Southwest Airlines is the only one of the largest U.S. commercial airlines that does not charge for customers to check bags, meaning the company is missing out on this multibillion-dollar revenue stream. While Southwest CEO Gary Kelly acknowledges the need to bring in more money for his business, he says his company has no plans to lose its “bags fly free” identity. [More]
air travel
Mom Sues JetBlue After Airline Flies Unaccompanied 5-Year-Old Son To Wrong City
By 9.30.16
September began with news of a New York City mom whose unaccompanied 5-year-old son somehow ended up on the wrong JetBlue flight, and now the month comes to an end with that mom filing a lawsuit against the airline that misrouted her child. [More]
Southwest’s “No Gotchas” Airfare Sale Comes With Its Fair Share Of Gotchas
By 9.28.16
We all know that airfare sales generally come with all sorts of strings attached — restrictions on dates, routes, and seat types are to be expected — but if you’re going to advertise a sale as having “no gotchas,” then it’s a bit disingenuous to have nearly 400 words of mouseprint conditions full of restrictions. [More]
Cuban-American Flight Attendants Not Allowed To Stay Overnight In Country Where They Were Born
By 9.16.16
While Cuba appears to be welcoming American airlines and tourists with open arms, the island nation is not so forgiving to those who fled the country in recent decades. We’ve already told you about concerns that cruise ship operators had about coming into port with Cuban-born staff on board. Now American Airlines has had to pull some flight attendants from overnight flights to Cuba because they aren’t welcome to stay.
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American Airlines Asks Passengers To Make Flying Experience Better (Because It Won’t)
By 8.30.16
American Airlines wants you to be happy in the air. Or at least, they want you not to cause an incident that will result in an emergency landing and major disruption. So instead of adding features, creating legroom, or improving their end of things, American’s asking you: have you considered being more zen and less face-punchy? [More]
Senators Want Airlines To Explain Recent Outages & Why Travelers Couldn’t Be Rebooked On Competing Carriers
By 8.16.16
In just the last few weeks, Delta and Southwest each experienced massive system-wide outages that grounded thousands of flights and ruined travel plans for countless passengers — and there are reasons to believe it could happen to other carriers. Now some lawmakers want the airlines to answer for these failures and to explain what’s being done to prevent future shutdowns. [More]
Days Of Delta Delays Are Worse Because They Can’t Just Put You On American Anymore
By 8.10.16
After canceling more than 1,800 flights in the last two days (with another 150 at least expected today), Delta finally says it expects to resume normal operations later this afternoon. That’s probably a relief to Delta staff and any passengers with flights planned for the back half of the week. But for the thousands and thousands of passengers left in the lurch so far, relief has proven slow to come. Slower, in fact, than it would have been in the past. Why? [More]
Why Your Airline Has To Make Sure Your Plane’s Coffee Maker Works Before You Can Take Off
By 7.18.16
Wings are pretty vital to an airplane. Engines, flight instruments, landing gear, yeah, these are all things you definitely want to be sure are mechanically sound before you find yourself hurtling at 500 miles an hour six miles above the surface of the Earth. Yet even the most devoted caffeine addict would probably rather take off on time than wait three hours for the plane’s coffee maker to get fixed — so what’s the deal when you have to camp out on the tarmac because the plane can’t make you a cup o’ joe? [More]
Pilot Who Failed Drug Test Can’t Try To Use DNA To Prove He Was Clean
By 6.24.16
Imagine you’re one of the many American workers subject to random tests for the presence of drugs or alcohol in your system, and a test turns up high levels of heroin and cocaine. If you contend that the lab must have mixed up your urine sample with someone else’s should you be able to demand a DNA test to prove your innocence? If you’re a pilot, the answer is no. [More]
Man Accused Of Groping Unaccompanied Minor On American Airlines Flight
By 6.20.16
Yet again, we find ourselves in the unfortunate situation of having to write about an airline passenger accused of inappropriately touching another person on their flight. In the case of a recent incident reported on an American Airlines flight, a man allegedly groped a 13-year-old girl traveling alone. [More]
JetBlue Waives Airfares For Family Members Of Orlando Massacre Victims
By 6.13.16
In the wake of this weekend’s horrific violence at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, where at least 49 people were murdered and dozens more injured, JetBlue is offering to provide free airfare to the family members and domestic partners of the victims who need to travel to or from Orlando. [More]
American Airlines Stops Announcing Gate Info During Flights, Because You’re Not Listening Anyway
By 5.16.16
When was the last time you were flying and actually listened to the pilot or cabin crew member rattle off the information about arrival and transfer gates. These days, you probably have that gate info anyway because your phone, laptop, tablet, watch, garter belt, and pinky ring are all connected to the internet. Even if you didn’t have the foresight to sort out this info on your own, you’re probably not listening because you’ve got your headphones on and don’t want to be bothered. [More]
Travelers Have Left $4.32M Behind In Airport Security Bins Since 2008
By 5.2.16
When you’re fumbling through airport security — putting your shoes and belt back on, finding your glasses again, stowing your laptop back in its bag — do you make every effort to make sure you’re not leaving anything behind in the plastic bins? Maybe you’re not doing as thorough a job as you think, because someone is leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars in loose change behind every year. [More]
An Improved Spirit Airlines Still Comes In Last In Customer Satisfaction Survey
By 4.26.16
A year ago, low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines made its debut in the American Customer Satisfaction Index with a thud, coming in dead last among airlines in the annual survey. But even with a 15% improvement over last year’s score, Spirit still couldn’t escape the cellar. [More]
Senate Votes Against Minimum Legroom, Spacing Standards For Airline Seats
By 4.8.16 — Updated: 12.6.16
Earlier this year, Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY) said he would try to get federal regulators to come up with limits for airline seat size and spacing. But yesterday, his fellow senators shot down that effort. [More]
Alaska Airlines Gives Passengers $100 Credit After Flight Disrupted By Drunk Traveler
By 3.16.16
When a flight is diverted to deal with a disruptive passenger, those left on the plane often receive little, if anything, in the way of compensation for the delay. But travelers on a recently interrupted Alaska Airlines flight received a financial apology from the airline. [More]
Preventing Bug Splatter Could Save Airlines Billions On Fuel
By 3.10.16
When you’re flying through the air at hundreds of miles per hour, every little bit of wind resistance can result in the use of additional fuel. So if there’s a way to stop aircraft from becoming covered in dead bug goo, it could end up saving the airline industry a lot of money. [More]
New Bill Aims To Limit “Ridiculous” Airline Fees For Checked Bags, Cancellations
By 3.9.16
Most airlines now charge fees for everything from checked bags to changing your itinerary, resulting in billions of dollars of revenue for carriers and annoyance for travelers. And the fees are going up, with baggages fees up 67% since 2009, and cancellation charges up by 33% for domestic flights. Newly introduced legislation aims to curb these fee hikes. [More]
