Jetblue has its advantages and disadvantages, as we’ve said. So, let’s review what is necessary for Jetblue to avoid this in the future… A Secondary Base It lacks a secondary base outside of the winter weather zone. Jetblue’s coverage in the middle of the country has aways been lacking. Places for a mid-America base have…
CBS New York reports that two seventeen year old girls from Queens, Cally Nikolis and Alexandra Moshouris, shot a video documenting their isolation stuck on the ground at Kennedy on a Delta flight to Greece that they never took that night. They insist they were stuck on the plane for 11 hours with little food,…
We received unprecedented response to the Jetblue post of yesterday, detailing Jetblue’s failure to care for its passengers. Jetblue itself issued the following statement: “JetBlue apologizes to customers who were impacted by the ice storm at our home base of operations in New York, specifically at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Of the 505 daily…
This evening, we reported that Jetblue had stranded passengers on several planes for more hours than even they thought were accepted, and followed up on American’s response to their similar situation. Our counterpart at Upgrade Travel reported on their attempt to take the wind out of the sails of the Passenger Bill of Rights…the way they…
Jetblue announced today it has entered into a marketing partnership with Cape Air. Cape Air will provide connecting service from Boston…a Jetblue hublet, to Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Provincetown, and Hyannis. Cape Air operates this service using small Cessna 402 aircraft. The alliance will begin March 19, 2007. Cape Air might not seem like a good fit…
We commented last week on the Spirit Airlines plan to charge $10 for the second bag, $100 for each additional bag above that. The Coalition for Luggage Security had even more interesting things to say than we do. The coalition is in favor of further separation of the cost of the ticket and the cost…
We were reading The Consumerist and discovered this story, about a man who tracked down a baggage handler who stole a digital camera out of his checked luggage, had him prosecuted, and received a less than pleasant response from Delta. Delta’s position is that since he did travel…they will not compensate him for the actions…
Effective on Saturday, Spirit Airlines will charge passengers ten dollars for a second checked bag. Spirit will now have the strictest baggage policy in the industry…although ten dollars for an extra fifty pounds is not bad. A third bag will be one hundred dollars. Industry average in the U.S. is now at two bags, fifty…
Expressjet’s(Stock Ticker: XJT) move to start its own service is a rather controversial one. The question so many people are asking is if they will go the way of Independence Air. Independence Air had operated as a regional carrier for various airlines until United withdrew its contract and the airline went independent. Independence was unique…
The New York Daily News reports that a 73-year old Manhattan woman, Phyllis Gershon, is suing Jetblue for $5.5 million after she was removed from a flight for asking for a large air sickness bag in case she got a case of air sickness. Gershon charges she was the victim of “hysterical and unjustified actions”…
It was with great amusement we read the above title as a press release earlier today. “Professional, well-connected and experienced travel agents score high marks when it comes to making complex travel arrangements for luxury vacation customers,” says Nancy Yale, President, Cruise Resort & World Travel, Inc. We tend to agree with the above statement…although…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Bay Area Rapid Transit(BART) reported record ridership during Christmas week. Currently, the extension and airport station operates at a loss. We don’t understand why…with moderately convenient public transportation to the airport, why people would not take advantage of it to avoid the hassles of driving to the airport. Cities have invested money in these buses…
Oneida County Airport in Utica, NY has closed. The county airport will now be operated out of the former Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, which closed as a military base in 1993. Griffiss is now a business and technology park. As part of the move, the airport has been refurbished. Empire Aero Center, which…
We just love that title, which is the title of a blog entry on cosmicvariance.com. Cosmic Variance is a blog by four physicists with their perspective on not just their jobs, but their time outside them. We also have no love for Orbitz and the other online consolidators. They are not interested in helping the…
The Consumerist brought to our attention a story of schedule changes. in this case, American contacted the passenger to rebook due to a schedule change. The new itinerary caused a change of airline from Swiss to SN Brussels. The passenger asked if they needed new paper tickets and were told no. When they arrived for…
Today in the Sky reports that Air France is being sued by a passenger who says he was “shocked” and “humiliated” after the airline told him he was too big to fit in one seat and would have to purchase another. Many airlines have policies for overweight passengers that require the purchase of such a…
Is merging a good thing? In some cases, yes, some cases no. But now everyone is on the merger bandwagon. When one thinks about the Ma Bell breakup, and the fact that Ma Bell seems to be rising from the grave…one wonders about the future and megacorporations. For airlines, the experts say that the airlines…
The Herald reports that John Wilkie, a lecturer teaching stage management at the Royal Scottish Academy of Drama and Music in Glasgow, was arrested on the orders of Ryanair for trying to disembark an aircraft. The plane from Paris Beauvois to Glasgow’s Prestwick Airport was diverted to Edinburgh after a terror alert. Mr. Wilkie and…