airline codes that you
use in your postings.  If you wish to use a code that is not widely
understood, then define the code when you first use it.  For example,
instead of:

   RG will begin non-stop service between JFK and GPS on July 13th.  The
   flight will depart JFK at 3:00pm and arrive GPS at 3:02pm.

you should say:

   Varig (RG) will begin non-stop service between JFK and the Galapagos
   Islands (GPS) on July 13th.  The flight will depart JFK at 3:00pm and 
   arrive GPS at 3:02pm.

Note that JFK (New York's Kennedy airport) is a common enough
abbreviation to probably not need explanation.

Paulo Santos has compiled a fairly complete list of IATA airport and
airline abbreviations.  They are available via anonymous FTP:

airline codes:  ftp://ftp.cc.gatech.edu/pub/people/pas/air/airline-codes
airport codes:  ftp://ftp.cc.gatech.edu/pub/people/pas/air/iata-location-codes


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Subject:  RELATED NEWSGROUPS

 * rec.travel.air             General discussion of air travel, often
                                from a passenger (rather than industry) 
                                perspective
 * rec.travel.marketplace     Buying and selling of any travel-related item
 * rec.aviation.marketplace   Buying and selling of aircraft and related
                                non-travel-related services
 * rec.aviation.*             Discussion of flying from an aircraft
                                owner/pilot/hobbyist perspective
 * sci.aeronautics            Technical discussion of flying in general
 * sci.aeronautics.airliners  Technical discussion of aircraft design
 * comp.simulation            Discussion of simulation of all sorts
 * alt.disasters.aviation     Discussion of aviation disasters
 * alt.flame.airlines         For those who are angry about airlines


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Subject:  LIST OF MISC.TRANSPORT.AIR-INDUSTRY MODERATORS

   Helen Rose <hrose@kei.com>
   Robert Ashcroft <rna@leland.stanford.edu>
   Kevin Bogart <kjbogart@midway.uchicago.edu>
   Ronald Cluett <rcluett@pomona.edu>
   Kevin Cuddeback <k-cuddeback@nwu.edu>
   Christopher Davis <ckd@kei.com>
   Daniel Grove <Daniel.Grove@eng.sun.com>
   Eric Olesen <olesen@metronet.com>
   Sandeep Singhal <singhal@cs.stanford.edu>
   Stephan Tolboom <S.Tolboom@kub.nl>
   Gordon Werner <flypba@netcom.com>


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Subject:  WHERE TO OBTAIN THIS FAQ

If you are not reading this file on misc.transport.air-industry, 
news.answers or misc.answers directly, you may obtain the most current 
version at: rtfm.mit.edu in the directory pub/usenet/news.answers 
(/pub/usenet is a link to pub/usenet-by-group). This is an anonymous 
site--you ftp there as anonymous, and use your email address as your 
password. The file is:
  ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/air-industry/posting-guide

If "ftp" sounds like alphabet soup and it doesn't mean anything to 
you, there is another way to retrieve the file. Simply send an 
email message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu, subject ignored, with 
the body of your message saying any or all of the following:
     send usenet/news.answers/air-industry/posting-guide

You may also send them the following message to learn how to ftp:
     send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources

The FAQ files are also accessible over World Wide Web at
  http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/
     text/faq/usenet/air-industry/posting-guide/faq.html


   This is the end of the misc.transport.air-industry posting guidelines FAQ.

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