The Transportation Security Administration exists. The TSA has a blog at blog.tsa.gov. The stated purpose of the blog is to “facilitate an ongoing dialogue on innovations in security, technology and the checkpoint screening process.” The demonstrated purpose of said blog is for the TSA to congratulate itself on its detection of contraband, and belittle or…
Ikea has set up shop in several interesting places over the years. Â It was only a few years ago that Ikea set up shop at Washington’s Union Station to make its bid to redecorate the Oval Office. Now, Ikea is at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport(CDG). In Terminal 3, you can tour nine bedrooms, a…
One of the side effects of increased checked bag charges is that more people are trying to cram all of their items into their carry-ons. Spirit Air tried to address this by charging for carry-on bags, but we like a new program by Wizz Air. Passengers who try to sneak bags past onto the plane…
In the airline industry, the passenger name record(PNR), is a single record in a computer reservation system that contains a single reservation for one or more passengers. The problem is that PNRs have no memory. They represent one trip. They do not represent the passenger’s relationship with the airline. For that, in the 80s, airlines…
From the Editor When I first started with Flight Wisdom, we had a very different conception of what it would be. At the end of this month, we celebrate our six year anniversary. The first post was dated July 29, 2006. We started out wanting to do an information site with a blog attached, which…
On Friday, June 29th, the TSA issued another of their blog posts, entitled Travelling with Crematory Remains. It seemed like an innocuous, yet random blog post. But it was yet another example of the TSA sidestepping controversy and not addressing their critics unless there is an opportunity to belittle those critics. On June 19th, John…
We’ve been contemplating this for a few days now. It is hard to go through TSA stories. Our opinion on the matter has been expressed before. Last week, the Associated Press reported that 88-year old Henry Kissenger, former Secretary of State, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and man who wears a brace and thus cannot remove…
Every week, Bob Burns of the TSA Blog Team posts the TSA’s Week in Review and we cringe. Bob’s method of recounting these stories isn’t the narrative of stopping terrorists. In the majority of these cases, the truth is they haven’t found anyone malicious, they’ve found a foolish person. “A passenger at John Wayne Airport…
Last week, we reported on how Spirit Airlines would not even refund the money of a dying veteran. After a week of criticism, Ben Baldanza, CEO of Spirit Airlines, issued a press release. He didn’t apologize for the company’s policy so much as apologize for failing to explain why being rigid and inflexible allows them…
Jerry Meekins is on a mission to change the No Refund Policy of Spirit Airlines. Meekins recently purchased a ticket on Spirit, and subsequently was diagnosed with Terminal Cancer. It was his expectation, that under the circumstances, Spirit might make an exception of return his money. Spirit responded that it wouldn’t be fair to bend…
The last vestige of the Cookie, Midwest Airlines, is dying. Bad enough that Frontier Airlines, which swallowed Midwest, is slowly eliminating their routes, their hubs in Milwaukee and Kansas City, but now the most unique thing about Midwest…the symbol of care…a cookie baked fresh in the back of the plane, dies May 1st. “The company…
Blogger Bob Burns of the TSA reports that an unnamed intrepid agent successfully utilized the TSA’s enhanced pat down procedure to discover between 1000 and 2000 Ecstasy pills that had been secreted in the traveler’s underwear. The explosive discovery was made at LAX. No doubt, the discovery of a hidden, illegal, but not dangerous object,…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="People Express Airlines (1986) (Photo credit: Hunter-Desportes)"][/caption] PEOPLExpress is back…well, the name is, at least. The new PEOPLExpress is a low-cost carrier with a mission statement to serve markets currently underserved by major carriers. Despite the fact it has not even filed with the DOT to become a scheduled airline, they…
On Friday, Malev ceased operation. Late that night and into Saturday morning, fourteen Boeing 737 aircraft, leased from the International Lease Finance Corporation, were flown to Shannon, Ireland. Malev operated eighteen 737s, seventeen of which were leased from ILFC. The first of the aircraft to leave Budapest flew a solemn lap around the airport and…
Last week, Spanair ceased operations after 25 years. The airline had been looking for a takeover partner to ensure operations, but was unable to do so and the government withdrew the funding support it had been giving the airline. Today, after 65 years, state-owned Malev Hungarian Airlines ceased operations as the government withdrew financing. The…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="LaGuardia Airport - Queens, New York (Photo credit: Dougtone)"][/caption] When they knocked down the former National Airlines terminal at New York’s Kennedy Airport, we bemoaned the fact nothing could be done to save part of this unique structure. When they knocked down the back of the old TWA terminal, and fortunately…
We were disturbed by reports today that two British travelers were questioned, detained, and deported by the Department of Homeland Security, allegedly because of two tweets. Leigh Van Bryan and Emily Bunting say they were questioned for hours, detained, placed in a cell with violent criminals who stole their food, and finally sent back to…
We’ve long been fans of Kayak.com, though we have to admit that as of late, increased clutter and unreliability or lack of JetBlue results have had us using the site less often. Like most comparison sites, Kayak uses ITA software’s technology. ITA was purchased by Google last year, amid much fear that Google would use…
[caption id="attachment_1703" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Interior of Virgin America A320"][/caption] A few weeks ago, we commented on the ban on portable electronics. The truth is, in terms of the FAA’s stated rationale, there is little evidence presented that indicates the majority of electronics have any effect on aircraft systems. But, the other reason, the one not…
Having never flown Alaska Airlines, it was news to us that for 30 years, together with their meals, the airline has distributed prayer cards featuring serene color pictures and verses from the Book of Psalms. Now we’ll never have a chance to get one, as the airline announced that it will stop distributing the cards…
The Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is the 22nd busiest in the United States- and it’s about to get busier. On Monday, a ground-breaking ceremony was heldat the airport, marking the beginning of a $791 million runway expansion project. A princely sum, indeed, but the project which will lengthen an existing secondary runway from 5,276 to…
For the second time in a week, the Earth has been hit by a coronal mass ejectionin the most severe solar storm since 2003. The increased radiation from the charged particles of the storm which can interfere with communications is strongest near the poles where the ozone layer is thinnest. The additional radiation poses little…
43 year old Adam Blumenkranz of Los Angeles was arrested at Newark’s Liberty Airport Monday after he was discovered smoking marijuana in airport restroom on JetBlue flight 510 from Fort Lauderdale to Newark. Blumenkranz, who was somehow unaware that smoking of any kind is prohibited on aircraft, tried to show his medicinal marijuana card to…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Image by Getty Images via @daylife"][/caption] After his son, Senator Rand Paul, was detained and denied boarding for refusing an invasive pat-down, Representative Ron Paul issued a sharply-worded statement promising to eliminate the TSA should he be elected President “The police state in this country is growing out of control,” the…
All was normal aboard American Airlines Flight 980 from Brazil to Miami. Then, two hours into the eight hour flight, with food service underway, the plane suddenly lurched violently. The unexpected turbulencesent a food cart flying, damaging the ceiling and landing on and injuring a flight attendant. In all, six members of the flight crew…