Given the possibility of theft, damage, and loss, packing your laptop in a checked bag is not a good idea to begin with. Even so, travelers continue to stow their computers and other large electronics in their checked luggage. But that could come to an end, now that the Federal Aviation Administration has urged airlines around the world to stop this practice, citing the fire and explosion risk posed by the batteries in these devices. [More]
air travel
Report: Former GE CEO Brought Along An Extra Empty Plane On Some Trips
By 10.19.17 — Updated: 10.20.17
Have you ever stashed a spare shirt in your bag in case you spilled something, or brought along a spare pair of shoes in case you got a blister? Former General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt reportedly took similar precautions: According to company insiders, he brought an extra jet along with him on some business trips in case the first one broke down. [More]
American Airlines CEO Predicts Industry Is Never “Going To Lose Money Again”
By 9.29.17
In words that will most surely never come back to haunt him, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker boldly declared this week that the U.S. airline industry is in such a solid place right now that he doesn’t see how it could ever end up in the red. [More]
Is That Sardine-Style Coach Class Seating So Tight It’s Unsafe?
By 9.13.17
Everyone who flies, but who doesn’t have deep enough pockets to travel exclusively in first class, knows it: Airplanes are increasingly crowded and unpleasant. But is that frustrating lack of legroom actually endangering your life when you fly? [More]
Limited Flights To Houston Resume; Full Service Will Take Several More Days
By 8.31.17
You can fly over floods… but only if there’s a place to take off and a place to land. Houston’s airports, like the rest of the city, have been dealing with high water and torrential rain caused by Hurricane Harvey, and while the runways are dry, it’s going to take some time for air travel to and through the area to get anything like back to normal. [More]
Hurricane Harvey Cancels Thousands Of Flights, Disrupts Shipping
By 8.29.17
Flooding in the Houston area continues today, as remnants of Hurricane Harvey continue to unleash unfathomable torrents of rain on the Gulf Coast. In addition to the destruction facing local homes and businesses, all travel into or out of the nation’s fourth-largest city — both for people and for things — has been hampered, and will likely continue to be for some time. [More]
Airport Employee Punches Passenger Holding Baby Because We Live In A Cruel And Absurd Universe
By 7.31.17
As Dostoyevsky wrote, a beast can never be so cruel as a man, so artistically cruel, so it’s of little surprise that a random airport worker lashed out with his fist at a passenger — a traveler who was not only holding an infant in his arms at the time, but who had languished for some 13 hours while waiting for his repeatedly delayed flight. [More]
Court Says FAA Must Explain Why It Won’t Do Anything To Stop “Incredibly Shrinking Airline Seat”
By 7.31.17
A federal appeals court has ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to reconsider a petition filed by consumer advocates seeking to halt the ever-decreasing size of airline seating arrangements. [More]
United Airlines Sued Over In-Flight Death Of Simon The Giant Rabbit
By 7.27.17
Simon, the giant rabbit who recently died during transport from London to Missouri, was destined to be shown off at the Iowa State Fair. Now, the three investors who had purchased Simon to raise money for the fair are taking United to court, accusing the airline of negligence. [More]
Expect Airport Security Delays As TSA Starts Scanning Tablets Separately From Carry-On Bags
By 7.26.17
If you’re one of the many air travelers who uses a tablet to play games, watch videos, read, or do work while flying, be warned that your device will soon be subject to the same sort of security screening that has been given to laptop computers for years. And even if you’re not carrying a tablet in your bag, you should probably expect longer waits at airport checkpoints. [More]
American Airlines: No, Passenger’s Farts Didn’t Make Entire Plane Sick
By 7.17.17
It made an irresistable weekend news story: The passengers on an American Airlines flight became sick and had to leave the plane because of the overpowering flatulence of one person on the flight. American now says that isn’t true, but the story made it to news outlets around the world first. [More]
Owner & Seller Of 20 Lb. Lobster Not Thrilled That TSA Made A Celebrity Of Oversized Crustacean
By 6.29.17
Deserved or not, the Transportation Security Administration doesn’t usually get much affection on social media, so it must have been a nice change of pace for the TSA recently when it had a minor Instagram hit with a photo of a massive, 20 lb. lobster found in a cooler at a Boston airport. Alas, the TSA has not escaped criticism, as the man who owned this oversized crustacean — and the market where he purchased it — both say the airport security folks mishandled his future meal for the sake of a photo op. [More]
New Law That Would Set Minimum Sizes For Airplane Seats Inches Closer To Becoming Reality
By 6.28.17
For at least the third time in as many years, federal lawmakers are hoping to pass legislation that would set minimum standards for airline seating. That battle inched slightly closer to becoming a reality last night. [More]
Travelers Left A Record $867,800 In Change At TSA Checkpoints Last Year
By 6.20.17
Sure, forgetting a few pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters might not seem like a lot to leave behind when dashing through airport security, but it adds up. To that end, the Transportation Security Administration says it once again collected a record number of change last year. [More]
Basic Economy Flights Exist To Make You Pay More For Air Travel
By 6.9.17
If you haven’t booked any air travel recently, you might encounter something new to you the next time you schedule a trip: A new class of travel called “basic economy.” In exchange for lower fares, travelers in the basic economy section board last, can’t upgrade, and don’t have access to overhead bins. This sounds fair, but these flights may not be the great deals that they seem. [More]
JetBlue Hopes Facial Recognition Tech Can Speed Up Boarding At The Gate
By 5.31.17
For some flights, you’ll spend more time in line at the airport than you will in the air. Checking your bags, going through security, then boarding at the gate (not to mention the idle time spent in the jet’s aisle while the people in front of you invariably stow their over-large rolling suitcases improperly in the overhead bins and then remember they have to get something from that bag). JetBlue is hoping that using facial recognition technology can speed up at least one portion of this process. [More]
Bipartisan Bill Would Open Up Cuba To Tourist Travel Again
By 5.25.17
Though multiple U.S. airlines now fly directly to Cuba, tourism is not on the list of 12 travel categories that are eligible to visit the island nation. A newly introduced Senate bill with bipartisan support intends to do away with that restriction and open up Cuba once again to all Americans. [More]
Appeals Court: Your Naked Protest At Airport Security Is Not Protected By First Amendment
By 5.18.17
Five years ago, when we told you about an Oregon man protesting new airport security measures by stripping down to nothing at a TSA checkpoint, we had no idea it would eventually blossom into a years-long legal battle over whether or not one has a First Amendment right to get naked at the airport, but this week a federal appeals court disagreed with a local judge, saying that the man’s protest was not a form of constitutionally protected free speech. [More]
