In a press release earlier today, Walmart announced that starting tomorrow, they will provide quart-sized Ziploc storage bags to passengers throughout the week at USAirways check-in counters in New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Boston, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Charlotte. We tend to admire companies who find simple and nice ways to help the public…
American, Continental, Northwest, and United Airlines submitted briefs today to the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of their bid for the one China route to be awarded this year. The DOT, charged with choosing the best route to serve the public interest, has to decide which of the four cities: Dallas-Fort Worth, Newark, Detroit,…
USAToday reported on Houston Intercontinental Airport’s effort to increase non-aviation revenue by cutting and bailing grass on airport land and selling it as hay to cattle ranchers. Sales generated $30,000 and the airport will be sowing 2,000 acres of a more popular grass later this year. Airports across the US are investing this way. With…
Reuters reported the other day that aircraft manufacturer Boeing is weighing options for replacing the best-selling 737. Seating on the 737 is anywhere from 110 to 220 seats and is the most popular commercial plane ever. More than 5000 have been produced in the last forty years. Boeing is studying how to meet expectations for…
Last Friday, the Association of Flight Attendants(AFA) appealed the decision that blocked their threatened strike. The Judge said that the union had not exhausted all options for coming to an agreement with the airline. Reuters reported today that the AFA has asked to be released from formal mediation. If the National Mediation Board ceases to…
Aviation Daily reports that after a ninth-month review, the US Department of Transportation decided not to make any changes in airfare advertising rules. The current rules require airlines to list the full fare in advertisements, with several defined exceptions, allowing government taxes and fees to be broken out and put into the fine print. The…
As the Arizona Republic reports, not everyone is pleased with the new USAirways. Sure, it means that passengers in America West Cities have greater services to the Eastern U.S., which is where USAirways is strong, as well as international service to Europe. And passengers in USAirways cities now have better access to the west. However,…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Delta will terminate its interline agreement with Airtran. The two airlines, who both maintain a hub at Atlanta, have had an agreement since 2001. Interline agreements usually cover the transfer of baggage in between carriers, as well as allowing each carrier to ticket flights on the other. Less commonly noticed…
Last month, we questioned why we could take a laptop with a potentially dangerous battery on a plane but not a simple bottle of water. Obviously, the airlines have been following our blog, Techfreep reports that yesterday, Virgin Atlantic announced that passengers with any Dell or Apple laptops will not be allowed to use the…
Compass Airlines, a new subsidiary of Northwest, plans to launch service in October by flying a 50-seat regional jet from Minnaeapolis to Washington Dulles Airport, as the Star Tribune reports. That plane and route was previously operated by Mesaba Airlines. While Compass is a subsidiary, it will be paid in the same manner as Mesaba…
Jetblue announced Thursday that they have been granted DOT approval to operate service from New York to Cancun, Mexico beginning November 30th. With this expansion, Jetblue operates service on many of the high-demand winter routes out of the Northeast to warmer climates, and complements their Aruba, Bermuda, and multiple Floridean routes for getting passengers from…
According to the Star-Tribune, Minnesota based Mesaba Airlines has suffered a major setback. Mesaba operates exclusively under contract with Northwest’s commuter arm, Northwest Airliink. It is a subsidiary of MAIR Holdings, which also owns Big Sky Airlines, which operates 19-seater Beechcraft Turboprop Airplanes in the Pacific Northwest. It codeshares with Northwest, Alaska, USAirways, and Horizon…
We read through USAToday’s Today in the Sky blog this afternoon and paused with some amusement when we came across this post. Flybe, a low-cost carrier in Europe, could start charging people for checking in at the counter. They believe the cost would be justified since most of the passengers can check in free online.…
Delta announced today in a press release that they would become the first and only U.S. carrier to offer two classes of service with digital video on demand at every seat. We aren’t particularly shocked at this development. All they did was replace the economy seating in the front cabin of the former Song aircraft…
When the ban on liquids and gels came out, we wondered what ever had happened to tooth powder and if it would make a comeback. Some research indicated Arm and Hammer had discontinued a tooth powder product not long before due to lack of sales. Yesterday, Harriet Baskas of USA Today commented on alternatives for…
In our recent post, we reviewed the depiction of American Airlines in the recent ABC docudrama. American executives have responded to this with the following message to anyone who asks about the miniseries. “We are outraged by how American is portrayed in ABC’s program. It is not factual, and very unfortunate.” The Star-Ledger reported on…
Passengers on Allegiant Air Flight 436 from Las Vegas to Cedar Rapids, Iowa Sunday night were evacuated on the plane’s emergency slides. The plane was taxiing to the terminal when smoke began to fill the cabin. The slides were deployed only 250 yards from the terminal due to the unknown nature of the situation, and…
Regional Jets currently operate approximately one-third of US domestic flights. The use of these jets has only increased over the last 5 years. While most regional jets in use today, such as the CRJ-100, the aircraft involved in the recent Comair disaster, and the ever popular Embraer 135 and 145 jets, both of which are…
Trials have begun on the first hijack-proof airplane. The plans are being developed in Europe by a consortium of interests including French-based Airbus. The Project, called Security of Aircraft in the Future European in the Future European Environment(We assume that is to form the acronym SAFE). This new aircraft supposedly would include microphones that will…
In an effort to avoid giving our readers the impression everything in air travel news is depressing, we bring you this report from USAToday. Various enterprising pilots around the country are hiring out their planes as lovenests, taking couples up in planes with curtains and mattresses for a rendezvous at 40,000 feet. This particular report…
The Associated Press reports that an Air Canada flight clipped wings with a Shuttle America plane while taxiing to the runway on Saturday, causing a brief traffic delay. Air Canada Flight 723 was bound for Toronto when it impacted a Shuttle America flight bound for Chicago operated on behalf of Delta. LaGuardia Airport traffic was…
A Cessna was forced to make an emergency landing on Parc Avenue in Montreal this afternoon. The pilot and his passengers were on an aerial tour of the city when their engine cut out. There was no damage fortunately, save to a single street sign. The Canadian Press reports here. It is one way to…
Americablog.com comments here on how American Airlines is portrayed in ABC’s docudrama, The Path to 9/11. Here is what they have to say: Here’s what the “Path to 9/11” claims American Airlines did on the morning of September 11. According to Disney/ABC, American Airlines at Boston Logan had Mohammad Atta at its ticket counter and…
Northwest has recommited itself to Indianapolis as a focus city, or hublet with its latest announcement of service expansion in a press release on Thursday. Northwest announced for one it is expanding its service to New York’s LaGuardia Airport. When it began this service with its regional partner, Pinnacle Airlines, Indy’s hometown airline, ATA, was…
Boston’s Logan Airport is receiving opposition over a planned 9,300 foot taxiway between two parallel runways. If such a taxiway is approved, construction could begin next year with an estimated completion in 2009. Over the past year and a half, Logan Airport has experienced several circumstances in which planes have come to close to each…