federal aviation administration

Santa & Flight Crew Meet New Flight Safety Requirements

Thousands of aviation professionals around the world work tirelessly year round to ensure that Santa One‘s annual global flight goes off without a hitch. The logistics involved in ensuring that Santa Clause is able to depart the North Pole Sleighport on time to deliver gifts to boys and girls around the world on time involves…

Aviation Security Outside The Fence, Is It Viable?

Every day more than 30,000 potential threats take flight, carrying more than two million potential victims, in the United States.   The security presence in and around airports is apparent to all, with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) overseeing the screening of all passengers and the vast majority of airport staff, aided by local and federal…

Aviation Safety & The U.S. Government Shut Down … this is scary

As the United States Government sends more than 800,000 “non-essential” employees home today due to the politically created standoff in Washington D.C., more than 2,500 of those sent packing are in fact not only essential, but critical to the safety of anyone getting on an airplane, or on the ground with a plane flying overhead….

Santa’s New Delivery Logistics & How They Impact You

As Christmas Eve approaches for North America this seems like an appropriate time to discuss the logistics that make Santa Claus’ annual flight possible and how North Pole International Air Cargo, d/b/a Santa Claus Express Ltd have been revolutionizing their present delivery logistics.   Operations at Santa’s North Pole Workshop, located at the North Pole…

Reader Mail : Airlines Use Tape To Fix Planes?

Today’s reader mail addresses something many passengers notice, but tend to not think about … seemingly everyday items that are not what they appear when seen on board an aircraft.  This reader mail was spawned by today’s earlier blog post, Alaska Airlines’ Internal Note On An External Wing, and comes from Andrea J., in Manitoba,…

Reader Mail : What Are The Low Airplane N-Numbers?

This morning I received an email from Melissa Miles, of New York, enquiring about aircraft with low N-Numbers … an interesting question indeed. In Melissa’s email she asked, “I have been traveling recently and spotted a few airplanes with N numbers that were very low. Who owns these planes? I didn’t know an airplane could…

Breaking News : FAA Releases Santa One Flight Plan

Santa Claus has a dedicated team working all year at his North Pole Workshop and at the North Pole International Sleighport. Santa’s operations are complex, his elves need to handle toy research, materials sourcing, health care, child profiling, public relations, security, buildings & facilities, dining services, among other required departments to make sure Christmas goes…

Should The Gov’t Get Involved In Baggage Fees?

The airline industry is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the world, despite the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-504).     Nearly every aspect of an airline’s operations are subject to regulation … but airlines are free to charge what they’d like for fares and services, provided they do not…

Who Regulates Passenger Baggage? Well…no one really

Baggage questions, will they ever stop? No, probably not.   Each week Flying With Fish probably receives more email regarding baggage issues than anything else. Checked baggage, carry on baggage, carry-on sizes, checked baggage weight … and frequently readers want to know who to complain to.  Those seeking to complain to “the authorities” generally are…

The Ninth Anniversary Of The TSA In Airports

Nine years ago today aviation security around the world changed … and not necessarily for the better. Nine years ago today the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) took over passenger screening in airports from private security contractors in the United States. On the 12th of February 2002 airport security in the United States was overseen by…