Updated August 2026 If you suddenly need to fly because of a death in the family, you may still be able to get a bereavement fare. The list of airlines offering them is much shorter than it once was, but they have not disappeared. As of August 2026, Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines, Air Canada…
Having never flown Alaska Airlines, it was news to us that for 30 years, together with their meals, the airline has distributed prayer cards featuring serene color pictures and verses from the Book of Psalms. Now we’ll never have a chance to get one, as the airline announced that it will stop distributing the cards…
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This is Briefing 18. We’re still eager to get guest editorials. Those of you interested, please contact us. A guest editorial would be a 1-3 minute opinion on a relevant topic of your choice. It can be recorded over Skype or alternate digital means. We’re sure, while you aren’t tired of the Flight Wisdom Guru, you’d welcome additional variety.
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Our parent, the Weneca Media Group, unveiled its own custom URL shortener for our blogs, n9n.us. All of our posts will now feature n9n.us URLs. We are looking for bloggers wishing to do editorials on the briefing. If you are interested, please contact us.
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[caption id="attachment_1706" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Lavatory - Virgin America A320"][/caption] This is the Flight Wisdom Guru with Briefing #14, once again reporting in from Flight Wisdom HQ…We ran a little long today, and will try to have a second briefing out tomorrow afternoon, to catch up before the weekend rush. Show Notes Virgin Atlantic to Launch…
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We’re reporting in this week from the birthplace of Flight Wisdom, affectionately known as the Flight Wisdom Summer Palace. Flight Wisdom began in the summer of 2006, when a bunch of us decided to get into the habit of subject-based blogging. I, your usual host, the Editor, also known as the Flight Wisdom Guru, hope to give you the chance to hear some of the other voices of Flight Wisdom this week.
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Thus ends the first week of the Flight Wisdom Briefing. How are you enjoying it so far? Comments are open, as in Twitter. If you are interested in submitting a commercial aviation related story to the Briefing, please contact us. We’ll be back next week with new briefs and we’ll keep tweaking it to try to make it better for you.
This week’s latest in route developments.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="231" caption="Alaska Airlines Arrives at Houston"][/caption] This is a busy month for us, and it is often hard to keep up on things. So we want to try to catch up on some route developments over the last few days we may have missed. Matching competitor AirTran, Delta Air Lines will inaugurate…
The Middle Seat Terminal blog reports that the rate at which passengers were bumped in the second quarter of this year increased forty percent compared with the same period a year ago. As carriers have slashed capacity to the bone, and with overbooking a common practice, there are too many people crammed onto flights.
Image via Wikipedia We’re slowly inching toward our goal of reaching 1000 posts. We hope you’ve been enjoying our increased efforts. Air Canada yesterday inaugurated service from Montreal to Fort-de-France, Martinique. The service will be offered on Saturdays until August 29th, and then will recommence on a year-round basis on December 5th. Alaska Airlines inaugurated…
Image via Wikipedia Alaska Airlines announced today the inauguration of service between San Jose, California and Austin, Texas effective September 2nd. They will also be starting Austin to Seattle service on August 3rd. The flight will originate in Portland, replacing a Horizon flight from Portland to San Jose, and continue to/from Austin, using a 737-800.…
The Boston Globe theorized last week that JetBlue would soon match other airlines in charging for a first checked bag. Southwest and JetBlue are the only major carriers who do not charge for the first bag. Dave Barger, CEO of JetBlue advised that no decision had been made and that he was “wary of being…
Image by Getty Images via Daylife For those of you following us, we’ve been away for a bit, and posting a bit less frequently, and we’re starting to catch up on our backlog of issues we wanted to discuss. In that vein, this is a roundup of all the route and related news we haven’t…
We’ve been a bit busy the last few days. And there is always so much to read to keep up and talk about. We’re going to try to sit down for a few hours and catch up on the backlog. In the meantime, here are some of the things we’ve been reading. South African Airways…
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Best Western International has partnered with Southwest Airlines as a loyalty partner. Beginning February 15th, members of their reward program will be able to earn Rapid Reward credits. Portland-based SeaPort Airlines will serve the Oregon communities of Astoria and Newport beginning March 15th with service to Portland International Airport…
Virgin America and HBO today launched the airline’s new nonstop service from New York’s JFK airport to Las Vegas, Nevada and will unveil “Entourage Class” on the airline as well as the advance screening in flight of Season 5 of the HBO original series Entourage. Virgin America flies to seven cities, including: SFO to LAX,…
Happy Eighth Birthday to JetBlue Airways. Who would have thought they’d grow so fast so quickly? Remembering the good old days when we flew them between Rochester, NY and JFK… Alaska Airlines and Horizon have announced they have selected Seattle-based Jones Soda Co as their new drink partner. The airlines will offer customers complimentary canned…
US Airways will be adding service to three Gulf Coast cities from its Charlotte hub. Service will begin April 6th to Ft. Walton Beach, FL and Panama City. Service to Gulfport/Biloxi, MS will begin May 6th. Service will be operated by subsidiary PSA Airlines using 5-seat CRJ-200s. Horizon Air will begin Santa Rosa-Las Vegas service…
Lot Polish Airlines has signed a deal for 12 additional Embraer 175 jets plus two options and ten purchase rights. The layout of the aircraft will include 82 elite seats, and the plan is to use them to ‘right-size’ aircraft based on seasonal or specific time-of-day influences on routes. Jetblue inaugurated its St. Maarten-JFK service…
We remained quiet about the issue of in-flight internet of late. Certainly, it is controversial. We think it is a better alternative than allowing voice communication on aircraft. Let people quietly text away, send email, etc. Of course, people will abuse this service. We recently heard of a problem on a coach bus that provided…
Lots to cover…never enough time… United Airlines announced new service from Los Angeles to Des Moines, IA and Austin, TX effective February 13th, and will be operated by Skywest’s CRJ-700 regional jets with 6 first class and 60 economy seats, including Economy Plus. Beginning on March 3rd, Delta will be offering flights from Lawton/Ft. Sill,…
Midwest Airlines has added the option to purchase a customized Travel Guard single-trip travel insurance policy specifically for Midwest customers during the ticket purchase process on the Midwest Airlines website and through their other distribution means. We love trip insurance….it protects you from the horror stories we often collect about horrible situations that have happened…
Mesa Airlines announced an agreement with United Airlines to replace 8 50-seat CRJ-200 aircraft with two 66-seat CRJ-700 aircraft. United, as well as other airlines, are replacing the cramped 40-50 seater planes with larger more spacious regional planes which preserve the economy of smaller aircraft but add the comfort of mainline service. San Francisco International…
Airtran has signed a new three year contract with Coca-Cola. Onboard, you can get Coca-Cola Classic®, Diet Coke®, Sprite®, Sprite Zero(TM), Coca-Cola Zero(TM), Minute Maid® Lemonade, Dasani® Water, Cherry Coke(TM), Cherry Coke Zero(TM) and three types of Minute Maid® juices. Poor Pepsi. Has anyone signed with them lately? Air France-KLM announced last week they would…