Updated August 2026 Flying with a baby creates an odd combination of airline rules. A child under two may be able to fly across the country on your lap without buying another seat. Put the same family on an international flight and the infant may need a ticket, taxes, fees or a percentage of the…
Updated August 2026 Youth fares are not dead. They are much less common among U.S. airlines than they once were, but several airlines still sell real age-based fares in 2026. United offers a young-adult discount to eligible passengers ages 18 through 23. Air France and KLM have youth fares for travelers ages 12 through 24.…
Last week, JetBlue—long dealt a blow by the collapse of its Spirit acquisition—proved it’s not down for the count. With summer travel demand stronger than expected, the airline raised its third-quarter guidance and is starting to deliver results under its JetForward strategy. We don’t always talk about airlines from the perspective of profitability on…
The Embraer E190: A Regional Jet with Big Ambitions The Embraer E190 was launched in the early 2000s as part of the Brazilian manufacturer’s ambitious E-Jet family. The aircraft first flew in March 2004, and Embraer went on to build 568 first-generation E190s for carriers around the world. With around 100 seats, the E190…
Updated August 2026 If you fly United regularly, a handful of airports keep appearing in your itineraries: Chicago, Denver, Houston, Newark, San Francisco and Washington Dulles in particular. That is no accident. United builds its network around hubs, airports where flights arrive from many different cities and feed passengers onto another wave of departures. United…
When Security Ate the Terminals Airports weren’t designed for many of the realities of the modern age. In the 1970s, they had to shoehorn in the first metal detectors for people and carry-on bags. After 9/11, entire swaths of departure halls were consumed by ever-expanding checkpoints. The old terminals bent under the pressure. Corridors twisted,…
Updated August 2026 If your American Airlines itinerary seems determined to send you through Dallas, Charlotte or Miami, there is a reason. American builds its network around a small number of airports where flights from many different cities arrive in waves, exchange passengers and head back out again. American Airlines currently describes its U.S. network…
Should I Buy Frontier’s GoWild! Pass? A Traveler’s Musings (2026–2027 Edition) Every so often, an airline offer lands that seems too wild to ignore. Frontier’s latest GoWild! All-You-Can-Fly Annual Pass is one of those—$299 for nearly two years of (almost) unlimited flights, including U.S., Caribbean, and Latin American destinations. The catch? You must book…
Skip the Shoe Shuffle: TSA Goes Touchless and Shoeless This August Major upgrades are reshaping the TSA’s airport screening process—making travel smoother and more efficient this summer. From facial recognition lanes to dropping the dreaded shoe removal rule, here’s everything you need to know for your next TSA experience. 1. TSA’s New Touchless PreCheck…
Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy for the second time this year. As you may recall, Spirit had courted Frontier, and later JetBlue for an acquisition. Had the federal government not intervened, JetBlue would have integrated Spirit. Instead, Spirit has failed for the second time this year to get itself out of a hole. It is…
Labor Day Weekend is one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Airports fill up, flights are packed, and the stress of navigating crowds can test even the most seasoned traveler. With record levels of air travellers expected, 2025 is no exception. But with a little preparation and strategy, your trip can be smoother…
What Went Wrong—and How to Prevent It A routine call to United Airlines customer service after a flight cancellation turned into a nightmare for Denver passenger Dan Smoker—who ended up losing $17,000 to a scammer posing as a United-affiliated agent. What exactly went wrong, and how can airlines and call centers avoid similar catastrophes? The…
Most canceled flights have much more ordinary explanations: weather, aircraft problems, crews and air traffic restrictions. See our guide to why flights get canceled and what to do next. Flight disruptions are often blamed on weather, technical glitches, or staffing issues. But some real-life cancellations are downright surreal. Here are eight verified incidents that will…
The Race for Supersonic Travel In the postwar aviation boom of the 1950s and ’60s, commercial air travel evolved at a breathtaking pace. Jetliners like the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 brought high-speed, long-distance flight to the masses. But the next frontier—supersonic transport (SST)—seemed tantalizingly close. The British and French were developing Concorde. The Soviets…
Have you ever stood in a TSA line with a jar of peanut butter, a snow globe, or your grandma’s apple pie packed in your carry-on, wondering if it will make it through security? You’re not alone. Every day, thousands of travelers get stopped at TSA checkpoints for trying to bring items that are restricted,…
JetBlue Expands Boston Routes To New Florida Cities Summer hasn’t even ended yet, but JetBlue is already making your winter a little warmer. If you’re in Boston and already dreading the cold, JetBlue has some good news: starting this December, they’re adding two brand-new nonstop flights from Boston Logan Airport to warm, sunny spots in…
A Model Born in Disruption The ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) was supposed to revolutionize air travel in the United States. Modeled loosely on Ryanair in Europe, ULCCs like Spirit, Frontier, and Allegiant promised rock-bottom base fares by unbundling every possible service: bags, seats, snacks, and even customer service. For a time, it worked. These carriers filled…
A Personal Confession I have a confession to make. Though I have flown hundreds of times, I have never flown on Southwest Airlines(LUV), America’s second largest airline. I never experienced Southwest’s open seating, nor benefited from its free unchecked bags. This is not by design—Southwest has a relatively small presence at my home airport. The…
TSA’s Slow Evolution Finally Accelerates For over two decades, airport security lines in the United States have shared a universal ritual: take off your shoes, pull out your liquids, and hope for the best. It has been inconvenient, undignified, and largely unquestioned. But in July 2025, one of those rituals came to an end—and another…
Updated August 2026 You find a United flight at a price you can live with, but you are not quite ready to buy it. Maybe you are waiting for someone else to confirm the trip, checking vacation dates, or trying to coordinate a hotel. United’s FareLock lets you pay a fee to hold both the…
Delta 4819 Crashes In Toronto After years without serious commercial air incidents, 2025 is not shaping up well. Less than an hour ago, Delta 4819 a CRJ900 operated by Endeavor crashed in Toronto Pearson(YYZ) on its flight from Minneapolis(MSP). Initial footage show the fuselage upside down on a snowy tarmac. The plane seems to…
A partial listing of Aiport Twitter/X accounts are below. Please share others in the comments: Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson(ATL) Baltimore Thurgood Marshall Airport(BWI) Boston Logan(BOS) Charlotte Douglas International Airport(CLT) Chicago O’Hare Airport(ORD) Cincinnati CVG Airport(CVG) Denver International Airport(DEN) DFW Airport(DFW) Miami International Airport(MIA) Memphis International Airport(MEM) Nashville Airport(BNA) Orlando International Airport(MCO) Philadelphia International Airport(PHL) Pittsburgh Airport(PIT) Raleigh-Durham…
It’s been 16 years since a Colgan Air plane crashed on approach to Buffalo, killing 50 in February 2009. Until yesterday, there was not another significant airline crash in the United States since that day. A remarkable safety record, and we find ourselves in a vastly different world now. Twitter was already quite popular then,…
One of the early reactions at this point to the collision at DCA this evening was a comparison to earlier similar situations. Now, because of various safety improvements, two planes hitting each other, outside of runway incursions, has become much rarer. This evening’s flight was operated by PSA Airlines. The current PSA, which operated the…
There are reports of a regional jet and a helicopter colliding in the vicinity of National Airport. A webcam at the Kennedy center appears to have filmed the collision as it occurred. Will continue to update this post as new information is received. The flight was AA5342 inbound from Wichita, a CRJ700 operated by PSA…