Armed guards tried to quell an uprising yesterday among the passengers of US Airways flight 1922, who have been stuck in Costa Rica since their flight got canceled Saturday afternoon. The guards failed. [More]
travel
Update: Greetings From USAIR Flight 1922, Stuck For 24 Hours In Costa Rica
By 3.15.10
Paradise is great, but not if you’re trapped in it. Dan and his fellow passengers on US Airways flight 1922 were supposed to leave Costa Rica yesterday at 2:55pm. So far, with their broken plane awaiting a part, that hasn’t happened. Let’s check in on the front lines… [More]
"Regional" Pilots Make Little Money, Live In One Bedrooms With 9 Other People
By 3.13.10
It you’re sitting around not feeling scared enough, we recommend taking a look at this episode of the PBS show Frontline. In it, you will learn that regional airline pilots (they fly the planes that say “Continental” or “Delta” on them, but actually have little to nothing to do with those airlines) make very little money, work crazy long days, and often have tiny amounts of experience. Also: the big carriers that paint their names on the planes have no legal responsibility to make sure the “regional” flights are safe. [More]
American Airlines Charges You $317 To Not Take A Flight
By 3.11.10
If you think the state of flying is abysmal, consider the cost of not flying. Paul has, and has determined it’s $317. That’s how much American Airlines wanted to charge him for not getting onboard. [More]
Continental Will Cancel Flights To Avoid Fines For Late Takeoffs
By 3.9.10
Starting next month, airlines delayed over 3 hours where passengers can’t disembark will be fined a hefty $27,500 per passenger. Continental CEO Jeff Smisek said that to get around the fines, they’ll just cancel the whole flight entirely. See, you can’t fine a flight for not taking off on-time if the flight doesn’t exist anymore. [AP] (Thanks to Brandon!) [More]
United Breaks Guitars Song 3: The Grand Finale
By 3.3.10
The final leg of Dave Carrol’s anti-United Airlines musical trifecta is here. He’s not mad anymore. He’s got his big break and two new Taylor guitars. What about all the customers who write David every day with their own United horror stories? [More]
US Airways Won't Get Me Where I Want To Go, Won't Refund My Return Flight
By 3.1.10
Craig at BudgetPulse thought he’d fly down to Miami for the weekend, but ran into trouble when his US Airways flight was canceled due to mechanical problems. Because he had purchased his departing and returning flights separately, he said the airline wouldn’t refund that now useless return flight. He writes: [More]
Delta Flight Canceled Because Of Flight Attendants Fighting
By 2.26.10
There seems to be some disagreement about whether or not actual punches were thrown, but it seems that some sort of fight between two flight attendants caused a Delta Connection flight to be canceled. [More]
America's Best Airports: Detroit, Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul
By 2.24.10
J.D. Power and Associates has released rankings of U.S. airports based on a survey of 12,000 travelers last year, and Detroit’s decision to mesmerize travelers with colored light really paid off. You can check out the list here and sort the airports by overall satisfaction or by factors like the quality of check-in or baggage claim. [More]
Caribbean Cruise Ship Turns Into Diarrhea Nightmare Vessel
By 2.23.10
When gastrointestinal illness hits a cruise ship, there’s nowhere to run or hide, as nearly 450 passengers and crewmembers aboard the Celebrity Cruises ship Mercury have discovered. Celebrity Cruises says they they’re still investigating what caused the outbreak, but the symptoms include “upset stomach, vomiting and diarrhea,” according to their spokeswoman. [More]
When Are You Too Sick To Fly?
By 2.22.10
Southwest Airlines will let you know if you’re too fat to fly, but what about too sick to fly? Well, it’s your call. As the recent H1N1 epidemic taught us — your sense of altruism better be awesome because you’re probably going to be paying a fee to stay home. [More]
TSA Wants To Swab Your Hands For Bomb Juice
By 2.18.10
The new cool development in security technology is a portable bomb juice scanner that the TSA plans to begin using to detect traces of explosives on your hands. [More]
Fake Boob Sets Off Fancy Schmancy Airport Security Scanner
By 2.11.10
We live in a brave new world, people. Cars park themselves. Two-year-olds are Twittering. And now the TSA’s latest and greatest security technology has become sentient enough to let us all know that it does not approve of breast implants. [More]
Delta Gets Creative, Fakes Out Passenger With Reverse Cancellation Trick
By 2.11.10
Nelson is a Silver Medallion frequent flyer on Delta, so clearly he’s got some experience with the airline’s usual bag of tricks. This time Delta out-smarted him, though, by cancelling an 8:30 flight and then re-confirming it after he’d seen that it was cancelled. As far as Delta is concerned, it’s not their problem–the weather made them do it, and he should have kept checking in all morning yesterday. [More]
American Airlines May Be Hit With Record $20 Million Safety Fine
By 2.10.10
Remember last year, when American Airlines grounded thousands of flights to catch up on safety inspections? The Federal Aviation Administration does, and according to reports, may be about to hit AA with a fine of as much as $20 million, which would be more than double the previous record safety fine of $7.5 million, which Southwest paid last year. [More]
American Airlines To Charge $8 For Blanket And Pillow, If You're Lucky
By 2.9.10
Starting in May, American Airlines will sell blanket-and-inflatable-pillow packs for $8 each on domestic flights longer than 2 hours. If your flight is under 2 hours and you tend to get cold on a plane, relax: you can’t shiver to death in under 2 hours, and by then you’ll be at your destination. Or, okay, still on the runway at your departure spot, raiding your carry-on for snacks. You might want to bring a light jacket. [More]
Landing Gear Not Good Place For Discount Airfare, Dead Man Finds
By 2.8.10
A man was found dead inside the landing gear of Delta airplane landing in Tokyo enroute from New York. Doctors speculated that he froze to death and had a shortage of oxygen when the plane reached over 30,000 feet. Sheesh, we know the seats are cramped but this is ridiculous. What happens when you climb into an airplane’s fuselage and it takes off? This clip from “1000 Ways To Die” explains: [More]
Delta Gives $50 To Apologize For Overcharging By $700
By 2.2.10
A young girl, trying to make it to her dying father’s bedside. An old airline that can’t find your reservation. A $1200 ticket that is now a $2000 ticket. A prefabricated apology for only $50. These, are the Delta chronicles… [More]
