http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onlinetravelreview The Daily Airline News by Jared Blank Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:58:17 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Bollywood film legend Amitabh Bachchan has learned the hard way about British Airways' miserable record losing bags (it misplaces 23 bags for every 1000 passengers):  The actor says that his bags were lost on a recent trip with his family to Toronto, marking the 18th time the airline has lost ... http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onlinetravelreview/2008/07/18/bollywood-star-finds-that-british-airways-has-lost-his-bagfor-the-18th-time/ God knows how much of this story is true, but a woman is suing Continental Airlines after she claims that a flight attendant who was mad at her had authorities detain her upon her arrival in Newark.  It seems she "shushed" the flight attendant while she was trying to sleep, ... http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onlinetravelreview/2008/07/18/passenger-claims-flight-attendant-had-her-arrested-for-complaining/ Joining the ranks of just about everyone else, Continental has rolled out a few new changes for their OnePass program and you can probably guess that they won't involve making it easier and cheaper to fly for free. In short: - No more holding reservations - you reserve, you purchase.  On a ... http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onlinetravelreview/2008/07/17/continental-outlines-new-onepass-fees-at-least-there-are-no-fuel-surcharges/ We're in airline earnings season, and we've seen the first few airlines post what most newspapers are reporting as giant losses.  But look beyond those headlines of billions of dollars of red ink and you'll see that most of those losses are one-time non-cash charges, and that Delta actually posted ... http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onlinetravelreview/2008/07/17/hmmaybe-delta-knows-what-its-doing/ A quick link to a fun little article about what the airlines have removed from their planes to save weight.  My favorite?  Alaska Airlines took 5 magazines off each plane and saved $10k. http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onlinetravelreview/2008/07/15/what-have-airlines-removed-from-aircraft-to-save-weight/ It's horrible over at Midwest:  In conjunction with their previously announced plans to eliminate the MD-80 from their fleet, they said today that they will need to lay off 40% of their workforce.  The airline, which once had a great little niche providing near-business-class service at coach prices, isn't long ... http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onlinetravelreview/2008/07/14/midwest-to-lay-off-40-of-workforce/ (Thanks to reader Doug for the heads up) The 12 major US carriers sent out an email (copied at the bottom of this post) blaming oil market speculation as the reason for the increase in the price of fuel (they say up to $60 of the cost of a barrel of ... http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onlinetravelreview/2008/07/11/airlines-blame-woes-on-oil-speculation/ For those of you who were looking forward to seeing Stuart Little 7: Another Mouse in the House (or whatever), you're out of luck:  US Airways is removing entertainment systems from its domestic flights beginning in November.  The move will save about $10 million a year in fuel. On a positive ... http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onlinetravelreview/2008/07/10/us-airways-to-remove-movies-from-domestic-flights/ Northwest became the latest airline to introduce new fees:  Just as with other airlines, it'll cost you $15 to check your first bag.  More annoyingly, they've introduced a "fuel-surcharge" for frequent flyer tickets (details here) - basically $25 for US flights, $50 for trans-Atlantic, and $100 for trans-Pacific.  Oh, and ... http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onlinetravelreview/2008/07/10/northwest-introduces-baggage-fees-frequent-flyer-redemption-fees/ (Thanks View from the Wing) Spirit Airlines has a deal with Planet Hollywood Casino in Vegas to offer 1,250 square foot suites for $177/night mid-week in July and August (details in the link).  It's a steal! http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onlinetravelreview/2008/07/10/1200-square-foot-vegas-strip-suite-for-177night/