This time-lapse video of a Boeing manufacturing facility is pretty awesome, if you’re into watching “how it’s made” type stuff or if you like to see sped-up footage of people. I recommend keeping the volume down and making up your own sound effects starting at 1:03, when employees begin to test everything on the plane. [More]
US Airways Pilot Pulls Plane Over To Kick Off Unruly Passenger
By November 17, 2009
A 49-year-old Scottish man with an injured arm grew angry at the crew on his US Airways flight to London last night, so he demanded they turn the plane around and take him back to Philadelphia. Instead, the pilot, who has had it up to here with you kids, landed the plane at Logan International Airport in Boston and had him removed.
Poll: What's The Next Airline Fee?
By July 23, 2009
With airlines now charging fees for not paying fees a specified way and contemplating charging for bathroom access, we wanted to take a crack at predicting the next annoying fee. Take the poll inside and suggest your own fee.
Scorpions On A Plane: Southwest Passenger Bitten By Venomous Beast, Panic Ensues
By July 22, 2009
Doug Herbstommer and his 10-year-old son were preparing to disembark from a Phoenix flight when a three-inch poisonous bark scorpion dropped from the overhead compartment and bit Doug on the hand. On closer inspection, five more scorpions were found nestling nearby. Passengers started to scream and jump up onto their seats. Why, is there something scary about a bunch of poisonous scorpions whose bite can cause extreme pain, frothing at the mouth, and temporary paralysis??!?
Airline Passengers Bill Of Rights Lurches Down Congressional Runway
By July 20, 2009
Tomorrow, a Senate committee will hold a hearing on legislation that grants passengers the right to deplane if their plane is delayed on the runway for more than 3 hours. The legislation will also require that airlines provide water, food, and bathroom facilities during delays. If passed, it will be ignored by Delta.
Get The Best Seat When Flying Coach
By July 4, 2009
Snagging the best plane seat doesn’t always require an upgrade, thanks to a few handy tips from Condé Nast Traveler. Inside, how to avoid the dreaded middle seat and keep yourself entertained on the flight…
One Man's Publicity Stunt Is Another's Vision Of Hell
By June 5, 2009
I mentioned comedian and filmmaker Mark Malkoff in passing in a post about Starbucks last week, not knowing that he would embark on a new project this week. He’s making a career out of bizarre feats of consumer endurance, such as visiting all 171 Manhattan Starbucks outlets in one day, and living in the Paramus, NJ IKEA for a week. Now, as part of a campaign to publicize AirTrain’s new in-flight wi-fi, he’s living on an AirTran plane for 30 days and posting his adventures on the Internet. Yes. That’s an entire month. Most of which will probably be spent on the tarmac in Atlanta.
Spirit Airlines Charges $10 For Buying Tickets Anywhere But Ticket Counter (Again)
By March 24, 2009
Habitually awful carrier Spirit Airlines is bringing back its “passenger usage fee,” which charges passengers $4.90 each way for booking tickets online or over the phone. The only way to avoid the fee is by purchasing directly from a ticket counter at the airport. Convenient!
Man Sues American Airlines For Revoking Lifetime Pass
By March 11, 2009
A man who paid nearly $400,000 in the late 80s for two lifetime passes from American Airlines is now suing the company, claiming they illegally revoked the passes after a supposed rule violation. The passes allowed him and a companion to travel anywhere they wanted in first class for the rest of his life, but AA canceled them after claiming he made “‘speculative reservations’ for companions.”
RyanAir To Liven Up Emergencies With Exciting New Escape Fees!
By March 1, 2009
RyanAir’s toilet tax may not be the company’s worst idea after all, as reader Geoffrey reminds us with this mockup showing several potential fees the budget Irish carrier may well be considering.
Great, Airplanes Are Cleaner. Do You Care?
By January 31, 2009
No longer distracted by high oil prices, airlines now claim that they’re starting to focus on customer service. Two of them, American and United, think that their biggest issue is dirty planes. Wouldn’t it be great if that were true?
White House To Citi: Don't Even Think About Buying Luxury Jets With Taxpayer Money
By January 27, 2009
Yesterday, we wrote that Citigroup had decided to spend $50 million of its bailout money on a French luxury jet to ferry execs around town. The White House was not pleased about this.
Bailed Out Citigroup Stimulates French Economy By Purchasing $50 Million Corporate Jet
By January 26, 2009
With $45 billion in taxpayer funds burning a hole in its pocket, Citigroup is purchasing a $50 million Dassault Falcon 7X, according to the New York Post. Apparently none of the existing jets that ferried execs to Washington to ask for bailout funds was ironic enough.
Flight 1549 Passengers Get $5K Checks For Drowned Baggage
By January 20, 2009
Turns out they won’t have to file written requests after all, each passenger of US Airways Flight 1549 that downed in the Hudson River last week got a $5k check from the airline to compensate them for lost baggage.
U.S. Airways Flight Makes Surprise Landing In The Hudson
By January 15, 2009
So, that plane floating in the Hudson near the Intrepid, it’s U.S. Airways flight 1549. Nobody is really sure why the plane is floating in the Hudson, but CBS speculates that “a bird strike may have caused the plane to go down, meaning a bird may have entered the engine, causing a malfunction.” The flight carrying 148 passengers and 5 crew members was destined for Charlotte, North Carolina. Everyone is reported to have survived, and a photo uploaded to Twitter shows people evacuating the A320 onto the plane’s wings and inflatable rafts. The AP reports that New York City firefighters are on the way to pluck the passengers out of the river.
Melissa & Doug's Sky High Customer Service
By October 11, 2008
The Melissa & Doug toy company helped Tracey’s daughter pick up the pieces after she accidentally crashed her month-old block plane into the ground, breaking off the metal pin that held the wheels together. Tracey emailed Melissa & Doug to warn them that the broken pin could potentially cause a choking hazard. She quickly heard back from Chris, who told her that she could either receive a replacement toy or pick out a new one. Just in case something wasn’t in stock, he said, Tracey should pick out two toys…
Southwest's "Credit Cards Only" Policy Increases Sales By 8%
By October 1, 2008
Here’s the real reason for an airline to switch to credit-card-only sales on board its flights: people spend more. Southwest Airlines’ customer service veep, Daryl Krause, told the Dallas Morning News that “since Southwest began accept credit cards (and no longer taking cash) on Sept. 9, its drink sales are up about 8 percent.” Since in general “the goal was one more drink sale per flight,” we wonder whether that wasn’t the real reason for going cashless all along.
