AirTran Airways announced new nonstop service from Milwaukee to Washington’s National Airport. Beginning June 11th, they will offer two daily nonstops between the two airports. This continues AirTran’s buildup in Milwaukee after their failed attempt to merge with Milwaukee carrier Midwest Airlines. AirTran also announced service from its Atlanta hub to Atlantic City, NJ. Service…
Mr. T, we’re sure, would say, “I pity the fool airline who mistreats their passengers.” Once again, here are some recent tales we’ve noticed of travel experiences. When a man tried to check in for his flight on Spirit, he was told the flight was oversold. When he tried to fly the next day, Spirit…
As airlines fight for a shrinking number of first-class passengers, they’re prepared to lay out even more money to win their loyalty…which seems a risky business move to us. This week, Lufthansa unveiled a 12,000-square-meter first-class lounge at Frankfurt Airport, featuring a full-service spa, spacious bathrooms with whirlpool tubs, and a bar offering 84 different…
B.net has an interesting report on Delta taking over a Northwest route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, reducing the plane operated from 148 to 76 seats and breaking the flight’s connection to Tokyo service, the original reason for putting the flight on in the first place. The new Delta Connection service connects with service…
Happy Valentine’s Day to all those who celebrated it yesterday. Now, let’s give a little love to a few airlines. Israel’s El Al Airlines will add its first new destination in 10 years. On May 2nd, it will begin nonstop service between Tel Aviv and Sao Paulo, Brazil, operating three nonstop flights a week using…
Image by Telstar Logistics via Flickr Ray LaHood is now the US Secretary of Transportation. Mr. Hood is opposed to the slot auctions at New York airports, dedicated to a new generation of air traffic control equipment, and we’ll see how he is for the country’s transportation network. 3M has issued a press release that…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKqQgNZylLw Introduction to the Jet Age The Census Bureau reminded us that today, January 25th is the 50th anniversary of the first scheduled, nonstop flight from Los Angeles to New York, operated by American Airlines using the Boeing 707 jet aircraft, which was the inauguration of domestic jet service. Many omit the National Airlines usage…
Happy Holidays to All. Spirit Airlines is adding service from Boston’s Logan Airport to Atlantic City International Airport once daily beginning May 1st. Spirit is also requesting DOT approval for service from Ft. Lauderdale to Armenia, Columbia to begin in Summer 2009. It will complement their approved service to Medellin, Columbia, which launches March 1st.…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Image by Getty Images via Daylife"][/caption] There is a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, despite the economic downturn. Here are some tales of people who haven’t done too well of late, and here’s hoping travel experiences improve in the new year. Thanks to Chris Elliott and the Consumerist…
A while back, we commented on bereavement fares. Despite the popularity of this subject, as it comes upon people urgently, we haven’t revisited it since. USA Today’s Bill McGee recently did, and we decided it was good to update our rundown. Many airlines are not forthcoming about their policies, and require a call and specifics…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Image by Getty Images via Daylife"][/caption] We stole the title for this post from Chris Elliott, whom we admire as the champion of fair disclosure and fees, although we admit to disagreeing with him at times. USA Today reported that while jet fuel is down, fuel surcharges have stuck. And this…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by Luigi Rosa via Flickr"][/caption] For those of you who have noticed a change in our style over the last few entries, we’ve added Zemanta support to our blog. Zemanta is a blogging service that provides recommended articles and public domain imagery to a blog entry, giving you, our readers,…
American Airlines is being sued by a man for allegedly misplacing his wife’s body for four days. According to the lawsuit, the body was so badly decomposed when it finally arrived that they had to forego a traditional open-casket funeral. Shares of United Airlines stock tanked on Monday(Forbes reports) when a six-year-old Chicago Tribune story…
Today is the fifth anniversary of 2003 Blackout, the worst in U.S. history. JetBlue will be adding daily nonstop service from Washington-Dulles to Tampa on December 18th and Saturday service to Cancun on December 20th. JetBlue will be launching twice daily service using its 100-seat Embraer 190s on October 18th between Long Beach and San…
Reuters reports that American Airlines has accelerated its 737 delivery schedule, accepting six additional 737-800s in 2010, allowing more rapid replacement of its fuel-inefficient MD-80 fleet. The new schedule means American will get 76 of the new aircraft, 36 next year and 40 in 2010. We applaud them for putting money into renewing their fleet,…
With the announcement that Northwest would be charging for the first checked bag for all flights purchased on or after July 10th for travel on or after August 28th, it brings the total to four legacy carriers who charge for anything you put under the plane. The others are American, United, and US Airways(but they…
United Airlines matched American Airlines’ $15 fee to check a single bag today. US Airways announced the same on all reservations booked on or after July 9th. US Airways will be charging $2 per nonalcoholic drink beginning August 1st. They’ve already rid themselves of free snacks in economy as of June 1st. In addition, US…
A New York couple has filed a lawsuit against American Airlines for putting their son at risk. . Their four-year old son has a severe nut allergy, which they claim they made clear to American when making their reservation and then told by a gate agent that there would be no nuts served on the…
American Airlines has announced this morning that it will begin charging for the first checked bag. American, the last carrier to jump on the bandwagon of charging for the second bag, has opted to be the first legacy carrier to charge for the first. American will not only be charging $15 for the first checked…
Airline passengers think that their ticket gives them the right to have themselves and their luggage transported to their destination. They are wrong on both counts. Most recently, the legacy carriers have now imposed a twenty-five dollar charge for the checking of a second bag. Chris Elliott, in his blog, commented that United’s chief revenue…
American Airlines cancelled 200 flights today, 10% of its flights, in order to allow for the inspection of its MD80 fleet for potential wiring issues. The planes constitute 300 of American’s 655 aircraft. The planes were previously inspected as per an FAA security directive, but a recent audit raised questions that led to this reinspection.…
We’ve been very behind lately. We keep saying we’ll catch up, but life happens. We are committed to providing the best in airline news and commentary we possibly can, but we do have day jobs, of course. Delta received preliminary approval to fly from New York’s JFK Airport to Bogota, Columbia. Spirit Airlines announced starting…
We’d like to remind our readers that the links embedded in each article go to a press release or news article with more details than our news briefs. Each week we scour the press releases and such for these articles. Regional airline SkyWest has sued Delta Air Lines over the airline’s withholding of $25 million…
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…