“Do knee-jerk reactions that limit our freedom of expression and travel make us safer?” – Persuasive Games asks, and has created Airport Security, a game that allows you to inspect each passenger and his luggage and remove forbidden items…as the list of forbidden items changes constantly…Try it out here…
We have to wonder how secure our airport security is if a nine year old kid can bypass it. Nine year old Semaj Booker ran away from home last week, the News-Tribune reports, hopping a Southwest Airlines flight from Seattle to Phoenix, then a flight to San Antonio, where he was taken into custody. The…
Westchester County Airport in White Plains reported yesterday that Jetblue advised them they are coming. Jetblue must begin service by March 5, and airport manager Peter Scherer has said Jetblue told him the routes they were considering were considering included Orlando, West Palm Beach, and Chicago. Considering the slot situation at O’Hare…Chicago seems like a…
Last month, a 21-year old German tourist who wanted to visit his girlfriend in Sydney, Australia mistyped his destination on an online travel site. His ticket took him via Portland, Oregon to Billings, Montana, where he realized his mistake just before he was about to board a commuter flight to Sidney, Montana…population 5000. He spent…
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. American Eagle will add summer service from Dallas/Fort Worth to Montrose, Colorado operating once daily…
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 service four times daily to Atlanta, and once daily to Orlando. Airtran Airways also announced…
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 Saab 340 turboprops, bailing out the airline allows it to keep operating those flights on…
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 aware beforehand that Qantas would take offense. Qantas said in a statement, “Whether made verbally…
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, talked to supervisors, and written letters, try their Executive Customer Service. The Consumerist reported on…
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 5-7, and February 12-14. While Willie Walsh, head of British Airways, insists their door remains…
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 will offer the first daily summer nonstops to Ft. Myers, Indianapolis-Cancun service with Wednesday, Saturday,…
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 for the lease, and is selling it for 78.5 million. The agency hopes to take…
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, but they are lacking in many areas. A group of passengers who were stranded for…
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 the Consumerist was delayed with his wife for several hours due to the lack of…
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 unveiled a $18 millon plan to transform customer check-in at Seattle Airport. The concept, which…
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 agent refused to let him fly because of his size. His weight gain is due…
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 year for the difference in fares, minus a $10 service charge. Northwest Airlines: Two options:…
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 we’ve posted on an individual airport. It will take some time for us to categorize…
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 crew made an operational decision to remove the family. The Kuleszas think that Airtran went…
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 forced to buy an extra seat on a flight not even full, on the insistence…
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 issues. Airbus expects to start building a common design platform between its various plants…the variance…
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 a half in 2005.
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 needs a bigger airport…would be a good place to try it. Lindbergh Field in San…
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. We hopped a US Airways Express flight on an Embraer 145, and then a Jetblue…
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 the reinstated flights must contact British Airways or their travel agents as soon as possible.…