Amtrak, America’s state-run passenger railroad company, faces a daunting dilemma. Its path to profit is to cut what its Congressional overlords seem unwilling to even consider eliminating. I’m taking about long-distance rail service. Storied routes like the Empire Builder...
South African Airways Denies Three-Way Split
South African Airways is denying a report that it will split into three units. News surfaced yesterday that beleaguered South African Airways would split into three separate entities, one for domestic, one for regional, and one for international flight routes....
Turkmenistan Airlines Turns To Lufthansa For Help
Earlier this month, Turkmenistan Airlines was banned from European Union airspace after the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) deemed the carrier unsafe. Now the airline has turned to Lufthansa for help. The Lufthansa brand has many hats; far more than...
Why Air Canada Lost Money Last Quarter
On the operational side, Air Canada is looking strong. Revenue is up and so are fares. So why did Air Canada report a loss last quarter? Foreign exchange losses. The Canadian dollar is weakening and many costs are fixed...
LOT Polish Plans To Create Hub In Budapest
Polish carrier LOT, a Star Alliance member, is creating a hub…outside of Poland. The flag carrier is slowly but steadily expanding operations in Budapest, Hungary. LOT already serves Chicago (ORD), Krakow (KRK), London (LCY), New York (JFK), and Warsaw...
U.S. Court Says Americans Can Sue For Wrongful Placement on “Do Not Fly” List
A U.S. Federal Appeals Court has held that Americans can sue FBI agents for wrongful placement on the “Do Not Fly” List. In short, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recruited several Muslim-Americans to become government informants. A handful...
JetBlue Passenger Ejected For Cursing At Baby, Spitting On Seatmate, Hitting Gate Agent…
“I’m not sitting next to a f****** 3-year-old. I’ve been drinking all day!” Need I say more? Valerie Gonzalez, a JetBlue passenger traveling from Ft. Lauderdale to Las Vegas, boarded and found she was was sitting next to a...
Flybmi Collapses; Brexit Blamed
Flybmi has suddenly collapsed. All flights have been cancelled and FAs ordered home. The UK-based regional carrier chiefly blames Brexit for its demise. Flybmi served 23 destinations in Europe with a fleet of 17 Embraer regional jets. Here’s the full...
U.S. Airlines Will Add Non-Binary Gender Options To Ticket Bookings
Soon, you’ll be able to choose among four gender options when you book your airline tickets in the USA. American, Alaska, Delta, Southwest and United Airlines have confirmed that they intend to offer four options for gender when booking...
Great Dane: A New Danish Airline
Great Dane Airlines, a new Danish airline, plans to makes it debut this summer. But will the airline be dogged by intense competition and banished to the doghouse? The carrier will be based out of Aalborg, Denmark’s fourth-largest city and...
Vietnam Cleared For USA Flights
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has upgraded Vietnam’s safety rating, finally giving airlines in Vietnam the chance to serve the United States and codeshare with U.S. carriers. Vietnam has been trying to break into the U.S. market for years, but...
“Indecent Exposure Incident” Leads To Closure Of South Carolina Airport, Flight Cancellations
A half-naked woman sighted running down a runway at Florence Airport in South Carolina led to a temporary airport shutdown and two flight cancellations. The Florence County Sheriff’s Office reported “a partially clothed woman sprinted through the airport’s runway and into...
Teen Arrested For Hijack Attempt In Alaska
A 16-year-old was arrested for briefly commandeering the controls during a commercial flight in Alaska. So much of Alaska is traversed by air travel and a number of airlines most of us are not familiar operate regional “milk” routes...
Spirit Pulls Ahead Of American And United, But Delta Still On Top
It appears Spirit Airlines is heading in an EasyJet rather than Ryanair direction. The ultra-low-cost carrier has much to boast about on many metrics, including operational performance. But Delta remains at the top. Each year Scott McCartney, an airline...
Uh Oh: London Heathrow Halts Departures Due To Drones
UPDATE: 18:34 GMT – The departure ban has been lifted and flights are beginning to depart once again. Thousands remain delayed. Departures from London Heathrow Airpot are currently suspended while authorities investigate a drone sighting in the area. A...
Football Star Arrested For Drunk And Disorderly Conduct At Washington Dulles Airport
English Football (Soccer) Star Wayne Rooney was arrested for “public intoxication and swearing” at Washington Dulles International Airport. His incident serves as an important reminder that alcohol and sleeping pills do not mix well. Rooney was in Saudi Arabia...
Airline Fatalities Rise 900% in 2018, But…
The numbers don’t lie…2018 was a comparatively bad year for commercial aviation safety. But let’s keep things in perspective. 2018 marked an all-time high in number of flights and passengers carried: 4.5 billion passengers on 45 million flights. As...
Another Aviation Crisis Is Looming
I’ve written before about the pilot crunch affecting commercial airlines around the world. But that’s not the only problem: another crisis looms that airlines are scrambling to prepare for. As many retire and the aviation industry continues to expand,...
Indicted Congressman Paid $600 To Fly Rabbit Using Campaign Funds
A San Diego Congressman has been indicted for using camp gain funds for personal spending, including spending $600 to transport his childrens’ rabbit across the country. In a world of nepotism and graft, Duncan Hunter, a Republican Congressman from...
A Vintage Russian Jetliner Skids Off Runway in Sudan
I learned two new things today. First, there is still a Russian-built Ilyushin Il-62 in service outside of North Korea. Second, it is (well, perhaps was…) operated by a European airline. Rada Airlines is a cargo airline based in Belarus,...
