American Airlines is growing at Los Angeles International and today the carrier will begin service to five new cities: Indianapolis, Indiana Columbus, Ohio Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Hartford, Connecticut Bentonville, Arkansas Earlier this year AA began serving Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina and...
Disgruntled Former United Airlines Purser Extracts Revenge by Phoning in Bomb Threats
A former United Airlines purser has pleaded guilty to to making a false bomb threat against a United flight from Los Angeles to London Heathrow. He could face up to five years in prison and has agreed to pay...
Rumor Confirmed: United 777s to Sydney, 787 to Osaka, 747 Returns to Chicago
United Airlines will replace its 747-400s with three-cabin 777-200ERs on its flagships Los Angeles/San Francisco-Sydney routes starting next spring. Other changes include a 787 on the San Francisco-Osaka route (currently a mix between the 747 and 777) and the...
Sneak Peek at JetBlue’s A321 Business Class + Mini-Suites
JetBlue has released the first images of its new Airbus A321 interiors, including a look at its 16-seat business class cabin that will contain four mini-suites with sliding doors providing complete privacy. The new aircraft and addition of business...
Breaking: Nose Gear Collapse on Southwest Airlines Plane at New York LaGuardia
Some breaking news out of New York– At least three people suffered minor injuries when a Southwest Airlines plane landed at LaGuardia Airport with a nose gear collapse, according to officials. The airport is closed until further notice, the...
Local News Station Reports Racist Joke as Names of Asiana Flight 214 Pilots
I have yet to offer my analysis on the recent Asiana crash, but it will be forthcoming and will focus not on the crash itself, but on the way the media reported on it: irresponsibly in many cases. With...
Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner Catches Fire at London Heathrow
More problems for Boeing’s 787 program, this time in London: An internal fire broke out on Friday on a Boeing 787 that Ethiopian Airlines had parked between flights at London’s Heathrow Airport, the airport said. The plane was in...
Snowden Onboard Aeroflot Flight to Havana?
The whole Edward Snowden issue is a mess and I am not going to weigh in on my own feelings about him here. But his saga to seek asylum is inextricably linked to travel and after spending two weeks...
Breaking: Asiana 777 Crashes at SFO
The news is just breaking now, but an Asiana 777 from Seoul has crashed while landing at San Francisco International Airport. No injuries reported at this point, but one passenger tweeted: plane came in at a bad angle, flipped,...
Video: Drunk Passenger Attacks United Pilot at Washington Dulles
I’m not the type that hangs around bars, but in my travels around the world I’ve run into a lot of drunk people and must admit that there are a few things I enjoy more than observing disorderly conduct...
"This aircraft tolerates emissions from electrical devices for all phases of flight"
Coming soon to an airliner near you: cell phones, tablets, laptops…all the time. No phone calls just yet, but I suspect that is just around the corner too. This isn’t a done deal just yet, but after years of passengers...
United Airlines Unveils New Uniforms at Newark Airport
As part of its commemoration of 25 years in Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport, United Airlines set up a catwalk this morning in order showcase new uniforms for pilots, FAs, and ground staff. With CEO Jeff Smisek on-hand,...
New Seats, Wi-Fi, Streaming IFE Coming to United Airlines Airbus Fleet
United Airlines is refreshing its Airbus fleet and UAInsider has provided a bit more insight into the pending changes. New RECARO seats in United Economy and Economy Plus, which will result in an additional half-inch of headroom an almost...
Pay-to-Play VIP Treatment on Delta and American, but not United
Scott Mayerowitz has a piece out today on how three of the legacies are offering extra special VIP treatment for select guests, namely “true” VIPs and those willing to slap down some cash. American Airlines built a private check-in lobby in Los Angeles...
British Airways Florida Call Center to Close
British Airways has announced the impending closure of its Jacksonville call center, displacing 280 jobs. Sadly, this is not an April Fools’ joke. The news broke last week, but a conversation I had today with a British Airways call...
Dog Flies from Newark to Phoenix via Dublin on United
When I took my island-hopper flight last week from Honolulu to Guam on United Airlines, the same intro and safety video was played six times–every time the aircraft took off. Ironically, it was the cargo intro (below) that that...
TSA Allows Bomb to Slip Past Security Checkpoint in Newark…Twice
If any of you are surprised by news that a fake IED-type bomb was cleared past two security checks at Newark’s Liberty International Airport last month, you shouldn’t be. I’ve maintained for years that anyone determined to get something...
Sequester: Travel Disruptions and the Politics of Fear and Intimidation
As the threat of sequester looms large, I must underscore the absurdity of the FAA’s contention that it has no choice but to inconvenience the traveling public if Congress cannot reach an eleventh hour settlement today. Gary argued this...
The Lawyer Behind the AA-US Merger
Never underestimate the capacity of one man to make a difference. The pages of history make that clear and as the dust settles around the almost certain merger of American Airlines and US Airways next week, we are now...
Air Tahiti Nui Removes First Class, Adds New Business Class Seats
Getting to Tahiti using your points (and in general) is not the easiest prospect. Two carriers fly from the continental US non-stop to Papeete–both from Los Angeles: Air France and Air Tahiti Nui (Hawaiian Airlines also offers once-weekly service...
