NTSB releases findings on Southwest Flight 2294

Southwest responded to the NTSBs findings on the incident on Flight 2294 last July. For those of you who don’t recall, that was the aircraft that made a landing in Charleston, WV when a hole suddenly opened up in the fuselage. The photos at the time were disconcerting for anyone who flies. After all, we like to think of planes as solid objects, but they are metal tubes that we put under pressure.

More of JFK’s Terminal Planning

We talked not long ago about the end of the Worldport at JFK. But it appears that American is set to counter Delta’s new expansion with its own. Even though it completed a multi-year megaterminal project at JFK which consolidated its operations from two terminals to one and was completed in 2007. American is talking about expanding its terminal make room for OneWorld Alliance members British Airways and Iberia.

Followup: Air France Dispute

Last week, we talked about a man who had written us over his dispute with Air France. You can find that story here. This week, he sent us a followup, so we thought we would revisit the issue. It included a letter from the manager of customer care for Air France-USA as well as our reader’s response.

Steven Slater is Not a Hero

Steven Slater has become something of a cult hero in the last twenty four hours. Someone even wrote a song about it. But why? It is normal to have dreams of quitting their job, telling off one’s boss. It is a form of stress relief. The behavior of Mr. Slater is, to quote Henry Harteveldt of Forrester Research, is “an insult to hard-working professional flight attendants on all airline worldwid

Ted Stevens Dies in Plane Crash in Alaska

The NY Times is reporting that former Senator Ted Stevens has died in a small plane crash in Alaska last night. Five of the nine people onboard the DeHavilland DHC-3T are reported to have perished. The plane was on its way to a lodge near Lake Aleknagik. The North American head of operations for EADS and former administrator of NASA, Sean O’Keefe, was also onboar

Demolishing Worldport to Put Up a Parking Lot

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has approved demolition of Terminal 3 at JFK and the overhaul of Terminal 4. Terminal 4 will be expanded with nine additional gates, which Delta will move into, occupying 16 out of 25 total gates, after which Terminal 3 will be demolished to provide 16 aircraft parking spaces. They will also be expanding T4’s international baggage hall and customs facilities to accommodate the increased traffic.

Skywest to Buy ExpressJet

Remember ExpressJet and its attempt to sell service under its own brand? Or perhaps you remember them through their relationship with Continental?
Well, now, SkyWest has announced that Atlantic Southeast Airlines, one of its brands, will buy ExpressJet. The new acquisition will be based at ASA’s home in Atlanta and will continue to serve both United and Continental hubs…probably good because both are merging themselves.

Spirit Airlines Pilots Going Back to Work

We didn’t say much about the Spirit Airlines pilot strike, but part of that has been our silence in general of late. Things have been crazy here. But today, the strike is over…unofficially. The Airline has said flights will resume on Friday. The strike grounded Spirit Airlines for five days. The airline carries roughly 16,000 passengers a day, which is 1 percent of the domestic market.