Reader Mail: Air France Dispute
We received another letter this week, with a not so pleasant story about Air France.
Monthly Archives: August 2010
Skywest to Buy ExpressJet
Remember ExpressJet and its attempt to sell service under its own brand? Or perhaps you remember them through their relationship with Continental?
Well, now, SkyWest has announced that Atlantic Southeast Airlines, one of its brands, will buy ExpressJet. The new acquisition will be based at ASA’s home in Atlanta and will continue to serve both United and Continental hubs…probably good because both are merging themselves.
Demolishing Worldport to Put Up a Parking Lot
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has approved demolition of Terminal 3 at JFK and the overhaul of Terminal 4. Terminal 4 will be expanded with nine additional gates, which Delta will move into, occupying 16 out of 25 total gates, after which Terminal 3 will be demolished to provide 16 aircraft parking spaces. They will also be expanding T4’s international baggage hall and customs facilities to accommodate the increased traffic.
JetBlue Flight Attendant Slides, Found at Home
Business Insider reports that a JetBlue Flight Attendant named Steven Slater activated an emergency slide, left the aircraft, got his car, and drove home.
Airplane 30th Anniversary Screening at Lincoln Center
This evening, Flight Wisdom went out to the Airplane! 30th Anniversary Screening at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City. As long time fans of this movie, it was exciting to see it on the big screen, and listen to an audience full of people laugh at the movie, something even the writers said they hadn’t had a chance to do in years.
Ted Stevens Dies in Plane Crash in Alaska
The NY Times is reporting that former Senator Ted Stevens has died in a small plane crash in Alaska last night. Five of the nine people onboard the DeHavilland DHC-3T are reported to have perished. The plane was on its way to a lodge near Lake Aleknagik. The North American head of operations for EADS and former administrator of NASA, Sean O’Keefe, was also onboar
Sean O’Keefe Survives Plane Crash
The head of EADS North American, Sean O’Keefe, confirmed onboard the crash that killed former Senator Ted Stevens, has survived, according to Reuters.
The deHavilland DHC-3 Otter
466 deHavilland DHC-3 Otters were produced from 1951-1967, and it commonly used as a rugged bush plane, flying into more remote regions, and as a search and rescue aircraft. It was used by the Canadian, U.S., Australian, and other air forces for this purpose. It has a 9-10 passenger plus pilot capacity.
Steven Slater is Not a Hero
Steven Slater has become something of a cult hero in the last twenty four hours. Someone even wrote a song about it. But why? It is normal to have dreams of quitting their job, telling off one’s boss. It is a form of stress relief. The behavior of Mr. Slater is, to quote Henry Harteveldt of Forrester Research, is “an insult to hard-working professional flight attendants on all airline worldwid
Steven Slater is Not a Hero: Another Opinion
Earlier, our editor expressed our opinion that Steven Slater is not a hero. However, not everyone agrees, but it is a hot button issue, so we got another member of the Flight Wisdom team, the Infrequent Flier, to share his thoughts.
JetBlue Offers Passengers on Slide Flight $100 Vouchers
The one hundred passengers who were on the JetBlue flight from Pittsburgh to JFK that was halted when their flight attendant slid the coop are receiving $100 vouchers for future travel from the airline.
Followup: Air France Dispute
Last week, we talked about a man who had written us over his dispute with Air France. You can find that story here. This week, he sent us a followup, so we thought we would revisit the issue. It included a letter from the manager of customer care for Air France-USA as well as our reader’s response.
Steven Slater 2008 on Steven Slater 2010
The Daily News reported this week on an account on airliners.net believed to belong to Steven Slater, the JetBlue flight attendant who rode the chute. Airliners.net is a popular forum site frequented by airline professionals and enthusiasts.
Steven Slater Wants a Mulligan
The fleeing flight attendant, Steve Slater, apparently wants to return to work. This should prove once and for all the man is not a hero. For those who thought he was taking a stand for all the workers in less than desirable jobs…asking to come back does sort of disprove that.
More of JFK’s Terminal Planning
We talked not long ago about the end of the Worldport at JFK. But it appears that American is set to counter Delta’s new expansion with its own. Even though it completed a multi-year megaterminal project at JFK which consolidated its operations from two terminals to one and was completed in 2007. American is talking about expanding its terminal make room for OneWorld Alliance members British Airways and Iberia.
All You Can Jet Pass Returns on JetBlue
JetBlue has brought back the All You Can Jet pass, offering two options.
American Airlines to Charge for Express Seats
American Airlines has announced it will now charge for seats in the first few rows of aircraft. The price for this new charge is $19 to $39 and will only be available for purchase at airport kiosks from 24 hours to 50 minutes before domestic flights. The price will include being in the first boarding group of passengers.
JetBlue Sells a lot of All You Can Jet Passes, Can Sun Country?
Today, JetBlue Airways is already out of their AYCJ-7 $699 pass(although the $499 pass is still available). Will Sun Country Airlines be as successful in their sales?
NTSB releases findings on Southwest Flight 2294
Southwest responded to the NTSBs findings on the incident on Flight 2294 last July. For those of you who don’t recall, that was the aircraft that made a landing in Charleston, WV when a hole suddenly opened up in the fuselage. The photos at the time were disconcerting for anyone who flies. After all, we like to think of planes as solid objects, but they are metal tubes that we put under pressure.
United and Continental Shareholders to vote on Merger
Shareholders of United and Continental are set to vote on September 17th on combining the two companies.
JetBlue Flight Evacuated after Hard Landing
JetBlue Flight 262 from Long Beach to Sacramento, with 86 customers and a crew of 5 evacuated via slides upon landing due to a brake fire. Minor injuries have been reported and an estimated fifteen passengers have been taken to local hospitals.
Southwest Announces Service to Newark Airport
Continuing its trend of going into overcrowded, delay prone airports it had previously avoided, Southwest Airlines announced it would be coming to Newark’s Liberty Airport. The effort is part of Continental and United’s effort to secure approval for their merger by agreeing to lease them 36 slots at the airport, which will allow for 18 daily roundtrips.
JetBlue to Add Boston to Newark Service – What is their Strategy?
JetBlue has announced an intention to fly from Newark Liberty Airport to Boston’s Logan Airport with four daily roundtrips effective May 2011. People often forget JetBlue is at Newark, but look at JetBlue in the New York area. Other than their hub at Kennedy Airport, they serve