We have long said, on the blog and elsewhere, that the best thing that the Federal government could do to encourage change would be to review involuntary denied boarding compensation…The number, set at $400 for passengers forced to wait for a new flight over two hours, $200 for less….has been unchanged since deregulation in 1979…means…
Well, the flight still hasn’t left…It happens sometimes….so here we are for part two of today’s roundup…Let’s see what the other flight bloggers are up to… Upgrade, Travel Better has a response to their recent query about United-US Airways codeshares…The codeshare program includes 2000 US flight numbers on UA, and an equivalent number of UA…
USA Today has a good article today about very unhappy United Airlines passengers. United’s customer satisfaction rating dropped more than any other big US carrier this year. Check out the horror stories here. We think it is depressing it takes USA Today investigating to get United to do right by these people… In a positive…
The Coalition for Luggage Security commented the other day on the recent survey that determined customers are generally dissatisfied with their airline service. As they put it… Betsy Talton, a spokeswoman for Delta, said, “We know the service is not where it should be as far as baggage delivery, we’re concentrating on that this year…
Yesterday, Continental, American and Delta raised fares systemwise in the continental US by $5 each way. Northwest matched…although United and US Airways did not. Continental, which initiated the increase, said it was due to fuel increases. Airlines has warned of sluggish revenue and bookings for the summer. Frontier launched once daily service between Denver and…
Our recent Customer Service Stories from other blogs netted this comment from Joanne. I arrived in Newark airport Sunday, April 17 at 6:45 from Paris to take a connecting flight on USAir from Newark to Rochester, NY. I had booked the ticket on Cheap Tickets back in December. When I and my 2 traveling companions…
We’ve spent some time contemplating this issue…trying to come up with something to say on it. On April 12th, Flight International magazine announced that in an interview with Ryanair head Michael O’Leary plans to launch a new transatlantic serving the East Coast. He expects to serve secondary airports such as Baltimore, Providence, and Long Island…
Ff you are a reader and want us to feature one of your stories, we are eager to. Here’s our rundown and synopsis of some of the recent ones we gleaned from other blogs…most from the Consumerist. Virgin Atlantic charged one passenger $110 for a seat upgrade, and gave the same seat to another passenger…
Skybus began to sell tickets this morning. As their press release mentions, at least 10 seats on every flight will be offered at $10(excluding taxes and fees). All flights will be operated by Airbus 319 aircraft and all destinations…for now, will be served nonstop from Columbus, OH…their hub. On May 22nd, service will begin to…
Bruce Schneier has announced his Second Annual Movie Plot Threat Contest…and we’re aiming to win the prize…one of his books autographed… Our goal: invent a terrorist plot to hijack or blow up an airplane with a commonly carried item as a key component. The component should be so critical to the plot that the TSA…
Last week, Kip Hawley, the head of the Transportation Security Administration submitted his own post to the people at Aviation Daily on the subject of employee screening and the recent increase in TSA activity in Florida. You can have a look at the post in full. Here are some highlights and points Terrorists are adaptive,…
Virginia Buckingham of the Boston Herald this week wrote a misleading article accusing Jetblue of a bait and switch. She had a bad experience on a flight and blames Jetblue for the situation. We felt the need to correct her misleading statements and errors. Buckingham flew from Washington-Dulles to Logan and comments, “Instead of the…
We caught this Youtube interview from the Today Show through the Consumerist. Nine Times Travel Insurance isn’t a ripoff. Your flight is cancelled. Your bags are lost and your medication is in it. You need to have an emergency prescription filled. Your passport and wallet are stolen, and you need emergency cash and a replacement…
As USAToday reports, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. James Oberstar(D-MN), has said that the code of conduct that the airlines agreed to seven years ago to avoid increased industry regulation should be updated. He also said that the Dept. of Transportation(DOT)Â should be given more power to investigate abuses and levy heavy…
Roger Wu of USA Today reported that Harmony Pharmacy and Health Center opened its first drugstore this month at Terminal C at Newark Liberty Airport. In addition to filling prescriptions, a nurse practitioner will be available to write prescriptions to treat ailments such as allergies, bronchitis, colds, flu and sinus infections. Flu shots, blood pressure…
The head of the Port Authority has stated that Stewart Airport in the Hudson Valley will not become New York’s fourth area airport even though the Port Authority will be running the airport. He stated that Stewart would never be the scale of the other airports, although it may eventually hit four million fliers a…
Last month, we ran a post summarizing Carl Howe’s thoughts on “The Difference Between Good and Bad Airlines” Howe thought that the defining characteristic of a good airline, or…to generalize, a good company is one whose employees are empowered and respond to problems. Today we received a comment from ‘Steve’ stating simply that…”Whoever wrote this…
We received the following travel horror story. Nothing we can say will fix the situation. But we do have a few thoughts.
Spirit Airlines, along with its new bag policy, has opted to go a step further with its pay for everything platform. You can join the $9 Fare Club…which gives you… Guaranteed Exclusive Member-Only Low Fares(at least once every six weeks) On-site and e-mail access to deals Automatic enrollment in the “innovative” FREE SPIRIT frequent flyer…
Our friends at the Coalition for Luggage Security are always good for a bit of amusement. On Thursday, they commented on the security breach at Orlando, where airline employees were able to travel with drugs and weapons to San Juan. They are calling for Congressional Hearings. We don’t necessarilly disagree with them that the situation…
The Coalition for Luggage Security issued a press release today, commenting on RFID baggage tagging. The Coalition believes luggage should be treated as cargo and that it should not be shipped on passenger flights. They fail to truly comment though on RFID though. RFID, as we’ve mentioned in the past, has great potential for improved…
Reuters reports that IATA, which supplies paper tickets to most airlines outside the U.S., plans to discontinue supplies by the end of this year. Airlines that want to maintain it after this year will be able to, but the supplies will be costly. IATA estimates that 96 percent of tickets issued by U.S. Airlines are…
USA Today has a good article on some new products coming out in response to TSA carry-on restrictions. Manufacturers are seeking to profit off of the rules in the best example of market demand spurring innovation. We recommend you have a look at the article, but here is our summary. 02Hide.com offers a line of…
We’re on Day 3 of the Wait for a response to our email to Jetblue about the definition of “Controllable Irregularity.” We decided to check to see if anyone had better luck figuring things out. The Cranky Flier spoke to Jetblue’s Media Relations office and was told a Controllable Irregularity was anything that was under…
Carl Howe, of Blackfriar’s Communication, posted the following(courtesy of SeekingAlpha), noting that: The difference between bad and good companies is how employees are empowered and respond to problems. Southwest Airlines (LUV) empowers its employees to break rules so long as they are doing right by their customers, and it has been the most profitable airline…