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]
airlines
Want To Fly A Passenger Jet? JetBlue Is Now Taking Applications From Novice Pilots
By 3.7.16
Tired of the daily grind, and yearning to spend your work hours among the clouds, using a public address system to tell people to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride? Now could be your chance to flee the cubicle life: JetBlue is offering folks with their eyes on the sky a chance to to learn how to fly a passenger jet with a new training program. [More]
Delta Trying To Sell More Premium Cabin Seats To Cut Down On Free Upgrades
By 3.4.16
It’s the holy grail for many a frequent traveler with airline miles to burn: triumphing over everyone else waiting at the gate and scoring an upgrade to first or business class. But Delta Air Lines is sick of handing out those upgrades without making any real money off it. So, in an effort to cut down on the amount of upgrades, and thus, make more money Delta will be adjusting the price of its premium cabin seats. [More]
U.S. Airlines Competing To Nab One Of 20 New Scheduled Routes To Havana
By 3.3.16
Now that the United States and Cuba have decided to let bygones be bygones and relations are thawing between the two countries, more Americans will soon have the chance to visit the nearby island nation by air. There will be 110 new scheduled routes to Cuba, with 20 of those flying daily to the country’s capital of Havana, and major U.S. airlines are stepping up to the plate to bid for the first regularly scheduled, non-charter flights. [More]
It’s Official: No More Smoking E-Cigarettes On Planes
By 3.2.16
Four months ago, the Department of Transportation banned e-cigs from being checked in baggage after a couple dozen fires and explosions. Now, the agency is taking another step toward safety by actually banning the devices from being used during flights. [More]
NASA Is Working On A Project To Make A Quieter Supersonic Passenger Jet
By 3.1.16 — Updated: 2.27.17
Sitting in economy class with your knees jammed up to the seat in front of you, fighting for armrest territory with your elbows as weapons, you may have found yourself wishing that your flight would somehow just be over with faster. That’s the future NASA is working on now, with a goal for a “low boom” supersonic jet that could carry travelers to any city in the world in six hours or less. [More]
Bill Would Charge FAA With Creating Airline Seat-Size Requirements
By 2.29.16
It seems as if each year airlines shrink the sizes of their seat in the name of fitting more people into their flying metal tubes. One lawmaker wants to put an end to that trend by creating a seat-size standard for commercial airlines. [More]
Major Airlines’ Regional Partner, Republic Airways, Files For Bankruptcy Over Pilot Shortage
By 2.26.16
Two years ago, regional airlines warned that new regulations, higher costs of school, and lower salaries had led to a shortage of pilots for the companies that typically handle the smaller, regional routes for larger airlines. Now, one short-haul carrier says that lack of pilots is the reason it’s filed for bankruptcy. [More]
Woman Claims Her Bag Was Peed On While In United Airlines’ Possession
By 2.25.16
It’s not often you hear about airlines and urine twice in one day, but apparently that’s the case today. Just hours after a man said he sat in a pee-soaked American Airlines seat, a United Airlines passenger claims an airline employee urinated in her bag. [More]
You Can Use Amazon Payments Instead Of Your Credit Card On Southwest Flights
By 2.24.16
Southwest Airlines could have partnered up with a number of online payment services to let passengers log in to their accounts instead of pulling out their credit cards to pay for in-air WiFi and entertainment, including on their own devices. [More]
Traveler Complaints About Airlines Increased Nearly 30% Last Year
By 2.19.16
While airlines might not be leaping at the chance to tell customers how to file complaints about their service, that hasn’t stopped more travelers from sharing their tales of woe with the Department of Transportation. In fact, the number of complaints filed by beleaguered passengers increased by nearly 30% last year. [More]
Delta Flight Heading To NYC Diverted Twice, Finally Lands At Destination After 30 Travel Hours
By 2.17.16
It’s bad enough to be on a flight that gets diverted once, potentially delaying arrival time and generally mucking with your life. But passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight that left Monday for New York City had an even larger headache this week, when their plane took 30 travel hours to reach its final destination, after being diverted twice. [More]
Are Airlines Deliberately Making It Too Difficult To File Complaints?
By 2.16.16
When you ask someone “How was your flight?” you never expect to hear too many positive things. At best, you’ll get an “Oh, fine,” but often the question will spark a detailed list of everything that went wrong. And yet, only about one out of every 43,000 air travelers in the U.S. ever file a complaint with the Department of Transportation. And airlines aren’t exactly leaping at the chance to tell customers how to file this sort of complaint. [More]
New York-Bound Virgin Atlantic Flight Returns To London After “Laser Incident”
By 2.15.16
A Virgin Atlantic flight headed to New York returned to a London airport Sunday evening after one of the plane’s pilots reported feeling unwell following a “laser beam incident.” [More]
DOT: Average U.S. Airfare At Lowest Price Since 2010
By 2.10.16
It’s not often that we get to use the word “cheap” along with “airfare,” but that’s the case today, after the U.S. Department of Transportation released its quarterly numbers, showing that the average price for an airline ticket in the third quarter of 2015 was the lowest it’s been in six years. [More]
Alaska Airlines Flight Diverted After Unruly Passenger Allegedly Threatened Crew
By 2.10.16
An Alaska Airlines flight headed to Boston from San Diego last night had to make an unscheduled stop midway through the trip, when a drunk passenger allegedly became abusive and threatened the crew, the airline said. [More]
Congressman Wants The FAA To Put A Limit On How Tiny Airplane Seats Can Get
By 2.9.16
That feeling you get on an airplane, the one where it feels like the whole thing is a tin of sardines ad you are just one little fish packed up tightly against all the others? You’re clearly not alone, says everyone who has ever been seated in economy on a flight, which is why one lawmaker is trying to establish minimum seat size standards for all airlines to abide by. [More]
Airline Doesn’t Know Where Many Of Its Passengers Are Right Now
By 2.5.16
We know airline customer service representatives are trained to field calls about missing baggage, or even lost pets. But what happens when an airline misplaces all of its passengers? [More]
