LAN Airlines

May 9, 2013

Today was supposed to be packed with activities.  We had a dance class, then a company visit, and then another dance class.  After breakfast, we got up to go to the morning’s Cueca class.  The Cueca is the national dance of Chile.  This dance is built to resemble a rooster courting a hen.  The basic stepping motion of the Cueca is quite simple, one foot over the other, but the dance itself was a bit more difficult.  The Cueca has a lot of different steps and patterns, and each foot needs to fall in a specific way.  The dance is built to look like the woman is avoiding the man, so there’s a lot of circling and spinning, but each twist has a certain number of steps.  By the end of class, we all had gotten the basic step down, despite our confusion, and the fact that neither the instructor, nor his assistant, spoke much English.

After the dance class in the morning, we took the hour and a half bus ride to Santiago for our company visit with LAN airlines.  We had to wear steel-toed boots, because we were going into the work areas, and regular shoes are a hazard.  The shoes were uncomfortable, but the airplanes were awesome.  We walked around the repair hangar, where two airplanes were currently being serviced, and we also went inside one of the planes that was on site, getting a routine check.  

 The man taking us on the tour explained that the plane we were on was a newer model plane, made of a carbon composite material, instead of the traditional aluminum, making it stronger and more durable.  This also gives the planes a longer lifetime, saving the airline money.  As we were walking through the plane, we all admired the business class seats, knowing that we are flying coach home.

We also talked to an industrial engineer at LAN about ways they make the planes more fuel efficient and reduce costs for the company.  I found it interesting that there are so many little things that can be done to save on fuel.  For example, cleaning the engine increases fuel efficiency by way more than I expected.  Another thing I found interesting was the fact that LAN no longer has it’s plan move itself around when it is just on the ground.  When the plane is on land and not flying, it is pulled around by a small car, meaning that the plane itself doesn’t propel itself on land.  This makes sense because planes have terrible fuel efficiency on land, due to the fact that they were built to fly. 

After our visit to LAN airlines, we were supposed to have another dance class, but it was too late for us to go.  Instead we went back to the hotel.  Today was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about airplanes.  I had a good time during my day at LAN.