- Qatar Airways will be launching a national advertising campaign in the United States today, with service to New York on June 26th, and to Washington on July 19th.
- Continental Airlines will be moving up the start of Newark to Mumbai service to October 1st due to positive market response to the proposed flights.
- Aer Lingus will be moving up the start date of its Washington-Dulles to Dublin service to August 6th. Aer Lingus is set to inaugurate two other routes this year…Orlando and San Francisco. Response to the upcoming routes has been positive. Flights will be available for sale online soon.
- Delta will be expanding in Los Angeles. Delta was once the dominant carrier at LAX, and is looking to reestablish its position by operating a hub to Asia and Latin America. Effective July 1st, Delta will add service, operated by Expressjet using its fleet of ERJ-145s with free XM satellite radio and memory foam seating. There will be once daily service to Boise, Spokane, and Vancouver; two additional daily flights to Oakland(total of four), Sacramento(total of four), and San Francisco(total of six); four daily flights to Denver, Phoenix, and San Jose. Expressjet will be responsible for pricing and revenue management on the route, limiting Delta’s risk.
- A box cutter found onboard a United flight from Denver to Dallas on Tuesday delayed the departure of the aircraft for nearly two hours. The passengers and plane were rescreened before it was allowed to depart.
- Fumes forced the evacuation of the control tower at Dulles airport to a backup facility on Tuesday.
- For a quick laugh, the Consumerist has a link to a humorous SNL video on Youtube about the absurdity of the liquid and gel ban. Did we ever tell you about the time the TSA wanted us to taste our container of tuna fish to make sure it wasn’t potentially dangerous? Or the secondary security screening over a salami?
- The Consumer also has a report that a TSA inspector stole $265 in birthday money from the suitcase of a 12-year old boy. San Diego Airport does not have security cameras watching its luggage inspectors, so there is no evidence. TSA inspectors are supposed to leave tags in the bag with their inspection number…however…this time they did not(probably because they were committing a crime). Just remember…never leave any valuables in your suitcase. We are impressed though…we wish our relatives were so generous at birthday time.
- Airtran’s inaugural flight to St. Louis was on Tuesday, offering service to Atlanta and Orlando.
- A 397-foot mural was recently installed at the new American Airlines terminal at New York’s JFK airport. We miss the old glass installation, a fixture at JFK. The new mural, by Matteo Pericoli, is called “Skyline of the World” and combines lesser-known architectural works with well-known landmarks from New York, as well as some 70 other cities around the world — landmarks that the natives of those cities and experienced global travelers will recognize and appreciate. It is believed to be the largest mural in an airport anywhere in the world.
- Delta has partnered with US Helicopter to offer new service from the Midtown and Downtown Heliports to Gate 11, Terminal 3 at JFK Airport. Passengers will be screened at the heliports and their baggage through checked. Tickets will be available for purchase from Delta effective May 31st and through US Helicopter itself at its website. Service begins May 14th.
- US Helicopter has also signed an agreement with Sabre to make their fares and inventory available for sale to Sabre subscribers. They will be able to issue interline etickets with Delta and Continental, and no doubt other airlines as time passes.
- Copa Airlines will begin new service from Panama to Cordoba, Argentina effective August 15th.
- The Coalition for Luggage Security is being annoying again, reminding people of the 1985 Air India disaster and repeating its urge to ship luggage separately from passengers.