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...
New London to Baghdad Service on Al-Naser Airlines
State-run Iraqi Airways ran into more than it bargained for when it attempted to restart service between Baghdad and London earlier this year. Iraq’s flag carrier had been banned in Europe since 1990 and either forgot or didn’t give...
TSA’s Mysterious New Pat-Down Policy
Even before news came about the plot to blow up US-bound cargo jets on Friday, the TSA had announced another security enhancement: a "new hand-sliding technique" when it comes to pat-down searches. The TSA is smart enough to know that Americans...
The Return of Pan Am?
I wouldn’t get excited just yet, but another Pan Am reincarnation is in the works. Pan American Airways will announce its return to the skies on Friday, November 12 at noon in front of the historic Pan American Airways Building...
America’s Meanest Airlines (and why my list is different)
Hamooda Shami over at Yahoo! Travel put together a list of the five worst major airlines and the four worst regional airlines. To formulate his scores, he took a look at the Airline Quality Rating (AQR) Report and a "number of other sources"...
Delta Not Worried About Southwest’s Arrival in Atlanta
When news broke that Southwest and AirTran would be merging, I opined that the long-term ramifications would not be beneficial to consumers. I stand by that analysis and it seems that Delta’s CEO Richard Anderson agrees. At Delta’s third-quarter earnings...
United/Continental Add 19 New Routes
Now merged with Continental, United announced on Thursday that it would add a total of 19 new routes from seven of its eight mainland hubs in 2011. Here’s the list: Chicago O’Hare: No new routes. Cleveland: Cincinnati. Denver: Amarillo,...
Emirates Airlines Dispute Costs Canada a Seat on the UN Security Council?
Canadians are up in arms today that Portugal edged out Canada for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council. Politics was no doubt at play, and it seems that a dispute between Canadian and UAE authorities over landing...
No Jail Time for Ex-JetBlue FA Steven Slater
He got off easy. After ex-JetBlue FA Steven Slater pleaded guilty to two charges of attempted criminal mischief, one a felony and one a misdemeanor, he was released in New York earlier today and will avoid jail if he complies with...
