The recent increase in passenger duties on long-haul flights to forty pounds sterling for economy, eighty for premium, boosts the cost of taxes and fees on an economy ticket from the US to the United Kingdom to nearly $300. Domestic and intra-European flights increased by five pounds. The tax has been very controversial in England,…
LTU will begin nonstop flights from Los Angeles five times a week and Las Vegas twice a week to Dusseldorf this May. Air Canada will add a second daily nonstop flight to Beijing from Vancover during the summer. The extra flight will operate July 1 through September 30th using a 211-seat 767-300. Air Canada will…
Expressjet, best known for operating Continental regional flights, will be operating flights under its own name, due to decreased demand for its services. Expressjet is painfully aware of the lessons of Independence Air…whose independence did not last as long as many had hoped. Expressjet’s new commercial service includes, according to their website: San Diego to:…
Under a rule issued by the US Department of Transportation, baggage liability limitations will soon rise to $3000 per passenger from the current limit of $2800 effective February 28. It applies to any flight using large aircraft and only commuter air carriers are exempt. Airlines could pay an additional $2.6 million per year as a…
New Mexico has ordered US Airways to stop serving alcohol on their flights scheduled to arrive or depart in New Mexico. While investigating a fatal drunk driving crash caused by a man who became intoxicated on a flight to Albuerquerque, it was discovered the airline lacked the required public service liquor license. It was the…
The Ledger reports that airlines are dropping discounts for children occupying a seat. Infants travelling on their parent’s lap are still eligible for discounts. American Airlines stopped offering them January 13th, citing lack of usage. Delta dropped them December 26th. Continental, known for not dropping amenities other airlines have, still offers them in limited markets.…
We are concerned about the latest news from Jetblue. Known for its democratic one-class policy, it is putting together a plan that would hold some of the new 36″ pitch seats created by their decision to remove seats for the passengers paying the highest fares. Jetblue’s management is convinced that business travelers don’t fly Jetblue…
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”…
Flyglobespan will introduce twice weekly service from Boston to Knock Airport in Ireland. Economy seats will start at $239 plus tax each way, starting at $409 for business class. The flight will originate in Glasgow, and stop in Knock enroute. Irish Transport Minister Cullen has also granted the Scottish airline rights to fly a Liverpool-Knock-New…
As we reported many months ago in a post, a Florida man, Yechezkel Wells acknowledged that he made the hoax threat at Long Beach Airport to try to keep a Aug. 26 evening flight to Fort Lauderdale from leaving before he could board. He admitted making a 911 call from an airport pay phone sometime…
Pilots found the body of a South African teen yesterday in the wheel well of a British Airways flight at LAX during a routine inspection shortly before it was scheduled to return to London. British Airways 283, a 747-400, had arrived at LAX from London Heathrow. Before that, the plane had made trips to Hong…
In a press release today, American Express offered some tips for those who want to protect themselves from lost luggage. Â Tag your Bags – Many people forget to put their name and contact info on a tag outside the bag. Even more forget to add it inside. You can also leave a copy of your…
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…
British Airways has reinstated the flights it cancelled for tomorrow in anticipation of a cabin crew strike. The Transport and General Workers’ Union has called off the strikes, as their issues with BA have been resolved. Customers wishing to take the reinstated flights must contact British Airways or their travel agents as soon as possible.…
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…
Would people really be willing to take a ten-mile boat ride to catch a plane? As the San Diego Union-Tribune reports, Adam Englund has been fixated for decades on the idea of a floating airport, and thinks San Diego, which needs a bigger airport…would be a good place to try it. Lindbergh Field in San…
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.
Reports that Airbus had solved the wiring problems for the Airbus 380 were apparently premature, as Airbus announced on Friday that the problems had been solved for the first aircraft only. Work is still going on to solve the long-term issues. Airbus expects to start building a common design platform between its various plants…the variance…
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…
On January 14th, Julie and Gerry Kulesza and their daughter Ella were removed from an Airtran flight from Ft. Myers to Boston. Ella refused to take her seat before takeoff, and the flight was delayed fifteen minutes already and the crew made an operational decision to remove the family. The Kuleszas think that Airtran went…
Over the next few weeks, you may notice some improvements in our categorization. In order to help our users keep track of things, we are adding new categories…most notably categories for Airlines and Airports…allowing users to look for all stories we’ve posted on an individual airport. It will take some time for us to categorize…
The Seattle Times has a good compilation of policies on getting a credit for future travel if the price goes down on your ticket. Here is the summary from that article. Alaska Airlines/ Horizon Air: Travel voucher good for one year for the difference in fares, minus a $10 service charge. Northwest Airlines: Two options:…
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…
After hearing so many negative stories, when we find a story of an airline doing something nice without being asked…or threatened, we just have to write about it. Perhaps related to their big blunder the same day, a reader of the Consumerist was delayed with his wife for several hours due to the lack of…