Air Travel & Other Tidbits

This review is from the blog “Flying With Fish”. As a frequent flyer, Steven Frischling provides readers with informative and entertaining views on whats happening in the current state of air travel. iPhone App of the Week : United Airlines Optathlon Games By Steven Frischling, “Flying With Fish” Airline iPhone Apps tend to be...
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MyTSA Mobile Application For Travelers To provide passengers with 24/7 access to the most commonly requested TSA information on their mobile device, TSA has developed the MyTSA mobile application. No matter where you are, you’ll have easy access to information you need to get through security and onto the plane safely and smoothly. MyTSA...
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Quantas 747 Engine Blows Up; SFO Emergency Landing SAN FRANCISCO — A Quantas 747 heading to Sydney with with 212 passengers and a crew of 18 was forced to make an emergency landing at San Francisco International Airport early Tuesday after an engine exploded in flight over the Pacific, authorities said. Qantas Airways Flight...
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Be sure to click the link at the very bottom for an earlier story about how the kids were cared for by good Samaritan vacationers and hotel staff. Jessie (14) and brother Dan Molitor (17) were on vacation in Hawaii with their aunt. It took the family nearly 24 hours to change airline flights...
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A Call for Civility in the Overhead Bins By JOE SHARKEY, New York Times With airlines collecting $2.7 billion in checked bag fees last year, the ever-crowded carry-on situation isn’t likely to improve on its own any time soon. Spirit recently surprised the airline industry by introducing fees of $20 to $45 each to...
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From CNN.com Is it what you wear, or what NOT to wear? And does it really matter? Join the conversation on CNN. What’s OK to wear on the plane? iReporter Lisa Oaks posted an iReport this week that caught our eye — a photo of a man in the Dallas Fort-Worth Airport wearing short shorts...
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Airlines rely on ‘sorry’ crews The Dallas Morning News DALLAS — There are some things that Fred Taylor Jr. and his crew at Southwest Airlines Co. just cannot explain. For example, there was the female passenger who kneeled in front of her middle seat and chewed on the seat cushion, then stripped off her...
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From sexy stewardesses to former NYPD officers, AOL Travel charts how cabin crews have changed over the decades By Ralph Martin~ When Steven Slater grabbed some beers and slid down his plane’s emergency chute, he became an instant American folk hero, especially among flight attendants. Facebook groups like “The Fabulous Life of a Flight Attendant,”...
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Some feel blue as United, Continental wedding mixes old, new Chicago Tribune – Julie Johnson United and Continental airlines aren’t yet officially hitched, but some are already grumbling about the monogram they’ve selected for their china. The backlash is a reaction to one of the first compromises reached by the carriers’ CEOs during their...
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New Express Seats on American Airlines. Pay a fee for the early ‘board’ special! American Airlines new ‘Express Seats’ are similar to United’s ‘Economy Plus’, only without the ‘plus’. But you still pay a fee. Yes, even without the plus. Like United, American’s special seats aren’t really special at all. On both carriers, they’re...
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Flight Attendant Stress: Keeping Cool on the Plane Flight Attendants are the Human Face of Airlines and Often Deliver Bad News Column By RICK SEANEY FareCompare.com CEO What’s with all the yelling and screaming on airplanes these days? Yes, I’m talking about the alleged extreme bad behavior by JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater — the...
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The Consumerist by Chris Walters Angel says she hadn’t had any alcohol before getting on her Southwest Airlines flight last week, but for some reason the flight attendant decided–after first taking her order–that she felt “uncomfortable” serving Angel her vodka and Coke. Last Monday, I flew on Southwest Flight #196 from Phoenix to Baltimore....
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Rochdale man ‘took 200 fireworks on US plane’ BBC News- Manchester An airline passenger claims he was allowed to take more than 200 fireworks on two flights in the United States. Paul Jones, 29, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, flew across the US from Kansas to Houston and back to the UK with a bag...
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Don’t jump! Ways to fly without wanting to scream New York AP News- By Samantha Bomkamp, Airline News Writer OK, OK, we get it: It’s tough to be a flight attendant. We get it even more now after Steven Slater’s now-famous “peace out” move. But a little sympathy, please: it’s tough to be a passenger...
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Skies Aren’t So Friendly For Many Flight Attendants by Tamara Keith, National Public Radio When JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater grabbed two beers and took an emergency exit slide earlier this week, he became an instant media sensation. He now also faces charges of criminal mischief and reckless endangerment — but many flight attendants say they...
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Kids Fly Solo to Nashville, Parents Want Answers Trio of Kids, Oldest 15, Fly to Nashville Alone, Never Stopped By Airline or TSA By STEVE OSUNSAMI and BRET HOVELL, ABCNews.go.com Aug. 13, 2010 — It must’ve been an idle day for three youngsters Tuesday when one had a novel idea: Let’s go to Dollywood. The...
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Plane-iac’s foe faces 25G hit FAA: JetBlue bag lady broke a slue of rules New York Post – By Philip Messing and Doug Auer The woman whose oversize luggage sparked a tarmac tirade by a JetBlue flight attendant is in the cross hairs of federal officials mulling stiff penalties and heavy fines for her temper...
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Flight attendant’s job: Harder than it used to be? By Matt Rocheleau, Contributor / Christian Science Monitor August 11, 2010 Flight attendants, including JetBlue’s now-famous Steven Slater, often deal with annoyed or irate passengers. But the climate in which they work is more stressful than it used to be, experts say. Whatever caused JetBlue flight attendant...
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Sometimes the weird news is about us… From JetBlue’s Blog~ Blue Tales It wouldn’t be fair for us to point out absurdities in other corners of the industry without acknowledging when it’s about us. Well, this week’s news certainly falls into that category. Perhaps you heard a little story about one of our flight attendants?...
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Fed-Up Flight Attendant is Out of Jail, Says He is Appreciative NBC New York, by TIM MINTON, JONATHAN DIENST, PEI-SZE CHENG and HASANI GITTENS A flight attendant who was arrested after arguing with a passenger on a JetBlue flight – making  a grand exit from the aircraft by grabbing some beers and pulling the emergency chute — posted $2,500 bail and...
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NY judge grants bail for angry flight attendant By DEEPTI HAJELA Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A judge granted bail for a flight attendant accused of cursing out a passenger on an airplane public-address system, grabbing some beer from the galley and exiting on an emergency slide. Steven Slater wore a slight smile...
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This is fantastic! Look how delighted Lufthansa passengers and crew are for this on-board pillow fight. Sadly, US carriers have all but eliminated pillows in the economy cabins. And some charge extra. I believe US airline passengers would be more willing to pay an extra fee for pillows in the coach cabin if they...
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From Ask the Pilot, everything you need to know about commercial flying TERRORISM, TWEEZERS, AND TERMINAL MADNESS: An Essay On Security An excerpt from “AskthePilot.com” ………….. But of all the contradictions and self-defeating measures TSA has come up with, possibly none is more blatantly ludicrous than the policy decreeing that pilots and flight attendants...
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Turkish Airlines Tells Staff to Shed Weight The Media Line Staff Turkey (TML) – Turkey’s national airline has grounded 28 of its flight attendants until they lose some weight. Turkish Airlines told 13 female and 15 male flight attendants that they have six months to lose weight or face reassignments, according to Turkish media....
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From the NYPD to JetBlue Some airlines try to hire flight attendants who are young and attractive. JetBlue Airways has a type, too: cops and fire fighters. It’s “Law & Order: Cabin Crew ” Or “CSI: jetBlue” Since its launch 10 years ago, the New York-based airline has hired several hundred New York police...
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Should passengers speak up? Was Delta correct removing her from the flight? Unfairly bumped? by Toni Guinyard (KNBC) TOLUCA LAKE, CA (NBC) – A California woman was recently kicked off a Delta Airlines flight after reporting that she thought she had smelled alcohol on the Captain’s breath. Cynthia Angel said the incident occurred on July...
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Spirit Airlines’ Next Fee? Talking to a Human Expect More Fees But CEO Rules Out Charge to Use the Bathroom By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ Aug. 3, 2010— Just when you thought airlines couldn’t get any stingier, the CEO of Spirit Airlines said he is considering a new fee to talk with a human at the...
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Spirit Airlines: Cheap Airfare, but at What Cost? Discount Airline Now Charges Fee for Carry-On Bags By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ ABOARD SPIRIT AIRLINES FLIGHT 381 Aug. 2, 2010 — Put your seatback and tray-table in an upright position, fasten your seatbelt and tightly hold on to your wallet. Welcome aboard Spirit Airlines, the no-frills, fee-happy airline that...
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By Martha Stewardess Enough with the discussion and complaints about airline fee’s. They’re here to stay. Let’s accept being “unbundled” and move forward. The *new* Airline Ticket – airline & flight attendant revenue I want to start issuing citations to passengers. We’ll call these citations “Airline Tickets” since airline bookings are now “ticketless”. This...
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Good news and a step in the right direction. Anything airlines can do to reduce waste is a very good thing. I am saddened by the enormous amounts of waste materials airlines dump into the environment, every day, every flight, and every destination. Few airlines recycle. Aluminum cans, the most recyclable product on board,...
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