787 Dreamliner to be Unveiled

Boeing will unveil the 787 Dreamliner on Sunday…July 8th, 2007(7/8/7)…in a bit of marketing whimsy. Things have been good for Boeing this year, with 544 orders for the year so far…which puts it on track to be the industry leader…a title it stole back from Airbus last year… For a historical perspective, Reuters has a…

New York has a Passenger Bill of Rights…will the rest of the US?

We realized we had neglected to comment on the subject of the New York Airline Passenger Bill of Rights, passed by the state legislature on June 22nd. The bill is limited…as air travel is federally regulated, but takes effect at the start of the new year. We decided to have a look at the bill…we…

See America….by Rail…

See America…by Rail…But wait…this is an air travel site….Elsewhere in the world…rail is a much more popular service…it is faster, more efficient…Unfortunately, it is an often overlooked part of the US transportation system and there is not enough attention put into it to make it the service it should be. As the Grand Rapids Press…

In-Flight Internet May Be Back

Brandweek reports that Jetblue will unveil onboard Internet access sometime this year, delivered by LiveTV, which is a Jetblue subsidiary company that not only provides IFE to it, but to other airlines. Cell phone calls will be blocked…due to overwhelming customer opposition to the ability…but text messaging is an acceptable alternative in the air for…

Roundup – Woo-Hoo Jetblue, New Service, and Pay with Paypal

As we mentioned in previous posts, and now available in a press release from Jetblue…JetBlue, in Partnership With Twentieth Century Fox, was named ‘The Official Airline of Springfield’ in Celebration of The Simpsons Movie. In addition to Mr. Burn’s wresting control of Neeleman’s blog, the airline will unveil its first-ever specialty aircraft, christened “Woo-Hoo, JetBlue!”…

Security Measures Increase Due to European Summer Security Issues

Bloomberg reports that increased security measures will delay summer travel for some passengers during this Independence Day week. Police arrested two men at Glasgow airport yesterday after their Jeep Cherokee crashed into the terminal entrance and caught fire. They arrested five additional people since. The Glasgow attack came as police were conducting one of their…

C. Montgomery Burns takes over Jetblue

Oh, no….The Simpsons have taken over Jetblue…Not only are the characters advertising Jetblue destinations in honor of the upcoming Simpsons movie…Someone has taken over Jetblue’s David Neeleman Flight Log… Hi I’m Montgomery Burns, Check back each week as I’ve take over David Neeleman’s Log. Over the next few weeks I would like to share with…

Flights from Hell

We don’t appreciate the media reporting airline delays as Flights from Hell. It seems too much hype as opposed to more useful reporting. Reuters comments that if airlines “want to ensure long-term survival, they say they have no choice but to restrain capacity, fill as many seats as possible and cut costs wherever they can.”…

Roundup – Retirement, Ohio Bribes Continental, New Service, and More

Amadeus has signed an international rail distribution agreement with Wandrian, a global rail specialist, to distribute rail content to travel agents outside Europe who want to book rail globally. Through the web-based Amadeus RailAgent, travel agents outside Europe will have online connectivity and tools enabling them to book global rail passes and point-to-point tickets for…

On the Ground – Blog Roundup

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…

Booking your Flight

Dohop.com has upgraded its flight search engine at www.dohop.com. Farecast launched new tools last month including Alerts that help consumers track their trip and save money. Farecast is also no longer considered a beta. As for Alerts, as they put it…”more than 50 percent of price drops disappear within 50 hours, illustrating the need for…

Roundup – New Service, Air Passes, new planes and more..

Air Canada will introduce daily nonstop service from Vancouver to Yellowknife with seasonal service from December 1st through April with a 50-seat CRJ. Flights are timed to connect with service to Tokyo, Osaka, and points within British Columbia. Airtran launched service today from Portland, Maine to BWI. The first flight from BWI brought a delegation…

Roundup – Podcasts and All

Friday marked the inauguration of seasonal service from Montreal to Rome on Air Canada…with connecting flights on Air One out of Rome to onward destinations. Air Canada Jazz launched two nonstops on Friday from Calgary to Prince George, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington, operating both with 50-seat CRJs… American Eagle has added a weekly flight…

Let’s Talk about Tuberculosis

A Georgia man was infected with XDR-TB, which is a form of turberculosis that is resistant to almost all antibiotics was able to leave the United States, travel around Europe, fly to Montreal, then drive back to the United States unimpeded. Andrew Speaker, the man, was held in Atlanta under federal isolation order and transferred…

Skybus – Day One

We’ve never hid our disdain for Skybus…but since they launched the other day…we thought it was time to review… Perhaps ABC News’s Scott Mayerowitz has it the best…with his article…”The Greyhound Bus of the Skies – Skybus Airlines: where Lunch Costs More Than a Plane Ticket.” To compare Skybus to Greyhound is to insult Greyhound.…