Archive for January, 2007
January 23 2007
The WSJ (subscription required, sorry) has a good article today that finds several airlines will not re-book travelers stranded by a storm in open seats, preferring to hold them back for sale. Yes, you read that correctly. United, Delta and Northwest all say that they will fly with empty first class seats even when travelers have been stranded because of a storm, preferring to sell those seats if possible. Now, I appreciate wanting to sell every seat on an airplane. But if you’ve cancelled flights because of weather, and people have been inconvenienced by that cancellation, what kind of evil company would tell that person to continue to camp out in an airport when seats are flying empty. Yet another reason why people hate airlines.
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January 23 2007
A man was arrested yesterday for attempting to hijack an Air Botswana flight from Gabarone, Botswana, to Johannesburg, South Africa. The nut banged on the cockpit door and threatened staff and passengers, then demanded to be let into the cockpit. He was denied entry, and the plane landed in Johannesburg without incident. I find it interesting that this is being nearly entirely ignored by Western media, because you can only imagine what the hell would be going on if someone tried to hijack a plane here. But, it’s in Africa, so no one cares. Carry on.
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January 23 2007
British Airways is hoping to avert a 3-day strike planned for Jan 29-31 by its flight attendants. The airline has asked a mediation board to step in and help figure out how to come to terms on the pay issues that separate the 2 sides. If you’ve got flights on BA planned for that day, it’s time to look into alternatives. Though I’m sure they’ll work this out.
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January 22 2007
United Airlines revised its frequent flyer program policies over the weekend so miles now expire after 18 months. Worse, this is retroactive to July 1, 2006. It’s almost worth reading the press release I linked to because somehow they make it sound like this is a benefit to consumers. Impressive. Remember, though, you can keep the account active by making a small purchase through the United Airlines shopping site.
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January 22 2007
A Continental Airlines pilot died mid-flight on the way to Puerto Vallarta from Houston on Saturday. The co-pilot took over and landed the plane without incident at McAllen’s airport. The flight continued on to Puerto Vallarta with a new crew.
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January 19 2007
A small bit of self-promotion: Tripmela (the OTR’s sister site) got a nice mention in an Economic Times (India) article today.
That’s the end of the pat on the back 
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January 19 2007
Spirit Airlines is launching nonstop service from Fort Lauderdale to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti beginning in March. Special fares start at a nickel each way, and they’re actually available (with tax, it comes to about $85 round trip). Now, Americans are warned not to go to Haiti, and for good reason (well, many good reasons, not least of which is the 60 people who were kidnapped in Port-Au-Prince last year). But for Haitians in south Florida, this is one helluva deal. In case you were wondering, Spirit’s aircraft will spend a grand total of 40 minutes in Haiti from when they land to when they get the hell outta there.
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January 18 2007
A 9 year old who was unhappy in his Tacoma, Washington, decided he would fly to Dallas to runaway from his family. So he somehow boarded a Southwest flight to Phoenix, changed planes, and ended up mistakenly in San Antonio, not Dallas. All of this happened without a ticket or boarding pass, which has puzzled Southwest Airlines officials (as you might imagine). The child has a history of getting into trouble, including stealing a car last week. No word on whether he’ll receive Rapid Rewards miles for the flight.
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January 18 2007
Officials at Auckland’s airport have banned a billboard that features a former Miss Universe in lingerie holding a stuffed rhino. The tagline on the billboard for the lingerie company reads, "Horny?" For some reason, officials there thought that was inappropriate. Go figure.
UPDATE: Thanks to the commenter who suggested that while none of my readers would want to see it, I might want to link to the ad. Here.
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January 18 2007
Virgin America announced today that it has revised its application to fly in the US, placing additional distance between the carrier and Richard Branson. Hard to tell what’s going to happen there. I put the odds at 50-50 that it will fly. Pretty useful prediction, eh?
If you want to see what you’re missing with Virgin America, check out its new website at letvafly.com. Great stuff there about the cabins on the planes, which feature a comfy first class, all sorts of entertainment at your fingertips, and nice leather seats. I’ll call it JetRed. Quaking in their boots should be Continental, whose 737s with 1980s style entertainment units will be competing head-to-head with Virgin America on their transcon routes. Good luck with that!
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Airlines Hold Back Seats During Storms