United may be trying out a new revenue idea: the don’t-set-my-bags-ablaze fee. Shannon Tadel’s luggage was incinerated as she boarded a plane in Syracuse, NY on December 1st, 2008. The cool thing about this sort of story is she got to see the inside of a cockpit! The not so cool part is what happened next:
airlines
By 2.11.09
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Not content to just outsource their customer service, United is shutting down its phone center in India in April, instead relying wholly on written complaints. They claim they’ll be able to better respond to written complaints, but we know it’s just as easy to paste irrelevant advice and insincere apologies as it is to speak them.
United's Secret Australia Sale: ~$1000 Round Trip Tickets
By 2.9.09
If you want to hit Australia like right now,United is having an unadvertised sale with roundtrip tickets for about $1000, no advance purchase required. For instance, JFK is only $973 with taxes. Usually no advance purchase required tickets cost a pretty penny. The deal is good at airports all across the nation. Qantas is price-matching the sale, too.
By 2.3.09
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If you were wondering what precious keepsakes the people from flight 1549 lost to the chilly Hudson, the New York Post has the answer. [NYP]
Great, Airplanes Are Cleaner. Do You Care?
By 1.31.09
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?
1549 Passengers Get Elite Frequent Flier Status, For A Limited Time
By 1.30.09
One of the cool things about being one of the few people in the world to survive a crash water landing is that you get preferred frequent flier mile status. The passengers from flight 1549 that crashed in the Hudson river will get US Airways “Chairman’s Preferred status,” which entitles them and a companion to first-class seat upgrades, choice seating, and priority check-in. In a letter to the passenger, CEO Doug Parker describes it as his airline’s “most coveted frequent flier level.” But you better get over your PTSD-induced drowning nightmares quick, 1549ers, the status expires in March 2010. The CEO’s letter in full, inside…
Virgin Atlantic Asks Complaint Writer To Be Taste Tester
By 1.28.09
The man who wrote the long, funny complaint letter to Richard Branson about the level of suck on his recent Virgin Atlantic flight has been asked to “come to the airline’s catering house next month, to help select the food on future Virgin flights.” Yeah, we know that it’s a publicity stunt, but an entertaining one. We hope the customer agrees, and hates the new food just as much. In fact, we wish he’d replace Toby Young on Top Chef; the dead hamster line would be a pretty good put-down on that show.
Is This The World's Best Airline Complaint Letter?
By 1.27.09
A disgruntled Virgin Air passenger sent an exhaustive complaint letter to Sir Richard Branson, supported by a series of incriminating photographs. We think it’s safe to say that he did not enjoy the in-flight food—which is surprising, because everybody likes a bit of mustard Richard.
16-Hour Flight From Hell – "You Can Either Stay Onboard, Or Get Arrested"
By 1.22.09
A six-hour flight from Mexico to Seattle turned into a 16-hour ordeal after intense fog caused the flight to be rerouted to Portland.
By 1.21.09
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Animal lovers out there can rejoice, US Airways says that no pets were lost in flight 1549 — either in the cabin or in the cargo hold, as US Airways does not accept pets as cargo. [Newsday]
Flight 1549 Passengers Get $5K Checks For Drowned Baggage
By 1.20.09
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.
What Happens To The Baggage After A Plane Crash?
By 1.16.09
Though it probably couldn’t be farther from their minds, at some point after many hugs and hot chocolates, the passengers of U.S. Airways flight 1549 are going to wonder what happens next to their baggage.
U.S. Airways Flight Makes Surprise Landing In The Hudson
By 1.15.09
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.
Will You Pay $12.95 For WiFi On United Airlines?
By 1.15.09
United Airlines has announced that passengers on flights from New York City to Los Angeles and San Francisco will soon have access to WiFi… for $12.95.
Video: Shuffle Fun Shuffle Shuffle Fun Shuffle Fun Fun Shuffle Fun Fun Shuffle Just Plane Fun!
By 1.13.09
Here’s an internal pep video for Southwest Airlines from the 80’s. It’s got representatives from each part of the company rapping about their roles (do this do that we never get hairy we do it for you because we’re your secretary), with an interstitial chorus singing “Shuffle fun shuffle shuffle fun shuffle fun fun shuffle fun fun shuffle just plane fun” on my elementary schools’ auditorium stage while employees run around in plush airplane costumes. After about 9 minutes of that, it finally culminates in some sort of motivational orgy with singing and jiving and the CEO strutting around and the strobe lights flash and quick edits and a cascade of balloons drops from the ceilings and I can’t take it anymore. I think if I step on a Southwest Airlines plane again I’ll fall to the floor in like a PTSD-induced epileptic seizure… of excellent customer service! Video, inside, if you dare…
Airline Fines Fall Even As Complaints Rise
By 1.13.09
Claiming it had better things to do, the Department of Transportation issued only $1.2 million in airline fines last year, even as consumer complaints over fees and delays continued to rise. Five years ago, the agency issued over $8 million in fines, but now, they say they’re too busy working on “consumer rulemaking” and “consumer forums” to ensure that airlines honor consumer protection laws.
Airlines Fail To Kill Passengers 2 Years Running
By 1.12.09
For the first time in the history of jet airliners, US airlines have gone two years without any passengers dying. This is all the more amazing considering the last two years have seen a number of incidents where passengers were stuck onboard on the tarmac for hours without food, water, and in some cases, with a river of human refuse leaking down the aisle. Said an MIT professor who studies aviation safety, in a remark both whimsical and macabre, “If you see a child in the airport today or tomorrow…that child has a greater chance of growing up to be president than failing to reach his or her destination safely.”
US Airways Doesn't Know Why They're Charging You $25, Doesn't Care
By 1.12.09
Reader Alex says that U.S. Airways charged him a $25 fee that they can’t explain — and are unwilling to remove. If he doesn’t like the mystery fee, he says, he was told to do a chargeback.
