Archive for February, 2007
February 22 2007
I swear, this is it. My last post on it: This is the full lowdown on the Ralph Fiennes sex with flight attendant extravaganza. The linked article has all you need to know, including their plan for covering up their escapade. Also know that the flight attendant said "she knew she’d get the sack." Long time readers will note this is the 2nd time I’ve mentioned someone "getting the sack" after having sex on a plane. I don’t make the news, I just report it.
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February 21 2007
Not a good week for airline CEOs…
US Airways CEO Doug Parker pleaded guilty to a DUI charge and will spend a day in jail (as well as paying a fine) as part of his sentence. No one was hurt when he was arrested last month — his third DUI offense (the others were nearly 20 years ago).
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February 20 2007
JetBlue announced the full details of its delay reimbursement program (DRP, though I just made that up), offering passengers payments that vary from $25 flight vouchers to free round trips based on the length of the delay you face and whether you’re already on a plane or not. Most of the payments only kick in if the delay is not caused by weather or air traffic control holds.
This is reminiscent of a similar scheme from long-gone Biztravel.com (a division of also long-gone Rosenbluth International) where if a flight you booked on their site was delayed, they would pay you ($100 for a 30 minute delay, up to full reimbursement for a 2-hour delay).
In any case, this should mark the last of my posts on the JetBlue matter. Carry on…
UPDATE: The full details of the JetBlue passenger bill of rights say that they will make "take the necessary action" to deplane customers if a plane is on the ground for five (five!) hours. Even then, there’s an out: "JetBlue Captains have discretion if the aircraft is positioned and almost ready for take-off." The financial payouts are nice or whatever, but 5 hours? That’s news? We won’t hold you hostage for more than five hours, unless the captain decides he wants to? That’s the big news? (Well, no, the payments are the big news. It’s a nice gesture. But 5 hours?)
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February 20 2007
Assuming they don’t cancel the flight you’re on, MAXjet’s $998 round trip offer between either New York or Las Vegas and London is a great deal — the Vegas offer is an amazing price. Book by March 5, fly by September 15th. Seeing as summer fares in coach to London can hit $800 round trip, you may want to hop on this. And pray your flight isn’t cancelled.
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February 19 2007
JetBlue’s nightmare week is continuing, as the airline has announced it will cancel 25% of its Monday flights, 5 days after an East Coast storm wiped out its operations. JetBlue has cancelled about 1,000 flights in 5 days, and has seen 7 years of goodwill flushed down the 2 lavatories located in coach. Police were called in to calm frustrated travelers in Boston and New York. Incredible that the situation got so out of hand in multiple cities, but the comments a couple of OTR readers have posted about their own horror stories suggests that it was amazing customers kept it together at all.
Also incredibly, CEO David Neeleman told the NY Times that airline management was unprepared for the way the events unfolded. He blamed airline operations for not being able to stay in touch with pilots & flight attendants, blamed customer service reps who work out of their homes, blamed the airline’s reservations system, and blamed the airline’s emergency control center. Though while he said he was "humiliated and mortified," he didn’t take the blame himself. And from what it sounds like, the airline was simply ill-prepared and, worse, took several days to realize the extent that it was unprepared. If Neeleman weren’t the founder, I would expect a board to oust him over this. But they won’t.
I was about to write that on the plus side, we can assume this will never happen again. But it’s happened over and over again (from the Northwest 20+ hour ordeal several years ago, to the American mess in Texas last year, to JetBlue). It will happen again. Profits come first, you come second. It’s great when that benefits passengers, but it stings a bit when it doesn’t. As soon as we stop fooling ourselves that airlines care about anything other than profitability (and, to be fair, safety), we’ll gladly accept the next 3-hour wait on the tarmac.
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February 19 2007
A very special thank you to frequent reader/contributor IAHPHX for letting me (and now, you) know that the Qantas flight attendant who had denied having mid-flight sex with Ralph Fiennes has now changed her story and is says that she propositioned him. You’ll also be interested to hear (yeah, right) that she spent the next night with him in his Mumbai hotel.
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February 16 2007
Just a quick follow-up to the JetBlue JFK snowstorm disaster:
Turns out JetBlue waited 5 hours to call airport authorities for help offloading passengers. Oops.
And my father brought up a good point: Will 1 snowstorm undo 7 years of goodwill and great stories about the airline? Did Wednesday mark the day that JetBlue became just another airline that everyone hates?
And CEO David Neeleman’s response: "We should’ve done better" is completely inadequate, considering these people were held hostage for 9, 10 or 11 hours.
On the plus side, apparently American Airlines was still charging $3 for cookies on its 5 hour delayed flight to Miami.
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February 16 2007
An Air Mauritania 737 was hijacked yesterday, with the hijacker demanding to be flown to France. Instead, the plane made a stop in the Western Sahara, then continued on to the Canary Islands. Upon landing in the Canaries, the pilot landed hard, knocking the hijacker off his feet, allowing passengers to overpower him. The hijacking may be tied to an Al Qaeda call to attack the Mauritanian government for recognizing Israel.
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February 15 2007
A squirrel running around in the wiring above the cockpit of an American Airlines 777 forced the flight from Tokyo to Dallas to divert to Honolulu. A spokesman for the airline said, "You do not want a varmint up in the wiring areas and what-have-you on an airplane." Apparently Jeff Foxworthy is their spokesperson.
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February 15 2007
Pakistan’s supreme court is asking Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to explain its policy of firing its flight attendants at age 45 because of "dull and poor appearance." A number of flight attendants have sued the airline, noting that they were fired because they were told they had "dull and poor appearance, scars on face, gap in the
front teeth and the age factor affecting looks". Nicely done.
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The Last Word on Ralph Fiennes and Sex with a Flight Attendant