Equestrian International Airlines

Everyone was ready the next day and they took a bow on the carpet upon entering the throne room.

"Good morning you all. I see you have documented your progress for Equestrian International Airlines. May I hear it?", inquired Twilight.

"Come with us please.", said Flurry Heart as she and the Young Six headed for the conference room.

Once seated at the table in the conference room, the Young Six took out the papers bearing their drawings and written layouts for the new airports, along with the blueprints for the planes. After everything was situated, Flurry took the floor to explain how the airport would function.

"The first part of the procedure will involve the passenger checking their luggage in. Airport staff will place a tag on the suitcase that the passenger has designated for inspection. This tag will indicate which plane the suitcase needs to be taken to. After this, the passengers will go through a security check. This procedure will consist of two steps. First, the passenger will place their smaller bags, known as the "carry-on" and the "personal items bag", in bins on a conveyor belt. The belt will run the bags through an x-ray machine to check for anything that could be dangerous. As the baggage is being x-rayed, the passengers will go one at a time into a full body scanner. This is a booth that they will stand in for a few seconds. As they stand still, two arms will rotate around them and bounce radio waves off their bodies. The waves will be sent back and converted into an image by a computer program. If any spots are flagged and highlighted with a yellow spot, the security officer will have them step aside to be checked more closely. If all goes well, the passengers will be on their way. This portion of the airport will be called the terminal.", she said.

"That sounds good so far for entry. How will the passengers know where their flight is leaving from?", asked Twilight.

Flurry motioned for Gallus to step up and talk about the next portion of the airports.

"After passing security, the passengers will go to what is called the concourse. There will be more than one of these at every airport. Each one is an individual group of gates from which to board the planes. To answer your question on how passengers know where to go, there will be display screens showing the flight numbers and the gate from which it is departing. The passenger will also have a slip of paper with them, called a boarding pass. This will have their name, flight number, destination, departure point, gate number, and airline name listed on it. I have a model of the boarding pass for a demonstration if I was flying from the Crystal Empire to Vanhoover and my flight was departing from Gate C14. The pass has the Crystal Empire as my departure point, Vanhoover as my destination, my name, my flight's number, Gate C14, and Equestrian International listed on it. Since C14 is the gate, that means the flight is departing from gate 14 in concourse C.", he explained.

"Very interesting. I see you have something called a layover in your notes. What does that mean?", said Twilight.

Ocellus took the floor to explain this topic.

"It was Flurry's idea to come up with layovers. Flights may be split up in pieces. The layover is a period of time in between flights where passengers can stretch their legs and get a bite to eat before they go to the gate for their connecting flight. This only applies to trips over long distances. This is to make sure the passengers are not couped up on the plane for the entire duration of their travel.", she said.

"Good idea, Flurry.", said Twilight.

"Thank you, Aunt Twilight.", said Flurry.

Twilight agreed greatly on having the plane's seating split up in different classes, because some liked to travel luxuriously. She was also very pleased with how intricately the plane's schematics had been drawn up.

"I like that you considered safety measures. Including the oxygen masks, life vests, removable panels and windows, arrows on the wings, and the inflating slides is a great plan.", she told everyone.

Then, Smolder stood up to mention some new airport vehicles and components that weren't in the notes.

"Planes can't fly unless they are refueled consistently, so refueling trucks will be built. Tractors will be hitched up to long trolleys to bring the luggage to the planes. There will also be wash vehicles in order to clean the planes' exteriors. Waste removal trucks will pump out any passengers' bodily waste from the plane's storage tank in between flights. There will also be fire vehicles in case of any fires. Catering trucks will restock the planes with food and drinks between flights, using a temperature-controlled scissor-lift trailer. Snowplows will be used to clear the runways in the winter, and de-icing trucks will spray on a hot fluid mixture to prevent crucial parts of the plane from freezing over. Finally, there will be a low-sitting truck that pulls up underneath the plane's nose and attaches to the front wheels when it is time to depart. This truck is going to be called a "pushback tug". Its purpose is to push the plane back from the gate so the pilots can keep the plane engines powered off for a few minutes before they taxi over to the runway.", she said.

"Great choices for ground vehicles. What else is there going to be?", asked Twilight.

"There will be tall towers at the airports from which technicians can monitor all of the planes arriving, departing, and in a certain radius. These will be called "control towers". At the gates, there will be mechanical fold-out bridges that extend towards and wrap over the fuselage for boarding and disembarking. Finally, there will be workers known as "marshallers". Their job is to guide the pilots as they are leaving the gates, or arriving at the gates. They will wear brightly colored vests and carry lighted wands with which to signal the pilots when they may move and when the plane has been secured after arrival.", added Silverstream.

"You seem to have the entire project covered in all areas. Airport construction will commence next week." said Twilight.

The group took a bow and they returned home. They would all be present for each new airport's grand opening.