So it turns out that the JetBlue passenger who peed on an 11-year-old girl instead of heading to the toilet is a member of the U.S. Ski Team’s development squad. Or at least he was until he went #1 in public. [More]
air travel
American Airlines Looking To Spin Off American Eagle
By 8.12.11
American Airlines is planning to spin off its American Eagle regional carrier later this year in an effort to cut costs. There’s a possibility that this divestiture could actually end up offering more options to consumers who travel to destinations served by these smaller airlines. [More]
Drunken JetBlue Passenger Urinates On 11-Year-Old Girl
By 8.11.11
If you don’t like air travel, one way to prepare for a five-and-a-half hour flight is to consume an alcoholic beverage or two. Or eight. But plan ahead, and make sure to use the bathroom before the situation becomes dire and you have to relieve yourself in the cabin without noticing that a child’s leg is in your jetstream. [More]
Southwest Leads Airfare Rollback Following Return Of Taxes
By 8.9.11
Late last week, when legislators took a vacation from vacation to hammer out a deal that put FAA employees back to work and millions of tax dollars back into federal coffers, a number of you expressed skepticism about predictions that airlines would lower their fares to where they were before the FAA lost its authority to collect taxes. But it looks like all the major airlines have now rolled back their prices over the last two days. [More]
Pregnant Passenger Says TSA Confiscated Her Insulin
By 8.8.11
The ever-vigilant Transportation Security Administration has kept the air safe from harmless fluids by confiscating a pregnant traveler’s insulin and ice packs as she tried to board a flight from Denver to Phoenix last week. [More]
Will Airlines Roll Back Fare Hikes Now That The FAA Can Collect Taxes Again?
By 8.5.11
Immediately after a standoff in Congress left the FAA without the authority to collect taxes on airfares, almost every major airline moved to jack up their ticket prices. But now that the shutdown has ended — at least temporarily — will the airlines respond by lowering prices to where they were before? [More]
Legislators Take Break From Vacation, Hammer Out Deal To Get FAA Back To Work
By 8.4.11
After nearly two weeks of a partial Federal Aviation Administration shutdown that has left 4,000 employees without pay and kept millions of dollars in taxes from being collected, Democrats and Republicans have come up with some sort of deal that could get the agency back up and working as early as tomorrow. [More]
40 Of 100 Most-Delayed Flights Take Off Or Land In Newark
By 8.4.11
If you’re reading this story on your laptop or smartphone while waiting for a flight to or from Newark International Airport, we have some good and bad news. On one hand, there’s a decent chance your flight will be delayed. On the other, you’ll have plenty of time to file a complaint with the airline, airport and FAA. [More]
10.5% Of Spirit's Revenue Comes From Baggage Fees
By 8.4.11
Recently Delta caught attention because in 2010 it earned the most revenue from baggage fees, $952 million, of all the airlines. But when you compare it to their total revenue, they’re in the low-middle of the pack, with Spirit coming out on top. Let’s look at a chart! [More]
US Airways Sues Pilots Over Alleged Work Slowdown
By 8.1.11
While Continental has had to cancel dozens of flights due to suddenly “sick” pilots, the management at US Airways say its pilots have been more subtle about hobbling the airline’s operations — an allegation the pilots deny. [More]
Which Type Of Flier Are You — And Which Airline Best Fits Your Needs?
By 7.29.11
Customer dissatisfaction with the airline industry continues to sink. It currently ranks last among the 47 industries tracked by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. But that doesn’t meant you can’t at least try to find the commercial carrier that will least annoy you. [More]
Southwest Passenger: I Was Removed From Plane For Crying, Asking For Wine
By 7.29.11
A woman who was trying to fly from Oakland to Dallas, where her father had just suffered a heart attack, says she and her sister were removed from a Southwest Airlines flight because the flight attendant misinterpreted the passenger’s tearful request for a glass of wine. [More]
United Says Photographing Staff Could Get You On 'No Fly' List, Continental Says You Deserve An Apology
By 7.28.11
Though United Airlines and Continental have been married for the better part of a year, the newlyweds haven’t begun to see eye-to-eye on everything. Take, for instance, a customer’s right to photograph a staffer’s name tag. United says it could get you banned from the airline and put on a “no fly” list, while Continental says that’s just not so. [More]
Continental Cancels 24 Flights After Pilots Come Down With Mystery Illness At The Same Time
By 7.27.11
Some sort of mysterious flu bug must be circulating the in cockpits of Continental flights. The airline has been forced to cancel 24 flights today because too many pilots called in sick. [More]
Delta, Continental, Others Jack Up Fares After Federal Tax Takes Vacation
By 7.25.11
As we reported last week, the inability for Congress to come to terms on a bill that would extend the FAA’s operating authority means that airlines are not currently charging federal taxes on airfares. But if you’re not seeing any difference in the final price of your ticket, that’s because most airlines have increased their fares since Saturday. [More]
Lawsuit: JetBlue Kicked Woman Off Flight After Accusing Her Of Going Pantsless
By 7.22.11
A New York City woman has filed a lawsuit against JetBlue, alleging that airline employees not only made a spectacle of her by removing her from a flight to see what she was wearing under her baggy shirt but added insult to injury by refusing to let her back on the plane. [More]
Potential FAA Shutdown Could Mean Tax-Free Airfares For Travelers
By 7.22.11
Unless Congress can hammer out their issues over extending the FAA’s operating authority by midnight tonight, 4,000 agency employees will be temporarily out of a job, but travelers will be able to but airline tickets without paying federal taxes. [More]
TSA Begins Installing Software That Makes Scanners Less R-Rated
By 7.20.11
For travelers whose main concern about the TSA’s full-body scanners is the potential of having their naked form displayed or downloaded onto some screener’s thumb drive, this may be good news. The agency announced today that it has begun installing software that displays objects hidden beneath passengers’ clothes but not show detailed images of their nude bodies. [More]
