Coming soon to a high school near you: the Transportation Security Administration. Two girls at a New Mexico high school recently sued their school district, claiming that they were "groped" on their way into their prom earlier in the...
Why "Free" Airline Award Tickets Cost So Much
From time to time, I have blogged about the increasing cost of award tickets, particularly when using frequent flyer programs outside the United States. Scott McCartney nicely highlights this issue in his weekly column, demonstrating that for many seeking to book an airline...
Ryanair Bikini Ad Banned
The British Advertising Standards Authority has banned the Ryanair ad below for…lying. Arguing that the “sunny” destinations wouldn’t get much warmer than 6-9ºC (42-48ºF), the government body has banned Ryanair from publishing similar “misleading” ads in the future. “We considered...
Thoughts on the Failed Alitalia Hijacking Attempt
A knife-welding Kazakh attempted to hijack an Alitalia flight from Paris to Rome Sunday night, demanding the plane be diverted to Libya. Passengers onboard said the man whipped out a knife and held it closely to the throat of...
Alaska Airlines Aircraft Evacuated After Toilet Paper Found…in Lavatory
Add this story to the paranoia file. A FA walks into the lavatory, sees a few white specks on the counter, believes it to be anthrax or some sort of bomb material, and freaks out. The Alaksa Airlines jet...
Watch Out! Flight Attendants Get Kung Fu Training
When the flight attendant says to obey all lighted signs, placards, and crewmember instructions, tuning her out with your iPod while smoking a cigarette on your way to the lavatory as the plane lifts off the runway is probably...
Should Airlines Keep Bag Fees When They Lose Your Bags?
The U.S. Department of Transportation is mulling over a number of new regulations that will affect air travelers, including mandating that airlines allow passengers to cancel airfare without penalty for up to 24 hours after booking and requiring that...
Exclusive: TSA Admits to Storing AIT Images
A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport screener has admitted that the TSA stores images obtained from full body scanners. The 23-year old screener works at Ronald Regan Washington National Airport and posted the following in the course of an online...
Your Laptop is NOT Secure or Private at U.S. Borders
I am training to be a lawyer, afterall, so let’s take a break from frequent flyer news today and focus on a recent court decision by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the confiscation of personal computers...
Air Canada to Launch Low-Cost Subsidiary
After the failures of Song and Ted just a few years after their inception, I did not expect another North American legacy carrier to gamble with a low-cost division. Yet Air Canada announced ambitious plans today for their own...
TSA Unveils Plan to Exempt Flight Crews from Full Body Scanners
Changes are coming to U.S airport security checkpoints: The Transportation Security Administration recently announced plans to begin testing an identity verification program to let airline crews bypass the controversial full-body scanners and extra-thorough pat-down searches at airports. The proposed program,...
Man Beaten by Police on United Airlines Flight
A SkyWest CRJ-200 bound for Casper, Wyoming begins boarding in Denver. As departure time nears, a man seated in the exit row refuses to switch off his mobile phone. After repeated requests to turn off his phone, all of...
Expedia and American Airlines Kiss and Make Up
For months, American Airlines flights have been filtered from search results on Expedia and Hotwire due to a longstanding dispute over fees. American demanded to bypass central airline reservation systems and deliver the information to users directly, not only...
Lufthansa FAs Busted for Smuggling 63K Lbs of Euros into Germany
Sometimes, you just have to ask, “How?” Six Lufthansa employees, including four flight attendants, have been arrested after sneaking in more than 63,000 pounds of out-of-circulation, €1 and €2 coins from China back to Germany over the last four...
Southwest Fuselage Rips Apart Mid-Flight
Imagine you just boarded a Southwest Airlines flight in Sacramento for a quick hop down to Phoenix. You listen to the safety announcements, rolling your eyes as Southwest FAs throw in a few corny puns and one-liners. The aircraft...
"Terrorists" Force Diversion of a United Flight
Readers of my blog know that I have very little tolerance for irrationality. Such irrationality is often manifested in the actions of the TSA, but sometimes passengers or flight crews are to blame, like when a flight attendant overreacts to...
Flawed Radiation Readings Force TSA to Reevaluate Full Body Scanners
I have flown through Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington Dulles, and San Francisco the last couple days and been (pleasantly) surprised that each time I have come across a full body scanner, it has not been in operation. In Chicago...
Delta Downsizes Memphis Hub
Only 330 miles away from Delta’s fortress hub and world headquarters in Atlanta, it was only a matter of time before service cutbacks at Memphis would occur after the Northwest/Delta merger. Although Delta promises that Memphis will remain a...
Flight Lands Without Guidance in Washington, DC While ATC Sleeps
Isn’t it a comforting thought that air traffic controllers at major airports sleep on the job? It is not the first time this has happened and I know it won’t be the last, but it is always newsworthy when it does occur. Earlier today, just after...
Jeff Smisek Addresses United’s "Service" Problem
While Glen Tilton, former United Airlines CEO, may not have been as bad as some made him out to be, he seemed to have a lot of trouble with empathy. He often gave the appearance that he could care...
