An American Airlines flight from Miami to LaGuardia Sunday night was canceled due to the passengers' collective rudeness. Fox 5 has it that a flight crew was so late getting to the plane that upon arrival they were greeted with raucous booing from the impatient passengers. So the crew decided to teach the rabble a lesson in manners and refused to work the flight for the “hostile mob.” A replacement flight crew could not be......

American Airlines is cutting five American and 37 American Eagle flights from LaGuardia airport starting in September, as part of the airline's attempt to control costs in the wake of rising fuel prices. American will also be cutting dozens of American and American Eagle flights at its hubs in Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth. Among the cutbacks is the termination of American Eagle operations in Albany, prompting Governor David Paterson to ask the airline to "take......

Yesterday, American Airlines started charging customers $15 for the first checked bag, a controversial but necessary move given rising oil prices (American, like many other airline carriers, also charges $25 for the second checked bag). Though full fare, gold/platinum frequent fliers, first and business class customers, are exempt from the fee, American expects 25% of its customers to be affected by the charge. And those fliers were not happy. One traveler at LaGuardia told the......

With oil prices rising higher and higher (they rose above $135/barrel yesterday), American Airlines says, starting June 15, it will charge passengers $15 for the first checked bag. A few months ago, American and other airlines followed United in charging $25 for a second checked bag and since these fees are one-way only, if you're bringing two checked bags, that's another $80 you'll have to add to your airline ticket. It is likely other airlines......

Photograph of American Airlines ticket holders at Laguardia Airport yesterday by Frances Roberts/AP American Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights today, causing more chaos for its would-be passengers. NY1 reported lines looked less messy today, suggesting people called ahead. But yesterday, it was a terrible mess. From NY1:"It's a little irritating that they are offering coffee to everybody, in exchange I'm missing a whole day of meetings in Texas," said one traveler. "I don't......

American Airlines canceled 500 flights in order to inspect its MD-80 planes. Two weeks ago, American had canceled hundreds of flights for inspections for this issue, but on Monday, the FAA found issues, which American says are "related to detailed, technical compliance issues and not safety-of-flight issues." The concern is over a bundle of wires in the plane's wheel wells (the landing gear could damage the wires, then affecting the backup hydraulic systems). More cancellations......

American Airlines refuted a family's claims that a Brooklyn woman died because of faulty equipment and attention. The airline's spokesman said, "American Airlines, after investigation, has determined that oxygen was administered on the aircraft, and it was working." Carine Desir, a nurse who was flying from Haiti back to NYC with her brother and cousin, started to feel thirsty and later had trouble breathing. According to her cousin Antonio Oliver, they asked for oxygen which......

On Friday, a woman traveling from Haiti to New York City died on the American Airlines flight. Her cousin say the crew initially refused to give her oxygen and that when they did, the oxygen tanks were empty and the defibrillator wasn't working. Carine Desir, who lives in Brooklyn and is a nurse, "collapsed an hour into the flight." She was traveling with her brother Joel Desir and cousin Antonio Oliver, who tried to get......

Workers are almost done dismantling the 317 feet long, 23 feet wide stained-glass exterior to the American Airlines’ vacant Terminal 8 building. The red, blue and white wall, comprised of 900 panes of glass, was designed by artist Robert Sowers and was completed in 1960; at the time it was the world’s largest stained-glass window and the first to heavily incorporate stained glass in a secular building, an aesthetic that soon became fashionable. The 48-year-old......

MOVIE: If you've never seen anything from Matthew Barney's Cremaster series, then cancel all plans tonight because you've got new ones. Barney's Cremaster 2 is screening tonight (no need to see these films in order), and you will be visually dazzled. While it's not plot-heavy, the Guggenheim describes it as "a gothic Western that introduces conflict into the system." 8pm // Austrian Cultural Forum [11 East 52nd St] // Free THEATER: Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935......

Photo by Alastair Muir. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 black and white spy thriller The 39 Steps has been given a vividly colorful stage adaptation by a troupe of four British actors who’ve brought their madcap show to Broadway after an award-winning run on the West End. Adapted from a 1915 novel by John Buchan, the movie concerns the dashing but vague Richard Hannay, who gets ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse after shots......

The Dept. of Homeland Security is funding the installation of a number of anti-missile defense systems on commercial jets flying in and out of JFK Airport. The tests are the third stage of testing of a system that is already used by military aircraft. The defense system consists of equipment affixed to the bottom of the aircraft that electronically jams the heat-seeking component of shoulder filed missiles. The latter are referred to as man......

Yesterday, people gathered for the sixth anniversary of the fatal American Airlines Flight 587 crash in Belle Harbor, Queens. It was the second deadlist aviation crash in U.S. history, with 265 victims. Mayor Bloomberg led the ceremony, saying, "Once again, we have come together to remember all of them, and to share the sorrow that all of us feel." On November 12, 2001, the Dominican Republic-bound plane had taken off from JFK Airport; turbulent air......

Queens prosecutors announced yesterday that a teenager acting as a drug mule was arrested at JFK airport on Tuesday. Anthony Cruz, 16, was stopped by customs officials as he arrived on an American Airlines flight from Santiago in the Dominican Republic. X-rays of his body revealed 80 balloons of heroin with a total weight of 988 grams (nearly 1 kilo and more than 2 pounds). According to officials, the heroin was worth $500,000. Richard Brown,......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: two pedestrians struck at 71st St. and Northern Blvd. in Queens, a shooting at St. John's Pl. in Brooklyn, and a collapse at 52nd St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan. Someone stole the "diamond dress" that Carol Channing wore during her stage run in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," from an unattended luggage cart. The $150,000 dress was about to be donated to the Smithsonian Museum. Annheuser Busch is moving a......

There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and......

Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a new campaign, Just Ask The Locals, "the City's first-ever five-borough marketing and advertising campaign to make visitors feel more welcome, thank them for visiting, and help them navigate New York City." The Mayor made the announcement at the new American Airlines terminal at JFK and said, "New Yorkers have always been welcoming and friendly, but not enough people around the world know it. So now we're going the extra mile......

A bizarre story: A cleaning crew found a loaded ammo clip in a seat-back pocket aboard an American Airlines jet at JFK Airport last month. Yes, a clip with 26 bullets, apparently for a Glock, was found, and investigators don't think it's from a sky marshal. Which means someone managed to get a clip aboard a plane when ammunition is not allowed. And we were worried about saline solution and lip balm a couple months......

Yesterday morning, Mayor Bloomberg dedicated a memorial for American Airlines Flight 587, which crashed on November 12, 2001 in Belle Harbor, Queens. The Dominican Republic-bound plane had taken off from JFK Airport; turbulent air led the co-pilot to use the rudder to keep the plane up, but the rudder broke off. All 260 people on board - 251 passengers and 9 crew members - were killed when the plane crashed into the quiet residential......

Family members protested at Ground Zero, asking that Mayor Bloomberg involve the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) in the renewed search for remains from September 11, 2001. Local politicians like Representative Carolyn Maloney and City Councilman Alan Gerson support the families, but Mayor Bloomberg feels it's the "city's responsibility. We're not going to walk away from our responsibility and let somebody else bear the pressure of the work." The families argue that in spite......

There's a bizarre, perhaps "only in the skies," story in this New Yorker's Talk of the Town. During aan American Airlines filght from Paris' Charles de Gaulle to JFK Airport, a gay couple was asked to stop kissing/touching by a stewardess. The stewardess claimed that the purser wanted George Tsikhiseli and Stephan Varnier to stop "the touching and the kissing." The couple was shocked, as were neighboring passengers and fellow New Yorkers. Tsikhiseli and Varnier,......

- Seriously, why does it seem like public libraries are always closed? The News investigates. - Today was the Singaporean Chili Crab Festival in Brooklyn. Yum. - The Times ponders the sudden building boom in our city's cultural institutions. Check out the slideshow if you like architectural porn. - The strike is over at American Girl Place. - Busted! A Parks Department worker was caught after stealing a woman's watch while she was sitting......

There's a pretty depressing article in the NY Times about the destruction of a stained glass wall at JFK Airport's Terminal 8. American Airlines is expanding the terminal, and since saving the 317-foot by 23-foot abstract red, blue and white stained glassed wall by Robert Sowers will cost $1 million to take down, American decided to demolish it. And what will become of the 30,000 tiles? The NY Times reports American will "use some of......

Have you ever been on a plane and felt like something brush your feet, but you just convinced yourself it was the AC or someone else's bag? Well, it might have been something more. Seventeen mice were found on an American Airlines plane that regularly flies between NY and Los Angeles, spurring the debate, which town has some pests? And while mice are tiny and cute, they had been chewing through wires and were building......

If you ever thought it sucked that New York had so many airports in the area, just imagine how grateful the people on American Airlines flight 321 were yesterday when they were forced to land due to engine problems. Shortly after taking off from LaGuardia, the Chicago bound flight had issues with its right engine. An American spokesperson said that only a few minutes into the flight, an indicator warned of an oil filter problem.......

We were walking downtown to the office today when one of those big red tourist buses nearly ran us over (as usual!) Just as we were about to begin screaming obscenities, it hit us: the Gray Line has tons of buses, and they are running all over the city right now! For instance, their classic tour costs $50 for two days of hop-on hop-off privileges, and the buses complete a three-hour loop around the......

This might be a blow to using computer printed airplane itineraries: A man managed to get onto a plane using only a print itin over the weekend. Danis Ballard was only removed from a Miami-bound American Airlines flight when the flight attendants realized there was an extra person on board. Apparently Ballard had inquired about buying a ticket earlier, but didn't, simply receiving "an itinerary on paper stock similar to what is used for boarding......

On November 12, 2001, as New York was still reeling from 9/11, American Airlines Flight 587 to the Dominican Republic took off and then crashed into the Rockaways. The crash killed all 260 people aboard the plane and five people on the ground. Yesterday, nearly four years later, the city released six proposals for a memorial. The proposals were selected out of 68 that were submitted. Two things about the memorial are certain: it......

Newsday reports that an autopsy was found to be inconclusive as to why a man died on a flight from LA to NYC's JFK Airport. The man, 48 year-old William Lee, had been "forcibly restrained" after he angrily demanded a beer. American Airlines said Lee had ordered two beers and a vodka already, and Lee shouted at the attendants to be served immediately. When he was told he would not be served, he demanded to......

The airlines are being friendly with Hurricane Ivan rescheduling...but what about The Tropical Depression Formerly Known as Ivan? Gothamist has a 9:30 PM flight to Indianapolis tonight, and TWC is calling for rain starting around lunchtime, with potential thunderstorms joining the party at 4. The airline I'm flying doesn't have a ton of weather information on their site--basically a syndicated happy map of the USA with some clouds and suns, and a link to Meteorlogix,......