Monthly Archives: December 2011

Hug a Pilot…But Not Too Much

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Giving up the Ship just recently wrote on a new morale program at British Airways. The program, nicknamed Hug a Pilot, urged pilots to socialize with crew. Apparently, socialization led to something more. A teenage stewardess ended up pregnant, courtesy of a married pilot. It reads like an episode…

Own A (Big) Piece Of Concorde History

Is there an 18 foot hole in your air travel collection?  If so, you won’t want to miss an auction currently underway.  For only 1.25 million Pounds, you can own an 18 foot long 3.5 ton engine, together with operating manual and certificatw of authenticity.  The engine was used on one of British Airway’s Concordes,…

Alec Baldwin vs the Flight Attendant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=p24WCHJgMTs Unless you’ve been out of touch, you probably heard about Alec Baldwin’s behavior onboard an American Airlines flight. We’ve been thinking about this for a few days now. By most accounts, Alec Baldwin was onboard an American Airlines flight. The Flight Attendants had instructed passengers to discontinue the use of portable electronics. Mr. Baldwin…

Strip the TSA

When the TSA came into existence, their screeners worewhite. Then, they became Transportation Security Officers(TSOs), and got new blue uniforms. Their embroidered [caption id="" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] badges got replaced with metal ones to “represent the continuing evolution of the officers’ role and responsibilities.” At the time when this happened in 2008, we were…

How Do You Forget You Brought Your Gun to the Airport?

A seventy-six year old man apparently’forgot’ that he had a loaded .38 caliber handgun strapped to his ankle when he went through security at Detroit’s Metro Airport. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] The man, not identified, claimed he wears the firearm for personal protection and it merely ‘slipped his mind’. The TSA claims…

KLM Is Flying The Friendly Skies

There’s nothing worse that a long flight sitting next to a stranger who won’t stop talking about things that are utterly uninteresting to you.  We previously wrote about Planely, a site to help you discover people on your flight with similar interests to you.  Now KLM has announced plans to introduce a service that will…

Delta Grows at LaGuardia

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] In August of 2009, US Airways announced it would be selling LaGuardia out to Delta Air Lines in exchange for greater power at Washington-National Airport. Two years later, after selling off some of the slots, it is finally time for Delta to announce its expansion out of LaGuardia.…

They Rent By the Hour – Rooms for Rent at the Airport

The New York Times reported today on Minute Suites, a company which began providing small rooms for rent at Philadelphia International Airport in March, and has bee [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] n serving Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport since 2009. The company has already served 18,000 customers, 24 percent of them repeat business. The…

Man Who Subdued Underwear Bomber Wants Millions

We just can’t believe this… [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] A New York man has named Delta Air Lines and Air France-KLM in a suit that also names Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Underwear Bomber, as a co-defendant. The man, Theophilius Maranga of Wappinger Falls, is asking for ten million dollars in damages for…

Does This Make You Pay Attention to Safety Announcements?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXY27Rwg6UQ Cebu Pacific, a low cost carrier out of the Phillipines, has modified its safety dance for the holiday season. The dance, which started last year, has been received as overwhelmingly popular. Heather Poole, author of Cruising Attitude, an upcoming book about her life and work as a flight attendant, tweeted the following: “Seriously why must…

Happy Holidays from Flight Wisdom

We can’t think of anything more fitting to wish greetings of the Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, New Year’s season than a chorus of TSA Agents at LAX singing What a Wonderful World. We’d have embedded this one, but the only version we found on Youtube appeared to have been doctored. Click Here Happy holidays from your…

Did US Airways Lose Someone’s Brother?

A woman is seeking answers after she claims US Airways lost track of her special needs brother, who was physically and mentally disabled. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by Caleb's Photography via Flickr"][/caption] He missed his connecting flight in Charlotte, and when she called, they would not give out any information. Now, this is actually…

It’s Time to Rise Up and Shave in Flight

The next time we fly, we’re going to be shaving. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Recently, Nick Bilton of the New York Times continued his reporting on the issue of in flight electronics, and how, while there may be reasons for the existing rules, they do not make any sense. If the electromagnetic…

Do Loyalty Programs Encourage Loyalty?

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Yesterday, we read in USA Today’s Travel section that airports are starting to add loyalty programs to encourage travelers to patronize them. This is particularly useful for smaller airports, where people might otherwise drive to larger airports in the region. Even at larger airports, awarding frequent patrons points in…

Are Airlines At Fault for Letting Terrorists Onboard?

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] As we mentioned previously, Theophilius Maranga a lawyer from Fishkill, NY, is suing Delta Airlines and Air France-KLM for ten million dollars in damages for not properly compensating him after they let a man onboard who intended on blowing up the aircraft. Maranga tried to get compensation through…