San Jose International Airport, in the heart of Silicon Valley, is the largest US city still operating a major commercial airline terminal without jetways, forcing passengers to walk across the tarmac to board their aircraft. Airport officials are in negotiations with construction companies to rebuild the airport. Construction would begin next year with a demolition…
Our colleagues at our sister blog, opening this week, Gadget Wisdom sent us this link from Slashdot A passenger lost his Ipod in the airplane lavatory, and despite advising the flight crew some minutes later, the plane is diverted to Ottawa and a bomb squad is brought in, prompting an investigation. Once again, the most…
Last week’s entry on Candidates for an Award for Travel Stupidity referenced a 21 year old man, one Howard McFarland Fish, who had a stick of dynamite in his checked luggage. on a flight from Buenos Aires to Houston and onward to Newark. Further information, provided by the Sun Journal, indicates Fish bought it at…
A USAirways flight from Philadelphia to Houston was diverted to Tri-Cities Airport in Tennesee after a bomb threat was found in a note on board. Reuters reports that although all 52 passengers were offloaded, it turned out to be another hoax. Meanwhile, this woman, Janet Gregory, Age 66, was arrested in Charlotte, after she refused…
On Sunday morning, a Comair Flight bound for Atlanta took the wrong runway upon takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky. All but one of the 50 people onboard were killed. We mourn the loss of life in this tragedy. For more news on this investigation, a fuller report is available here. What does…
Toledo Express Airport has been awarded $400,000 in grants for air service. The Small Community Air Service Development grant will be used to secure non-stop passenger air service to New York City. The federal monies will be used to offset any loss an airline might incur. Toledo was one of 25 airports to receive a…
The Darwin Awards are ones given to those who contribute to the improvement of the human genome by honoring those who remove themselves from it…essentially people whose stupidity gets them killed. Here at Flight Wisdom, we honor those whose stupidity or lack of forethought in the current security environment impacts us all. Today, we salute…
As we reported earlier, the Federal Judge deciding on the case of the Northwest Airlines Flight Attendants and their right to strike blocked them from going on strike today. He has issued an injunction, stating that a delay was necessary so that the legal issues under the Federal Railway Act could be explored further. We…
In the tradition of the major news networks, we present our coverage of the Northwest Strike… Late Wednesday night, the U.S. Department of Justice sought to block a threatened strike, maintaining it would violate the Railway Labor Act, which does not allow strikes without both sides of the conflict being released from mediation. The Association…
Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines announced today the introduction of confirmed standby for its passengers. Confirmed Standby is a newer concept in the airline industry. Previously, airline policy was very black and white. Either standby was not permitted for earlier flights or airlines would allow you to standby for earlier flights that day for free, and get…
A 29-year-old man in Chicago opted to face arrest rather than face the disappointment of his mother. We must commend Madin Azad Amin for not wanting to disappoint her, although we question his intelligence. He was stopped on August 16th on his way to Turkey when an item resembling a grenade was found in his…
We reported yesterday that the Dutch were holding twelve passengers from a Northwest Airlines flight to Mumbai. No evidence could be found that they were anything but difficult passengers. It appears they were merely rowdy. It is a lesson to us all…stay in your seat when the fasten seatbelt sign is on, remain quiet, keep…
The deprecated No Smoking Signs on aircraft may soon be replaced by “No Mobile Signs” on some planes next year, Reuters reports. This is not a new idea. Some planes have replaced these signs with “It is Now Safe to Use Portable Electronics” messages. But this is a small portion of the overall aircraft, despite…
When was the last time you saw a printed timetable? Fewer and fewer of these timetables are being printed by the airlines that still print them, relying on electronic means to do so. Their websites will often still offer printable versions in PDF format and other downloadable options. But as David Grossman of USA Today…
The Boston Globe comments on the lessons of security for El Al, the National Airline of Israel. El Al security focuses on intercepting bad people, as opposed to bad things(bottles of water, shoes, etc). They monitor behavior, and profilers interview travellers at length. Only when the profiler is satsified with you are you allowed to…
We here at Flight Wisdom tend to address the security situation with a degree of skepticism. It is not that we are unconcerned about the threat of aviation terrorism, or that we do not believe it should be taken seriously…but some of these incidents cause us to question the approach. For example, today’s incident in…
To allow passengers to adjust to new security restrictions, many carriers relaxed their luggage restrictions. Today, it was reported that Northwest Airlines resumed its charge of $80 for passengers who wish to check a third bag. American and United have resumed charging as well. For restrictions on your carriers, please consult their website. The average…
Reuters reports that Delta has sought bids to operate up to 143 regional jets for its Delta Connection service. Delta’s press release on the subject can be found here Commuter or regional airlines are smaller airlines that operate under contract to larger ones, using the larger carrier distribution network to sell its seats, while the…
In a recent post, Staying in Touch In Flight, we commented on the loss of Boeing Connexion. As Airwise news reports here, part of the problem was that the Boeing equipment, which was satellite based, was large, heavy, and expensive. Aircell, which purchased part of Verizon Airfone’s bandwidth, plans to start service by the end…
We were amused to note one of Delta’s latest press releases. Delta is sponsoring the new season of Bravo’s “Project Runway” and will appear in two episodes. On select flights between August 23rd and September 6th, Delta flight attendants will award passengers who are “flying in style.” This will complement the new uniforms they unveiled…
USA Today reported yesterday here that a larger proportion of fliers are sleeping at home on Saturday Nights than three years ago. The Saturday Night Stayover is a dated remnant from the past that many airlines still use. Now, first, the requirement of a Saturday night stayover only applies to roundtrip fares. What is means…
The Detroit News reports here that screeners are handling 30 percent more checked luggage at Detroit Metropolitan Airport since the increased security began. To some degree, as we’ve previously mentioned, the media has confused people or failed to educate them about the new security measures. Watching the news, we saw story after story about people…
Farecast.com announced an expansion of its beta software on which its site is based. Consumers can now get predictions from over 55 cities nationwide. Farecast seems an intriguing idea worth monitoring, but as it is still in beta, we will reserve judgement on its ultimate usefulness until after it has exited the beta process. A…
Open Skies is a treaty between two countries that allows any carrier to fly between any city in one country to any city in the other, subject to local regulatory approval. In this case, a hotly debated issue is a Open Skies between the United States and the European Union. It is also known as…
After we reported on a Jetblue flight to Austin which was under intense scrutiny for bathroom graffiti, and an Excel Airways Flight that was under scrutiny for words on a barf bag, in our recent post, Safety First, Saturday night, a man on a flight from Atlanta to San Antonio was detained and the FBI…