Opinion

Fewer Flights Mean Fewer Delays

300px-Toppledominos

Image via Wikipedia More than 30,000 fewer flights were canceled in the first half of 2009 than in the same period last year. Fewer planes were delayed more than fifteen minutes as well. But, instead of applauding the air traffic…

Musical Interlude: United Song #2

reblog_e36

Dave Carroll is back with his promised second United Song, included the promised tuba. It is a much slower tempo than United Song #1, but the video goes a bit farther, and incorporates many more volunteers. The song incorporates some…

Monopolizing the Fortress Hub

2450496004_d95610dfe4_m

Image by mtsofan via Flickr So, now Continental has gotten AirTran out of Newark in exchange for slots at LaGuardia and National, where they are hardly a powerhouse. Delta is taking over US Airways extensive regional slots at LaGuardia, and…

Delta Protects the Northwest Brand While Eliminating It

Northwest Airlines insists it has exclusive trademark rights to the word Northwest. The airline is going after GoNorthwest.com, which provides tourist information on the Pacific Northwest. Originally, they insisted owner Jack High shut down, then they moderated their response to…

Video Fun: Southwest Airlines

reblog_e34

We love Southwest and are happy to finally see them in our hometown of New York City. We are hoping they expand beyond Baltimore and Chicago to new offerings, which would require additional slots at LaGuardia Airport. One of the…

Changes at the Southwest Website

The Southwest Blog has a post up on upcoming changes to their website, which will improve the experience. “As Customers are directed to the new booking area, they will experience an updated user-friendly design. Plus, on direct flights (with stops…

A Few New Features on the Blog

3335844511_41523176af_m

Image by cambodia4kidsorg via Flickr We’re continually testing new features to add to the Flight Wisdom blog. If something looks new, feel free to comment on it. The easiest way is via Twitter @FlightWisdom, but we do read as many…

What People Bring To the Airport

300px-Screening_in_DTW_Airport

Image via Wikipedia On Saturday morning, an emotionally disturbed man named Scott McGann showed up at LaGuardia Airport with a ticket on United to Chicago and onward to Oakland, purchased by family. He also showed up with a duffel bag…

Southwest to Make Bid for Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines Files For Bankruptcy Protection But Continues Servic

Image by Getty Images via Daylife We previously reported that Republic Airways had put down a bid to buy out Frontier Airlines. Today, another airline put down a bid, Southwest Airlines. Southwest announced it was preparing a bid to compete…

Happy Birthday, Flight Wisdom

300px-Birthday_cake

On July 29th, 2006, the Flight Wisdom Blog launched. When we launched, we thought the blog would be a small part of a larger site. We still have that dream, but maintaining everything and doing all the other things we…

US Airways Gear for Kids

US Airways Kids Backpack

For those of us who love the airline industry, sometimes we wish to show our interest by buying airline-related merchandise. For those of you with children, who wouldn’t be tempted to send their youngster to school with an airplane bookbag(seen…

Flight Wisdom Breaks Fiddles

reblog_e33

We enjoyed Dave Carroll’s unique approach to speaking out against customer service. Apparently we were not alone in this. It seems a lot of people did. It struck a chord with Westjet, the Canadian discount airline, which invited Dave not…

JetAmerica…Why Bother?

198553813_fbcce4b0ab_m

Image by Eric Bégin via Flickr We haven’t said anything about the JetAmerica situation, and we think the title says it all. JetAmerica began taking bookings in May. At the time, the Cranky Flier commented,  “Something tells me that the…

Runway at JFK to Close for Months

1455327610_e2e30612b8_m

Image by ATIS547 via Flickr The longest runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York will be closed for about four months next year as part of a renovation, and airlines have been asked to revise their schedules.…

United Song Artist Speaks Out

reblog_e31

Artist Dave Carroll(appears above) thanked the Internet community for its support of United Song #1(remember there are two more). United has offered compensation to Carroll, but he has declined, asking them to donate the money to a charity of their…

United Song Strikes a Chord

300px-UA744

Image via Wikipedia Yesterday, we reported on one musician’s unique way of dealing with poor customer service. The L.A. Times travel blog reports there has been a quick response to his song. United Airlines has made contact with the musician,…

Flight Music: United Breaks Guitar

We love any excuse for a musical interlude, or a classic Youtube video. In this latest one, musician Dave Carroll comes up with a creative way to protest United’s refusal to take responsibility for the guitar they broke. Carroll spent…

Onboard Southwest

100_11241

In the final installment of our series on our time on Southwest, we explore the process onboard. Southwest is known for its friendly and enthusiastic in-flight crew. The flight crew was very cooperative with our obsessive picture taking. The flight…

Happy American Independence Day

23586275_0a9e2da29f_m

Image by Creativity+ Timothy K Hamilton via Flickr This weekend, Americans take to the skies, cars, buses, etc to join in celebrating July 4th. In fact, as any holiday requires a three-day weekend, today is Independence Day(Observed). People have already…

Boarding the Inaugural Southwest Flight

100_1117

Flight #614 was scheduled to depart New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Chicago-Midway Airport at 8:45AM with an arrival time of 10:40AM. Customers lined up in typical Southwest fashion, by boarding letter and number in front of spaced steel columns. The…

Southwest at LaGuardia – Part III

100_1102

One of the things we’ve always loved about Southwest is the spirit. In fact, Southwest’s mascot, we understand, is even named Spirit.  Pictured right, two happy Southwest employees in Spirit costumes. Southwest was ready when we arrived to offer us…

Southwest at LaGuardia – Part II

100_1106

In Part I, we discussed the new Southwest Airlines check-in counters at New York – LaGuardia, and their unique(for LaGuardia at least).  We had a lot of fun in Chicago. Southwest has taken over Gate B4 at LaGuardia. We use…