Oneworld, the global airline group featuring airlines including American, British Airways, JAL, Qantas, and Cathay Pacific, is moving from Vancouver to New York next summer. The new headquarters will be in the low-rent district of Manhattan, on 2 Park Avenue. Former...
Court Orders Air India To Rehire Flight Attendant Fired For Being Too Fat
I generally avoid stories about weight because it is a sensitive topic that isn’t worth getting people worked up over (unlike the TSA…), but I do want to update you on an ongoing legal battle in India which has finally...
Joint Venture May Be Key To Wooing LATAM Into Star Alliance
The push for metal neutrality continues! During an airline conference in Houston today, United CEO Jeff Smisek announced that United Airlines is interested in forming a trans-border joint venture with Air Canada and a joint venture with an airline or...
Three Reasons Why Airfare Will Be Higher Next Year
David Grossman, writer of the Business Traveler column for USA Today, offers three reasons why airfare will continue to rise in the near future. Capacity cuts and rising demand Prolonged period of higher oil prices Changing business model for...
787 Delay Prompts United to Postpone Launch of Houston-Auckland Service
Back in May, Continental announced plans to begin non-stop service between Houston and Auckland in November 2011 on one their newly-delivered 787-8 aircraft. But if you’ve been reading the news lately, you know that Boeing has, well, run into...
Dogs Gone Wild: US Airways Edition
A US Airways flight from Newark to Phoenix was diverted to Pittsburgh yesterday after a dog got loose in the cabin and promptly bit a passenger and a flight attendant. The stupid dog owner was supposed to keep "Bowser"...
Senate Bill Targets TSA Full Body Scanners
The senior U.S. Senator from New York, Charles Schumer, has introduced a bill that would make it illegal for anyone to record or distribute images obtained from TSA full body scanners. While I prefer Ron Paul’s bill that would outlaw...
The Verdict is Out: Continental Airlines to Blame for 2000 Air France Concorde Crash
I can’t say that I am surprised by the decision: PONTOISE, France – Continental Airlines and one of its mechanics were convicted of manslaughter Monday by a French court, which ruled that debris from a Continental plane caused the...
Hint: Look at Your Airline Meal Before You Dive In
A woman is suing American Airlines for $15 million, claiming she ingested a lizard buried in her in-flight meal. In 2003 (yes, 2003–you’ve gotta to love the speed in which cases move through court in the U.S.), Monserrate Luna dove...
Incoming Speaker of the House Flies Commercial, but Skips Security
Incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) has pledged to continue to fly commercial when assumes his new position in January. Outgoing speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was criticized by many on the right and some environmental groups for...
A Salute to Former Northwest Airlines Chairman Donald W. Nyrop
Airlines don’t build themselves. It takes leadership, vision, and ingenuity to make a carrier great. Last Tuesday, former Northwest Airlines chief Donald W. Nyrop passed away at the age of 98. Over his long tenure at Northwest, those were...
TSA Exempts Pilots from Intrusive Pat-Downs and Full Body Scanners
Hot off the press, The Transportation Security Administration agreed Friday to let uniformed airline pilots skip the body scans and aggressive pat-downs at the heart of a national uproar. The pilots must pass through a metal detector at airport checkpoints and present...
$5 Drinks During "Happy Hour" on American Airlines
If you find yourself behind the curtain next month on American Airlines’ during the five o’clock hour, you’ll have a chance to take advantage of AA’s "5@5" happy hour promotion. Currently, if you want an adult beverage on AA you’ve...
Watch Your Manners at Dubai International Airport
A 34-year-old British man has been arrested and sent to jail for giving "the finger" to an airport worker at Dubai International Airport. He got into a row with a female airport employee when she refused to let him use...
Air Canada, WestJet to Levy Second Checked Bag Fee
Frankly, I was surprised to hear that Air Canada and WestJet held out so long. Fees have been such a cash cow for the airline industry the last few years that it comes as a shock, albeit a pleasant...
UA’s Smisek: Cleveland must "earn its hub status every day"
With a mega-hub in nearby Chicago, word on the street is that Continental’s Cleveland hub will be a casualty of the merger with United. CLE is only 314 miles from ORD. While San Francisco and Los Angeles (UA’s West...
United, Continental Pilots Butting Heads Over Seniority
The dust of the merger hasn’t even settled yet and already Continental and United pilots are quarreling. Let’s hope this sibling rivalry is ironed out faster than America West and US Airways pilots have worked out their differences (we’re still waiting on that)… On...
Four AA Baggage Handlers Charged with Theft at Philadelphia International
Ah, the City of Brotherly Love. My home away from home. And apparently "brotherly love" includes sharing the contents of your checked baggage with AA’s finest employees at Philadelphia International Airport. There are many reasons I don’t check bags...
TSA to Ban Toner Cartridges Tomorrow
Security Directive 1554-10-05 is out: starting tomorrow, November 8, the TSA is expected to announce that airline passengers will be prohibited from flying with printer ink and toner cartridges, sized at 16oz (by volume) or larger. This ban will cover...
Benjamin Button Busted on an Air Canada Flight
For those who have not seen or read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I realize my title may be confusing. Button was a fictitious character who was born elderly and grew younger in appearance as...
