Plane Perspectives

Greetings from business class of China Airlines Flight 7, enroute from Los Angeles to Taipei, Taiwan. The AC outlet at my seat is physically capable of accepting a conventional U.S. format two-conductor power plug along with other plug layouts, which you’d expect since I’m aboard a Boeing 747-400 expressly designed for intercontinental flights. But whenever I attempt to directly plug in my MacBook’s power supply, the outlet’s associated LED switches from green to an alarming red tinge.

Fortunately, I’ve got an international plug adapter kit with me, and using one of the adapters as an intermediary does the trick. Very strange. Each seat is also equipped with RJ-45 and USB ports, but the attendant giggled when I asked her if I could use the former for satellite-based Internet access. Apparently, neither port is functionally active. And there’s no active Wi-Fi network on the plane, either; I checked.

As schedule and jetlag allow, I’ll try to post short writeups throughout the week. Worst case, I’ll shoot to compose a lengthy report of my Taiwan findings and impressions during the flights back Stateside.