Results tagged “airline”

There's been much debate about how to handle overweight passengers on flights. While some airlines may charge for an extra seat, not all do — and now a flight attendant allegedly snapped a photo on an American Airlines flight (destination and take-off point unknown), which of course has been leaked to the press.

One more incident like this and Delta is going to get a reputation. Just weeks after a mouse was found on board one of their planes, causing an evacuation and serious delay... it's happened again!

Since December 2007, the Department of Transportation—under the Bush administration—was proposing to auction off airline take off and landing times, many criticized the plan, most vocally Senator Chuck Schumer, who said, "Selling these slots to the highest bidder would be an onerous sky tax, plain and simple." Now, the DOT (under Obama) has decided to cancel the idea, based on the criticism from lawmakers, agencies (like the Port Authority) and airlines alike. The plan was well-intentioned, because the DOT was trying to address congestion at the three area airports, but the waning economy help kill the plan. Transportation Secretary Roy LaHood said, "We're still serious about tackling aviation congestion in the New York region. I'll be talking with airline, airport and consumer stakeholders, as well as elected officials, over the summer about the best ways to move forward." The International Air Transport Association said it was happy about the outcome, but added, "It is a shame the government and industry had to waste 16 months debating this ill-conceived plan."

Our Amtrak-loving vice president was his usual chatty, off-the-cuff self when speaking on the Today Show. Politico reports, "Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would not recommend taking any commercial flight or riding in a subway car 'at this point' because swine flu virus can spread 'in confined places.' A little more than one hour later, Biden rushed out a statement backing off his stern warning a bit."

In the wake of America's first fatal airline accident in 30 months, the Times takes a look at how the FAA has responded to other crashes over the years. Perhaps unsurprisingly, reporter Matthew Wald's tour of the FAA sausage factory concludes that the bureaucracy is a tad "cumbersome." The National Transportation Safety Board, which advises the FAA on regulations, currently cites 429 "outstanding recommendations" which have still not been acted on by the FAA. 146 of them are more than five years old, such as a proposed fix for the malfunction that caused the explosion of T.W.A. Flight 800 (pictured) over Long Island in 1996, which investigators concluded was caused by an electrical flaw in the fuel tank. (Many others have speculated that a shoulder-fired missile took down the plane.) After some 12 years of debate about a solution, the FAA now reports that airlines should finally have the problem fixed... in another eight years.

U.S. Airways is real sorry about that plane crash in the Hudson River, and since they know the surviving passengers are probably eager to board an airplane again, they've given them a whole year of free upgrades! But some among the lucky 150 say that's not good enough, and they should be able to fly first class on U.S. Airways for the duration of their lives.

Like Starbucks baristas before them, airline workers are going back to school...or at least mandatory training sessions. JFK airport is gearing up for a busy summer of travel, and they're preparing to meet delays and frustrated airline passengers head-on, and with a happy face.