Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the day Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the Fourteenth Street bridge on takeoff from Washington’s National Airport. On January 13, 1982, seventy-eight passengers, motorists, and crew members died with only a Air Florida itself didn’t survive the disaster, which was attributed failures in safety protocols associated with deicing.…
Visual representations being perhaps the best…the most efficient way to show what might go on is USAToday’s Merger Analysis, summarizing the pros and cons. US Airways has upped its offer for Delta by nearly twenty percent, and Delta continues to oppose takeover. However, although it has pushed ahead with its reorganization plan as a standalone…
USAToday reported the other day on the loss of service in St. Louis. Over the last decade, commercial airline departures have dropped nearly fifty percent. St. Louis has two airports: St. Louis – Lambert International Airport, the main airport, a former TWA hub and a focus city for American Airlines, and MidAmerica Airport, opened in…
United is considering reducing service once more at Miami International Airport. United was once the second-largest carrier there after American Airlines, the current dominant carrier, and even competed to Latin America, with flights as far south as Brazil and Argentina. At the height of service in 1993, they had 45 daily flights from Miami. United…
The holiday season is always full of craziness. We thought we’d update you on the security insanity of the holiday season. A US Airways passenger was charged with interfering with a flight crew after he unknowingly slapped a federal air marshal on a flight from Washington to Ft. Myers. The man threw a temper tantrum…
USA Today reports that the FAA has issued a 296-page regulation update which will allow the newest generation of airplanes to fly virtually any route. Currently, airplanes must often fly indirect routes as part of safety measures that require them to be a certain distance from an emergency diversion airport at all times. Over the…
USA Today reported that United has won the China bid, beating out Continental, American, and Northwest. The service will begin March 25, from Washington-Dulles to Beijing, China, operated with a three-class Boeing 747 aircraft. Next year, US carriers will be able to apply for another set of flights of China. This new bid will not…
Jetblue Airways announced in a press release today that effective May 3, 2007, it would inaugurate service to San Francisco International Airport, complimenting its service to Oakland and San Jose. Jetblue offers service from San Jose to Boston and New York City and from Oakland to Boston, New York City, Long Beach, Washington-Dulles, and Ft.…
Oneida County Airport in Utica, NY has closed. The county airport will now be operated out of the former Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, which closed as a military base in 1993. Griffiss is now a business and technology park. As part of the move, the airport has been refurbished. Empire Aero Center, which…
The Associated Press reports that a woman has filed a wrongful death suit against Jetblue, claiming that an in-flight crew ignored her husband after he suffered a fatal heart attack during a flight nearly two years ago. The timing of the claim seems rather suspicious to us, as the incident occurred on Febuary 16, 2005,…
As of January 31st, Varig will be removed from the Star Alliance because it no longer operates a major global network, which is one of the membership requirements. The Brazilian carrier has had a bad year and has greatly reduced its network. For the Star Alliance, that means it will be the only one of…
The Embraer 190, popular as the second aircraft model used by low-cost carrier Jetblue, has recently been added to the US Airways fleet. The 190 will be operated as a mainline jet, with 11 first class seats and 88 in coach. It will be serving niche markets too large for a regional jet and that…
And people say that air service in the United States is bad…Reuters reports that China’s civil aviation authority is asking fliers to stop complaining about domestic air travel there. They hope to “increase consumers’ understanding about the special nature of the civil aviation industry, so that together we can create a cosier, more harmonious aviation…
Seat Guru is a website that shows maps of the airplane configuration of many different airlines. It provides advice on the best seats and features of various aircraft. It is much more detailed than the websites of the various carriers its references. Thus, it is a very useful resource.
We just love that title, which is the title of a blog entry on cosmicvariance.com. Cosmic Variance is a blog by four physicists with their perspective on not just their jobs, but their time outside them. We also have no love for Orbitz and the other online consolidators. They are not interested in helping the…
USAToday reported last month on the results of a DOT study that was the first review of airline customer service since 2001. The report acknowledges improved performance by the airlines, and a partial recovery from the problems created in a post 9/11 environment. Auditors for the Inspect General spent the last year examining how airlines…
There has been a lot of talk about Frequent Flyer programs of late…especially considering the issues in redeeming, since more and more people are accumulating mileage through credit cards, and the airlines are offering fewer seats and raising the amount of miles needed to acquire them. First of all, a frequent flyer ticket isn’t actually…
The Consumerist brought to our attention a story of schedule changes. in this case, American contacted the passenger to rebook due to a schedule change. The new itinerary caused a change of airline from Swiss to SN Brussels. The passenger asked if they needed new paper tickets and were told no. When they arrived for…
Reuters reports that airlines can no longer hold but not use takeoff and landing slots at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The FAA released a temporary plan effective in 2007 that continues strict limits until a permanent plan is implemented. Under the temporary plan, the FAA will maintain the hourly limit of seventy-five takeoffs and landings…
Delta announced today they have signed a memo of understanding for Montana-based Big Sky Airlines to operate Delta Connection service beginning next year. Big Sky, a subsidiary of MAIR Holdings, which also owns Northwest Airlink carrier Mesaba, will begin by operating eight 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D turboprops on short-haul routes. The routes will be announced sometime…
American Airlines announced today it would be adding more mainline service to its St. Louis focus city. American took over focus operations in the city when it absorbed TWA, which maintained a hub there. Beginning April 10th, service to Austin will feature round trips with one mainline jet and one regional jet. Service to Raleigh-Durham…
The San Francisco Chronicle predicts that while airlines are upgrading seats and in-flight services…higher fares, hotel rates, and car rental rates will mark the year ahead in travel. The Travel Industry of America predicts only a half a percent of growth in domestic airline passenger traffic, and 5.5 percent growth for international traffic. U.S. Airlines,…
Today in the Sky reports that Air France is being sued by a passenger who says he was “shocked” and “humiliated” after the airline told him he was too big to fit in one seat and would have to purchase another. Many airlines have policies for overweight passengers that require the purchase of such a…
Denver International Airport was closed Wednesday night due to severe winter conditions, forcing a thousand travellers to stay there overnight, USA Today reports. Airport officials provided several hundred cots and blankets as airport hotels were booked and the main road to downtown Denver was closed. Most airlines canceled their flights in and out of Denver.…
The BBC reports that a Pakistani judge has ruled there is not enough evidence to try a key suspect in an alleged airline bomb plot. The arrest of Rashid Rauf in Pakistan triggered the arrests of subjects in the United Kingdom and set off the liquid terror scare this past August. His lawyer says police…