A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 enroute from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has been shot down by a ground-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine. All 298 passengers/crew onboard are believed to be dead. As Malaysian continues its struggle over the still-unsolved mystery...
More Stringent Airport Security for USA-Bound Flights
There’s a man that U.S. intelligence agencies are watching named Ibrahim Al-Asiri who has been called a master bombmaker for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). He allegedly is skilled in constructing bombs out of ordinary material that can escape the...
Lufthansa Lounge Cheat Receives Huge Bill
For one Munich man, a strategic calculation to save money by buying a refundable Lufthansa ticket, enjoying food and drink in the Lufthansa Business Lounge, then cancelling his reservation, has proved a grave mistake. After 36 incidents, Lufthansa had...
United Airlines Bends Rule, Saves the Day for Sick Boy
United Airlines gets a lot of bad press and rightfully so – it has torpedoed the MileagePlus program on both the earnings and redemption side and has severely cut back on in-flight services, particularly in the forward cabin of...
RDMs Will Be Revenue-Based Starting March 01, 2015 on United Airlines
When Delta Air Lines announced a revenue-based earnings chart for 2015, I predicted that it would only be a matter of time before United Airlines would match, though I did not expect it to happen so soon. Copying Delta...
Scandanavian Airlines SAS Introduces New Business Class
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has trailed the competition for years in terms of longhaul business class product. I reviewed business class from Copenhagen to Washington Dulles in 2010 and four years later the seats still have not changed–SAS still does...
Alitalia the Latest Carrier to Cut Service to Venezuela
The situation unfolding in Venezuela fascinates me. There you have a state on the verge of failure with hyperinflation and a government suffering from a foreign currency crunch. The result: airlines are not getting paid for their service and...
Should Members of Congress Fly in Coach?
A Congressman with far too much time on his hands who I will not even dignify by naming has introduced a bill entitled, “If Our Military Has to Fly Coach Then so Should Congress Act.” His rationale is this–...
Oldest Active Flight Attendant Celebrates 90th Birthday, 63 Years in Sky
In the USA there is no regulation setting a maximum age for flight attendants. With this lack of regulation and strong FA unions, we seeing an aging FA base among the legacy carriers of American, Delta, and United. And then...
United Airlines Adds Service Between Denver and Panama City
United Airlines will add service between Denver and Panama City beginning on 03 December 2014 (subject to government approval). The route will run daily November through August and five times weekly during the rainy season in September and October. A...
Transparent Airfares Act of 2014 is Anything But Transparents
Less than two years after the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) mandated that airlines and online travel agencies display all-in pricing at all stages of the airfare search, the House of Representatives is considering a bill called the Transparent Airfares...
What the Teen Jet Stowaway Tells Us About Airport Security
Boy wants to fly to Hawaii. Boy sees Hawaiian Airlines jet parked at San Jose Airport. Boy jumps fence and hides in the wheel well. Boy miraculously survives, making once again a mockery of our so-called airport security. I’ve...
Italian Court Says Emirates Must Suspend New York – Milan Route
An Italian Court handed Dubai-based Emirates a stinging defeat yesterday, holding that the carrier could not operate its Fifth Freedom Route between New York and Milan. It all boils down to this–there is a very real (and valid) fear...
Spin-Off of Thai Smile Another Blow to Star Alliance
Thai Airways will spin-off its Thai Smile Air unit into a separate subsidiary that will not participate in Star Alliance. Created in mid-2012 as a low-cost division of Thai Airways, Thai Smile has now obtained its own air operators’ certificate (AOC)...
A Meaningless Supreme Court Decision on Frequent Flyer Miles
While nearly all the national focus on Wednesday morning was on the U.S. Supreme Court’s bitterly divided 5-4 decision on campaign fiance reform, McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, the Court also handed down a unanimous verdict affecting our old friend Binyomin Ginsberg,...
Leaked Video of Train Derailment at Chicago O’Hare Airport
CCTV footage has leaked out that captures the train wreck on Chicago’s CTA Blue Line Monday at Chicago O’Hare Airport— The train operator has admitted that she “dozed off” before the accident and has done so before. National Transportation...
United Cuts Special Meals on Premium Transcon Routes Between Newark and Los Angeles & San Francisco
There was no formal announcment, but in fine print on the United Airlines North American premium cabin dining webpage, the following has appeared: *Effective May 1, 2014, we no longer offer special meals on flights between New York/Newark and...
Air Canada Suspends Service to the Failing State of Venezuela
Air Canada is halting its thrice-weekly service between Toronto and Caracas as hyperinflation and violence continue to engulf Venezuela. In a statement, Air Canada said– Due to ongoing civil unrest in Venezuela, Air Canada can no longer ensure the...
Chaos at Philadelphia International Airport After Aborted US Airways Takeoff
An aborted takeoff on a US Airways flight bound for Florida from Philadelphia International Airport has shutdown PHL. The culprit: a blown tire; the result: smoke billowing out of the engines and a runway evacuation of the 149 passengers and...
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Wreckage Found?
A Chinese satellite has located what may be the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Then again, we’ve head that before. The Chinese agency gave coordinates of 105.63 east longitude, 6.7 north latitude, which would put it in waters...
