Although he wrote it in January, the Philadelphia Inquirer just published a column our friend Christopher Elliott did on airline fees in this week’s Sunday travel section. Some of his analysis is spot-on, much of it is…not. First, what makes...
Virgin America to Expand Service to Orlando and Toronto from West Coast
Good news for LAX and SFO-based flyers. With Virgin America entering the MCO and YYZ market, you may soon see some great deals to those destinations. MCO fares are usually reasonable, but YYZ fares are often over $500 r/t from...
Plane Strikes and Kills Jogger in South Carolina
My brother always laughs at me for jogging, saying I’m wasting my time and burning out my knees. Now he has another argument against jogging: you might get hit by an airplane: HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Robert Gary...
Paperless Boarding Passes now Available on United Airlines
In a shocking move for UA’s crack IT department, you can now use your web-enabled mobile phone to check in for your flight and obtain a boarding pass. You can also check schedules, flight status, and flight availability on...
End of an Era: Continental to Eliminate Complimentary Food on Most North American Flights
An end of an era. Continental announced today that it will phase out complimentary meals in Economy on all North American flights under six hours. Continental Airlines Inc., the last big U.S. airline to operate catering kitchens and to serve...
Corendon Airlines’ Pilot Arrested for Flying with Fake License for 13 Years
Catch Me If You Can is one of my all-time favorite movies. I never thought we’d see another Frank Abagnale, Jr. though. A pilot has been arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport for flying passenger planes for 13 years with...
FAA Angry after Child Directs Planes from ATC Tower at JFK
Did any of our JFK-area readers catcher Junior on Channel 9 recently? Washington (CNN) — The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after an air traffic controller at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport brought his young child to work and...
Alaska Airlines to install Gogo W-Fi service on all aircraft
Good news for Alaska Airlines travellers: Alaska Airlines, a unit of Alaska Air Group Inc., said Wednesday it will join other airlines and offer Wi-Fi service on its flights. The carrier said it will offer Aircell’s Gogo service on...
The Southwest Effect at PHL
Do you ever wonder why an 89-mile trip from BWI-PHL on US Airways can cost over $500 but a 2,000-mile PHL-PHX trip can be as cheap as $80? It’s all about competition. Southwest Airlines announced it will be starting service from PHL-BOS this...
More Regional Jets Creeping into United’s Schedule
The regional jet takeover continues! Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc, today launched a new partnership with United Airlines with scheduled service under the United Express code from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and...
American Faces $10MN+ FAA Fine for Safety Violations (Explaining the New Standby Fees?)
Two bits of news regarding American Airlines today, probably unrelated, but who knows? First, AA is looking at a huge fine for MD-80 safety violations. American Airlines could face a fine in the ballpark of $10 million for safety...
Feeling Stupid for Selling my United Airlines Stock
Remember my post two months ago where I meandered about whether to sell my United Airlines stock? The stock had risen three-fold since I had invested in July and although I had an inkling that the stock would continue...
American Airlines to Charge for Blankets on North American Flights
American Airlines will begin charging $8 for a pillow/blanket package on domestic flights more than two hours as well as flights to Mexico, Canada, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Central America starting in May. First Class passengers will still get the...
Wi-Fi Coming to All Southwest Airlines Flights
The LA Times reports that Southwest Airlines will begin to install wireless internet on all its aircraft, making Wi-Fi available on every Southwest flight by early 2012. SWA already offers Wi-Fi on four of their planes. Ding! You are now...
Delta Plans to Further Cutback Operations at Cincinnati
Poor Ohio and Kentucky. The hits keep on coming. Delta Air Lines is expected to move more aircraft to the Pacific Northwest to handle service to Asia as it continues to shuffle the departure points for its international flying...
7 Hours to go from JFK to LAX on Delta Air Lines? The Wisdom of Schedule Padding
From the Wall Street Journal: Your airline seat may not have much padding, but the airline’s schedule sure does. Delta Air Lines Flight 715 from New York to Los Angeles now takes more than seven hours to fly across...
United Airlines Reports Mixed 4Q Results
Both good news and bad news for United today. United Airlines is seeing a strong recovery in international passenger traffic, especially on transatlantic routes, executives of the Chicago airline said Wednesday. "Clearly, international strength is playing a disproportionate role"...
Air New Zealand to Offer "Sleeper Seats" to Economy Passengers
Air New Zealand is my preferred Star Alliance carrier if I must fly in Economy and now I have another reason to choose them: In the ongoing game of creative airline seating, Air New Zealand is introducing a welcome...
Los Angeles Times: More Airline Passengers Getting Bumped
Interesting article in the Los Angeles Times yesterday about bumps. But there is a growing trend that spells trouble for travelers: More passengers are getting bumped from flights. In the first nine months of 2009, the rate of ticketed...
United Airlines <3 Continental Airlines: My Take on Glen Tilton’s Merger Prediction
Mike beat to me it, but I too want to address Glen Tilton’s interview with the Chicago Tribune about the “inevitability” of another airline merger in the next two years. Listeners to our podcast know that I believe a...
