As we reported many months ago in a post, a Florida man, Yechezkel Wells acknowledged that he made the hoax threat at Long Beach Airport to try to keep a Aug. 26 evening flight to Fort Lauderdale from leaving before…
Monthly Archives: January 2007
Teen found Dead in British Airways Wheel Well
by Guru •
Pilots found the body of a South African teen yesterday in the wheel well of a British Airways flight at LAX during a routine inspection shortly before it was scheduled to return to London. British Airways 283, a 747-400, had…
Lost Luggage Complaints Highest in a Decade
by Guru •
In a press release today, American Express offered some tips for those who want to protect themselves from lost luggage. Tag your Bags – Many people forget to put their name and contact info on a tag outside the bag.…
Should I Book Online or Use an Agent?
by Guru •
It was with great amusement we read the above title as a press release earlier today. “Professional, well-connected and experienced travel agents score high marks when it comes to making complex travel arrangements for luxury vacation customers,” says Nancy Yale,…
British Airways Reinstates All Flights – Strike Averted
by Guru •
British Airways has reinstated the flights it cancelled for tomorrow in anticipation of a cabin crew strike. The Transport and General Workers’ Union has called off the strikes, as their issues with BA have been resolved. Customers wishing to take…
Tales of Embraer Regional Jets
by Guru •
We’ve been a fan of the Embraer 190 regional jets since long before we had the pleasure of flying on them. Recently we decided to take a few regional jet trips with Embraer products, so see how the experience rated.…
Man Proposes Floating Airport for San Diego
by Guru •
Would people really be willing to take a ten-mile boat ride to catch a plane? As the San Diego Union-Tribune reports, Adam Englund has been fixated for decades on the idea of a floating airport, and thinks San Diego, which…
United to Remove Snacks from Short Flights
by Guru •
United Airlines has stopped offering snacks on flights of less than two hours in duration. The move is expected to save the carrier around $650,000 each year. American did the same thing on flights of less than an hour and…
Wiring Fixed for First Airbus 380 only
by Guru •
Reports that Airbus had solved the wiring problems for the Airbus 380 were apparently premature, as Airbus announced on Friday that the problems had been solved for the first aircraft only. Work is still going on to solve the long-term…
Compassion Comes too Late
by Guru •
On Friday, we picked up and posted on the Consumerist’s coverage of an unfortunate situation occurring on Southwest. Fortunately there has been an update on that story. Richard Brown, who was suffering from water retention caused by liver failure, was…
Misadventures in Misbehavior
by Guru •
On January 14th, Julie and Gerry Kulesza and their daughter Ella were removed from an Airtran flight from Ft. Myers to Boston. Ella refused to take her seat before takeoff, and the flight was delayed fifteen minutes already and the…
Update Here at Flight Wisdom Blog
by Guru •
Over the next few weeks, you may notice some improvements in our categorization. In order to help our users keep track of things, we are adding new categories…most notably categories for Airlines and Airports…allowing users to look for all stories…
How to Get Your Money Back if the Price Drops
by Guru •
The Seattle Times has a good compilation of policies on getting a credit for future travel if the price goes down on your ticket. Here is the summary from that article. Alaska Airlines/ Horizon Air: Travel voucher good for one…
Southwest Nearly Lets Liver Transplant Patient Die Because He Won’t Buy 2nd Ticket
by Guru •
We usually think of Southwest as having a reputation for good customer service, even when dealing with difficult situations. However, this story from the Consumerist shocks us on many levels. Richard Brown nearly died because of Southwest Airlines. A ticket…
Is the Airport Check-In Counter Dead?
by Guru •
With the creation of kiosk-based check-in, and the relegating of all but one or two check-in counters to bag-checks…we wondered how long it would be before such a facility vanished entirely. On the 10th of January, Alaska and Horizon Air…
American Airlines Compensates without Being Asked
by Guru •
After hearing so many negative stories, when we find a story of an airline doing something nice without being asked…or threatened, we just have to write about it. Perhaps related to their big blunder the same day, a reader of…
Is it Time to Review Talk of a Passenger’s Bill of Rights?
by Guru •
In 1999, regulation of the airline industry with a Passenger Bill of Rights was by public agreements by airlines to change their practices…thus avoiding federal regulation. But now, studies indicate perhaps they’ve not only failed to live up to that,…
Port Authority Agrees to Purchase Stewart Airport
by Guru •
There was no discussion or dissent as the board running the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey voted to purchase the remaining 93 years of the operating lease for Stewart Airport. The National Express Group paid 35 million…
New Service Roundup
by Guru •
Frontier is expanding service on 29 Routes – Frontier will inaugurate Denver-Hartford(March 3), Louisville(April 1), Vancouver BC(May 5), and resume seasonal service to Anchorage(May 6-October 14). On May 4, Frontier will upgrade both its Dayton flights to Airbus aircraft. Frontier…
British Airways Strikewatch
by Guru •
British Airways will be canceling all of its flights from London Heathrow airport on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week due to a strike by cabin crew. The Transport and General Workers Union has set walkouts for January 30-31st; February…
United Customer Service
by Guru •
We’ve been following a story on the Consumerist for the last few weeks on one family’s issues with United. First of all, if you’ve had some major issues with United, and been unable to get satisfaction from their line agents,…
Qantas Denies Boarding to Man Wearing Anti-President Bush Shirt
by Guru •
An Australian man, Allen Jasson, is considering suing Qantas, which denied him boarding because he would not remove his t-shirt, which called President George W. Bush the “World’s #1 Terrorist.” He is currently unsure under what law, although he was…
Mesaba to Become Northwest Subsidiary
by Guru •
Mesaba Airlines, which has suffered from financial difficulties and bankruptcy, has signed an agreement with Northwest Airlines. Under its new reorganization plan, it will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwest. Since Mesaba operates Northwest Airlink flights using forty nine…
New Routes and New Planes
by Guru •
Spirit Airlines has purchased thirty additional Airbus 319s, to be delivered from 2009 through 2013. This will, when complete, bring Spirit’s fleet to seventy aircraft. Airtran Airways announced service to St. Louis’s Lambert Airport, effective May 8, 2007, with nonstop…
New Service Roundup
by Guru •
Beginning in September 2007, Continental will inaugurate the first ever nonstop service from Jackson, Mississippi to the New York area. A single flight will operate daily from Newark’s Liberty Airport to Jackson. Continental already operates service from Jackson to Houston.…