airways

Rachel

Laptop Ban On U.S.-Bound Flights On Royal Jordanian, Kuwait Airways Lifted

Two additional Middle East airlines are now exempt from the Department of Transportation’s ban on laptops and other personal electronics put in place in March: Royal Jordanian and Kuwait Airways became the latest carriers to have the in-cabin laptop ban lifted.  [More]

Consumerist Poll: Is First-Class Travel Really Necessary?

Consumerist Poll: Is First-Class Travel Really Necessary?

Faced with a 20% drop in ‘premium’ travel as compared to a year ago, some airlines (Qantas, BA) have started cutting back on their first-class fanciness. Some (Emirates, Air France, Lufthansa) find the idea “unthinkable”. Yet those airlines who continue to invest in first-class travel might be making the smarter move: they’re hoping these passengers will stay loyal when the economy bounces back. Which is not such a bad idea, considering the fact that first-class passengers are the ones keeping the airlines afloat. (Uh, aloft?)

Media Consolidation Is Bad For Everyone

Media Consolidation Is Bad For Everyone

Bill Moyers produced an excellent segment on media consolidation and its disproportionate impact on minorities. African Americans and Hispanics account for over a quarter of the population, but own just 33 of the nation’s 1,350 television stations, and only 6% of radio stations. According to Melody Spann-Cooper, owner of Chicago’s only black-owned radio station:

Radio has moved from being in the business of empowering and educating people to Wall Street, to making money. And that’s not the big corporate conglomerates, you know, that’s not their fault. They were allowed to do this.