Thinking outside the box…….. Why go through the hassles of airport security, lines, crowds, and jetlag for sensational Singapore Airlines meals if they’re available in the privacy of your own dining room? As an added bonus, you will ALWAYS get your first choice ! And for a good cause too. Above & Beyond Maria Burns from the New York Times An airline coming out with a cookbook — it sounds like the start of a warmed-over, foil-wrapped joke. But...
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Singapore Suites, now available on Singapore Airlines A380 The Singapore Airlines Suites, exclusively available onboard the A380, provide a privileged few with their very own haven of tranquility. Luxuriate in the largest ever seat; a lavish armchair hand-stitched by master Italian craftsmen Poltrona Frau. At up to 35-inches across, your seat is unsurpassed in comfort and space. Or for the first time ever, experience the pleasure of sleeping on a standalone bed; not one converted from a seat. Along...
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As Seen on The Today Show! “Aww! Your next pet could be a ‘potcake pup’ Group gets stray dogs off streets, beaches of the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands” ~ Pets and Animals on TODAY Elizabeth Sunshine was rushing to the airport in Newark, N.J. She had a date to meet her new baby in person for the very first time, and she was running late. The baby’s couriers — a friendly couple from Connecticut — waited patiently, and...
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Airline passenger advocate’s credibility under fire By: Michael FabeyJuly 26, 2010 When American Airlines stranded 121 Dallas-bound flights and thousands of passengers on Dec. 29, 2006 — some for more than nine hours with fouled toilets, little food or water and no way to deplane — it triggered a national outcry in the news media, on blogs and on Capitol Hill. It also motivated one angry passenger, Napa, Calif., real estate agent Kate Hanni, to act. Within weeks, Hanni had donned...
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Passenger Lodges Airline Complaint on YouTube While Sweating on the Tarmac PHOENIX – Imagine sitting a plane on the tarmac with no air conditioning for 3 hours in 100 plus Phoenix temperatures. That’s what one passenger says happened to him on Sunday. The passenger from Scottsdale was on his way to Atlanta. He became so frustrated with what was going on, he picked up his cell phone, hit record, and posted the video on YouTube. Tony Morales sat on...
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Continental tests ‘self-boarding’ at Houston airport “It’s a great idea,” says aviation analyst Michael Boyd. “Any reduction in human contact between employee and customer is good these days.” By Roger Yu, USA Today Boarding a plane without an agent to inspect or take your pass has arrived in the USA. Continental Airlines has confirmed it’s testing the procedure at a gate at its hub in Houston Intercontinental. It’s the first experiment at what’s called “self-boarding” in the U.S. In...
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Petite passenger booted from Southwest flight Southwest Airlines made headlines earlier this year for kicking overweight actor-director Kevin Smith off a flight because he took up more than one seat. Now we’re hearing the airline recently removed a 5-foot-4, 110-pound Sacramento-area woman from a plane so a hefty passenger could have an extra seat. The incident happened last week on an early-evening Southwest flight from Las Vegas to Sacramento. The local woman was flying standby, paid full fare for...
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Cabin crew: An insider tells all Vomiting babies and frisky businessmen are all in a day’s work, but what is life above the clouds – and on the ground – really like? (click on accompanying video below) Anonymous The Guardian.co.uk There are no average days when you’re cabin crew; each flight is unpredictable in its own way, thanks to the passengers. While we get to wander around, everyone else is captive and reliant on us, which can make them behave...
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Around India in the World’s Cheapest Car Vanessa Able, ABC News When Tata Motors announced the release of the Nano back in January 2008, there was a rush across India as people clamored to fill out order forms for the pint-sized car that, at a shelf price of $2,500, was contracted to be the cheapest in the world. With a button-sized steering wheel to go with its button-sized tires and a maximum speed of about 55 mph, it’s hardly...
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Screaming child lands Qantas in court after sending woman deaf By Peter Mitchell in Los Angeles, The Daily Telegraph It can be a traveller’s great fear – sitting near a screaming child on a passenger plane. US tourist Jean Barnard, who embarked on her dream holiday to Australia and New Zealand in January last year, alleges the trip became a nightmare when she boarded a Darwin-bound Qantas plane in Alice Springs, walked to her assigned seat and came face-to-face...
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Air steward ‘terror’ rage By JANON FISHER, NY Post A flight attendant with a short fuse threatened to unleash jihad on American Airlines after it fired him for hurling a coffee pot at a stewardess, the feds charged yesterday. Rodney Lorenzo, 45, mailed letters to top airline executives with “Boom!!” written on the envelopes, a prosecutor said in Brooklyn federal court. They contained pages from an employee handbook showing how to access the cockpit. In the 2008 letters, Lorenzo...
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As flying gets more stressful, some passengers turn rude By Charisse Jones, USA TODAY When Mike Nugent flies, nothing annoys him more than settling into his seat, the plane taking off, and the passenger in front reclining into his lap. So he’s come up with a solution. “I put my knee right in the middle of the back of the seat,” Nugent, 66, says. “They think it’s broken. They try (to recline) two or three times, then they give...
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Traveling with Pets: Airlines With the Most Dog Deaths These Airlines Had More Dog Deaths and Injuries Than Any Other Carrier By Scott Mayerowitz July 21, 2010— When Kendra and Travis Parks moved last month from Hawaii to Seattle, they sent their 6-year-old Great Dane Tucker in a custom-made kennel in the cargo hold of a Continental Airlines plane. Unfortunately for Tucker, it wasn’t a smooth trip. When he arrived in Seattle — after a layover at Continental’s Houston...
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20 Reasons to Hate the Airlines A brief history of the industry’s 30-year campaign to nickel-and-dime us nearly to death And So It Continues by By Richard Zoglin, Christine Lim and Deirdre Van Dyk How much is it worth to you to cut in line at the airport? You can find out this summer, as several airlines have begun charging passengers a fee (between $10 and $30, depending on the airline) for the privilege of being first in line to...
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Could Free Wi-Fi Soon Hit the Skies? Analysts Believe Airlines Will Start Offering Free Wi-Fi in Mid-2011 By Samantha Bomkamp- Associated Press Travelers used to getting a free wireless Internet connection on land aren’t willing to pay for one at 30,000 feet. Wireless Internet service on airlines hasn’t caught on, mostly because of the price. Travelers already paying $25 to check a bag and $20 for a roomier seat don’t want to fork over $5 or more for Wi-Fi...
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Delta Air Expects 65,000 Applicants for 1,000 Job Openings July 16 (Bloomberg) — Delta Air Lines Inc., the world’s largest carrier, said it anticipates getting about 65,000 applications for its 1,000 airport job openings as millions of Americans continue to look for work. The airline is hiring workers at its 25 biggest U.S. airports to help with planes that are flying with near-record percentages of seats filled and cope with weather disruptions, Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson said today...
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Air mystery: Passengers fell asleep during flight By Seán McCárthaigh Friday, July 16, 2010 An airline pilot was forced to declare an emergency after almost all the passengers fell asleep during its ascent just minutes after taking off from Dublin Airport. A report by the Department of Transport’s Air Accident Investigation Unit has revealed the potentially dangerous situation on board the Airbus A319 aircraft as it climbed towards cruising altitude just 12 minutes after leaving Dublin. The pilot also...
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Secrets of the World’s First Flying Keg, Revealed Finally, the prayers of business-traveling beer lovers have been answered: Japan’s All Nippon Airlines announced last week that it has developed Planet Earth’s first in-flight beer dispenser. That’s right: brew that’s both on tap and onboard. For now, though, kegs on a plane are only available for domestic flights in Japan — in fact, none of the ANA flights featuring the service last more than two-and-a-half hours. Which is a good thing:...
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United Airlines Gives Passengers ‘Walk of Shame’ A US airline is accused of kicking off passengers who paid the cheapest tickets in an attempt to reduce the weight of the aircraft. United Airlines removed 20 people from the flight from Burlington to Washington, a passenger said. The event was reported on Twitter by @brucepoontip who was onboard when the request was made. “So uncomfortable with United Airlines removing families and older couples who bought cheap tickets. Sad frankly.” Bruce wrote....
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Jet makes emergency landing in Aleutians ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An American Airlines jet made an emergency landing on a remote island in Alaska’s Aleutians after a fire warning light malfunctioned, the airline said Monday. Flight 175, traveling from Dallas-Fort Worth to Tokyo, landed safely at Eareckson Air Station on Shemya Island shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday, said Tim Smith, a spokesman for American. The island base has a 10,000-foot runway. It turned out there was no fire, despite...
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Airport Janitor Allegedly Peeped on Women ONTARIO, Calif. (KABC) – It happened on one of the busiest days of the week at Ontario International Airport, in a place where women and girls expect privacy. Airport police allege they discovered a cell phone set up inside a tissue dispenser in a stall to take pictures. It was traced to Steve Aragon, a 40-year-old janitor from Chino Hills. On Monday, neither police nor airport employees would provide further details. “That’s crazy,” said...
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Spot The Northwest Flight Attendant By Simon Sinek I flew to London and back on Delta Airlines, which was great because I got to play my new favorite game: spot the old Northwest Flight Crew. Northwest and Delta merged last year to form America’s largest airline. Though the planes are now painted the same and the crews all wear the same uniforms, they do not all act the same way. The cultures of the two companies, more specifically how management treated...
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Social Networking Takes Flight By BARBARA S. PETERSON, NYT, Published: July 12, 2010 On a flight from Newark to the West Coast not long ago, Jeff Jarvis, author of the book “What Would Google Do?” fell into a conversation with a fellow passenger familiar with his work. But it was not a face-to-face chat. Rather, it started as a Twitter post sent by Mr. Jarvis from his seat that was picked up a few rows back. “I got a message saying, ‘I’m...
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UAE Airlines to Recruit 80,000 Staff in a Decade Ivan Gale, The National, July 10. 2010 The country’s two largest airlines are gearing up for one of the biggest recruitment drives in aviation history, with plans to hire 80,000 pilots, cabin crew and other staff over the next decade. The immense growth in hiring at Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways comes at a tough time for the industry in many other parts of the world. In Europe, carriers have resorted...
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I get a kick out of people watching during airport sits. And believe me, flight attendants have a lot of airport sit time! Most will go to a ‘crew lounge’ (if available) for napping, eating, reading, or just to catch up with colleagues. Not me. I’d rather sit in the terminal observing the constant motion and parade of people on the go. No doubt, airports are fascinating, and always entertaining. Rolling luggage is such a common site, and a...
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Hawaiian Airline Passengers Arrive after Twenty Hour Flight Delay By Brianne Randle khon2.com Over 200 Hawaiian airlines passengers have landed in Honolulu after a more than 20-hour delay. Flight five from Las Vegas was held up after mechanical problems, and now hawaiian airlines is hoping to make amends. Hawaiian airlines prides themselves in their on-time performance. but, wednesday’s flight from las vegas to honolulu is one they’d soon hope to forget. “I came from East coast so that was frustrating...
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Govt Says 5 May Flights Sat on Tarmac Over 3 Hours By Samantha Bomkamp  (AP) – NEW YORK — There were five flights stuck on the tarmac for three hours or more in May, the first month under a new rule banning lengthy tarmac delays, the government said Thursday. It will be several weeks to a month before any fines may be levied against the airlines for violations, as the Department of Transportation investigates. The maximum fine is $27,500...
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WINNIPEG — Passengers on a WestJet flight helped restrain a Newfoundland woman, 47, who tried to open the door of the aircraft in flight and threatened to jump out. Police said the woman was on a flight from Calgary to Halifax Tuesday afternoon and about an hour after takeoff, she got up out of her seat and said she wanted to leave. She reportedly tried to yank open an escape hatch before concerned passengers and cabin crew restrained her...
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Aircraft unable to land at Durban because of private planes clogging King Shaka airport Guradian.co.UK David Smith- African Correspondent A near-riot erupted on an aeroplane over South Africa as football fans rushed towards the cockpit to protest at missing last night’s World Cup semifinal between Germany and Spain, witnesses have claimed. The fans were among hundreds of angry ticket holders whose flights were delayed or turned back because Durban’s new King Shaka international airport was full. Some complained that...
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This story has “Made for TV Movie” written all over it……….. ‘Barefoot Bandit’ strikes again! Colton Harris-Moore suspected of crashing ANOTHER stolen plane The so-called “Barefoot Bandit,” an impudent teenage outlaw from Washington state whose two-year run from the law has made him a folk hero, apparently wrecked a stolen plane in the Bahamas July 4 before vanishing again. Colton “Colt” Harris-Moore, who leaves footprints and saucy notes at crime scenes, has allegedly gone joyriding in $3 million worth of cars,...
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HearaldNet Editorial Flying the larval-stage skies Sometimes a troubling news story can help put everything in perspective. For example, “Maggots fall from overhead bin onto passengers flying U.S. Airways; bugs came onboard in spoiled meat.” It’s disturbing to think that as the Federal Aviation Administration grapples with the decision of whether to ban peanuts as a snack on all flights, there isn’t a prohibition against bringing spoiled meat (or freshly butchered, for that matter) onboard (or in checked luggage)....
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From TMZ Dave Chappelle Deemed Safety Risk on board Private Jet A private jet carrying comedian Dave Chappelle made an emergency landing in Pittsburgh last night because the pilot couldn’t handle Chappelle’s erratic behavior, TMZ has learned. A source extremely familiar with the incident tells TMZ Chappelle boarded a private jet in New Jersey last night bound for Ohio — where the actor lives. During the flight, we’re told Dave “freaked out” and refused to put his seat belt on. Then —...
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SAN FRANCISCO (Wireless Flash – FlashNews) – Passengers will truly be flying high if one man manages to replace airline peanuts with hemp seeds. Richard Davis of hemp-based snack company, Blue Sun Corporation, has just created Honey Roasted Hemp Nuts, little packs of hemp seeds that taste similar to seasoned beer nuts. With recent talks of airlines possibly banning peanuts due to allergies, Davis is hoping to offer Hemp Nuts aboard airplanes as an alternative to the classic in-flight...
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Maggots Fall From Overhead Compartment on US Airways Flight Airline Says Spoiled Meat in a Bag is to Blame Deidra Dukes Fox 5 News~ Atlanta, GA A U.S. Airways flight bound for New York City was forced to return to the gate in Atlanta on Monday after maggots fell from a bag inside an overhead luggage bin. The airline says spoiled meat in a suitcase is to blame for the mess. Passenger Dona Adamo told FOX 5 she was...
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Airlines Charge Extra For Roach Coach Food? USA Today Reporting: Inspectors find safety flaws where airline food is prepared Six months ago, Food and Drug Administration inspectors say, they found live roaches and dead roach carcasses “too numerous to count” inside the Denver facility of the world’s largest airline caterer, LSG Sky Chefs. They also reported finding ants, flies and debris, and employees handling food with bare hands. Samples from a kitchen floor tested positive for Listeria, a bacteria...
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