Gadling

We're slowly starting to see more stories of airline crews getting fed up and kicking people off flights for using their mobile phones, but none are as controversial as this.

A Texas businessman named Joe Jones was recently arrested following a Southwest Airlines flight on which he refused to get off of his phone prior to landing. Flight attendants had repeatedly asked the man to stop the conversation and turn off his mobile, receiving a "kiss my ass" in return each time they asked. Frustrated, they had state police meet him at the gate, where he continued to make a ruckus.

As his spokesman later explained, however, Jones had just received word that his father's heart had stopped beating and was wildly trying to contact the hospital. Given the life and death situation, he felt it necessary to make the phone calls.

And I can empathize with that situation -- if I knew that my parents were gravely ill and had to call the hospital, I can totally see how I would be trying to call the doctor in panic. My questions are as follows: how did Jones get the message in the first place? Was he on the plane with his phone on when a text came in or did he get the call before he boarded? And isn't interfering with an aircraft landing with your mobile phone signal also a life and death situation?

Think that your seat on the airplane is uncomfortable? It could be worse: you could have been Gokhan Mutlu, a New York man who just filed a lawsuit against Jetblue for making him sit on a toilet for more than three hours of his flight.

Apparently, Mutlu, who was flying on a buddy pass ticket (a free fare), was the last person to get a seat on his recent journey. A flight attendant on a non-revenue ticket was also on the aircraft, but she gave up her real seat to sit in the jumpseat during the flight so that everyone could fit.

But when she got uncomfortable, the pilot came back and asked Mutlu to relinquish his seat, telling him literally to "go hang out" and directing him to the toilet. When he objected, court papers say that the pilot apparently said that "he was the pilot, that this was his plane, under his command [and] that [Mutlu] should be grateful for being on board".

After nearly three hours in the lavatory, a flight attendant returned to tell Mutlu that he could return to his seat, but at that point, my wager is that he was pretty ticked off. The lawsuit was filed for over two million dollars. Jetblue should be glad that he didn't sue for more.

The Nihon Sumo Kyokai Tokyo Grand Sumo Tournament kicked off in Japan this past Sunday, beginning two action packed weeks of Sumo excitement. Naturally, Gadling had room in the travel budget to send a couple of bloggers, so we captured some video from the first round of matches.

If you've never seen real Sumo wrestling in action, it's a pretty fantastic spectacle, complete with everything from traditional salt throwing and the closing bow dance to all of the white people in the only concession stand line that serves hot dogs and popcorn.

The concept is simple: the first man to push the other outside of the ring or (sometimes) off of his feet is the winner. But the delicacies of the game, the tradition surrounding the event, the excitement of the crowd, the roaming wrestlers in the hall and the energy surrounding the entire building are amazing.

If you're ever on holiday in Japan and considered looking into tickets, best pony up the fifty bucks for the cheap upper ring seats -- it's totally worth it.

Happy Cinco De Mayo! In honor of this fifth day of May, we're teaming up with Southwest Airlines to give away a free pair of roundtrip tickets to anywhere they fly.

That's right, whether you want to fly from Albany to Albuquerque for your Aunt Jennie's Apple Pie or Washington DC to West Palm Beach, for cousin Willy's famous four-day Thanksgiving bar crawl, you can cash these tickets in on us.

Tickets are good to redeem up to one year from the contest end with no blackout dates for you and a special friend. Just leave a comment below telling us where you'd like to go should you win the tickets and we'll randomly draw one winner by this Friday. Make sure you give a shout out to our friends at Southwest for providing the tickets for the giveaway as well.

Happy travels from Gadling and Southwest Airlines!

• To enter, simply leave a comment below telling us where you'd like to go should you win the tickets (See a map of where they fly here).
  
• The comment must be left before Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 5PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• One Grand Prize Winner will receive a free pair of roundtrip tickets to anywhere Southwest Airlines flies
  
• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• Tickets are valued at $400.00 per ticket.
• Tickets are fully transferrable, are valid for one year, and are good for travel to any of the 64 cities Southwest serves.
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

If you've been following the airline industry over the past few months, you may have noticed that things aren't going so hot. Several airlines serving niche industries have gone under including Skybus (budget), Oasis Hong Kong (long haul budget) and Eos and Maxjet (business class only).

When the market is tight, niche carriers like above are particularly affected because passengers tend to revert back to the old trustables, legacy carriers that have a lower probability of going out of business and that can provide a sure thing. Effectively, the downturn in the industry creates a secondary problem for the company: in addition to now having to pay high fuel and operating costs, fewer passengers are now generating revenue with which carriers can operate.

Thus defines the problems faced by the half dozen or so carriers that have gone belly up in the last few months, and what is continuing to plague carriers that are still afloat.

Like other carriers, the last remaining business class only airline in operation, Silverjet, has been struggling in the recent market. It was only by a recent injection of $25m by a private United Arab Emirates investor that they've been able to stay afloat.

How long will Silverjet be able to last on this crutch? Will they be able to turn business around and operate with a profit in the current market? Is business-class-only a viable model? Your guess is as good as mine. Stay tuned to find out.

Most people don't think of Detroit when they think of a tourist destination. The city has suffered considerably in the last century – much of the population has moved into the outlying suburbs, crime has surged and empty buildings dot its cold, Michigan skyline.

The last several years have brought significant effort to revitalize the downtown area, however. Led by reconstruction of the Tigers' and Lions' stadiums, several pockets in the inner city are once again starting to flourish. Events like the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) are perennial favorites among visitors while Hockeytown and The Old Shillelagh keep drinkers out late at night.

In addition to the new entertainment percolating in the city, several casinos have invested heavily in the downtown area, with two, the MGM Grand and the Motor City just finishing construction on two new huge, luxury casinos and hotels.

This article focuses on the newly developing Motor City Casino. Check out Gadling's earlier article on the MGM Grand.

Motor City Casino – an introduction

Situated in the heart of Downtown Detroit, Motor City Casino (MCC) and hotel is a commanding structure in the Detroit skyline. Owned by Miriam Illich, the founder of Little Caesars Pizza, MCC is the only casino owned entirely by a woman. Renovations throughout the property are ongoing through beginning of the third quarter, with a new four-star hotel opened late last year and several smaller pockets of construction ongoing.

Gadling will cover the main aspects of the casino in four categories: Gaming, Dining, Nightlife and Hotel.

What happens when you mix a rapidly growing manufacturing economy, unbridled entrepreneurial enthusiasm and uneducated workers? Sweet mistakes like what happened this week in China.

Police in Guangdong, China just raided a factory that was apparently manufacturing "Free Tibet" flags, the same ones that protesters have been flying across the world, at Olympic events and in the face of frustrated Chinese bureaucrats.

Apparently the workers initially didn't know what kind of flags they were making, they just thought that they were making colorful, fun flags for export. After finally getting suspicious, they found out what the Snow Lion flag meant and notified authorities.

Who has the gall to try to manufacture something like that in a communist country? The workers can plead ignorance all they want, but someone had to authorize the order.

Awwwwwkward.

Tax rebates are on the way, with the first deposits inbound as early as Friday (check the schedule here) and Americans are scrambling to figure out how to blow their wad.

I happened to have two weddings to attend over the month of May, so my check will probably be going to wedding presents for the two lucky couples. O Kosta Boda, your uselessness has no end.

Over at CNN.com though, they want you to spend your money on a little R&R. Editors of Southern Living, Coastal Living, Sunset and Cottage Living have cobbled together a list of five "great tax-rebate getaways" where you can spend a portion of your hard-earned rebate on investing back into the economy.

Among their list of top destinations are

• Charleston, South Carolina
• Grand Canyon National Park
• Destin, Florida
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
• San Francisco, California

You can read all about each destination including where to stay and eat at CNN's website. Just make sure you don't do anything CRAZY like pay off bills, credit cards or even (gasp) invest your rebate.

Peter Burkhill, the captain of the British Airways (BA) 777 that crashed just inside of London's Heathrow Airport earlier this years has had some difficult times since the incident. Originally hailed as a hero with co-pilot John Coward, Burkhill has since taken leave for post-traumatic stress, only operating one flight since the incident.

As a result of his leave, BA have reduced his pay to reflect lost flying bonuses and are waiting to circulate him back into the roster after the investigation is complete. Unfortunately, this has taken the airline a substantial amount of time, leaving Burkhill to stand by idly while the bureaucracy plods along. Meanwhile, a few brave souls have questioned his actions in the final seconds of flight 038, saying that he froze during incident and criticizing his methods.

To the contrary, both British Airways and the Air Accident Investigation Board seem to indicate that Burkhill's actions saved the flight from further disaster, but his efforts to expedite the investigation process, clear his name and get BA to publish his good deeds have so far been in vain.

Distraught, the captain has now started considering positions at other carriers. According to Britain's Sunday Mirror, Burkhill sent a personal letter to Richard Branson asking for a position at Virgin and is also considering flying with Emirates. Perhaps these sort of threats will get British Airways to clear up the issue faster.

No.

We wrote about a story originating at MSNBC earlier last week claiming that pilots were being forced to cut corners to conserve costs on fuel. More than a few people were obviously concerned -- contributor Cheryl writes:

"That is a troublesome report at best and a very scary one at worst. What are the airlines waiting for a crash caused by not enough fuel on board when they are put in a holding pattern or can't land either the airport they were planning to and can't land at the nearest one either and then crashes. The FFA needs to get off it's butt and make them do what is right for the public's safetly. Human lives are priceless. All the more reason to drive if you have the time...and it is still cheaper than flying any more even at 4.00 a gallon."

Since the article's publication, however, several pilots have stepped in to comment. Our own Kent Wien, a pilot who writes our Cockpit Chronicles feature commented:

" It might vary somewhat from airline to airline, but I've never run into a situation where we weren't allowed to put on extra fuel if we felt we needed it. I've had two flights divert for fuel in the past 15 years, but that was after holding for nearly an hour in one case. We always land with at least an hours worth of fuel on board on clear days and average two to three hours on days with adverse weather."

Additionally, Patrick Smith over at his Ask the Pilot blog writes:

"The regulations get complicated, particularly on international routes, but a good place to start is with the U.S. domestic rule: You cannot take off without enough fuel to reach your intended destination, then proceed to the most distant of any required alternative airport (one or more might have to be designated, in accordance with forecast weather minimums), plus maintain a 45-minute cushion on top of that.

Fly to your destination; fly to your alternative; and fly for an additional 45 minutes. You cannot -- cannot -- depart with less. Trust me, no airline that wants to remain in business asks its crews to do so. And if it did, no captain who wants to keep his or her license would agree. Payload permitting, however, you are welcome to depart with more than is legally needed. A fatter margin gives you greater flexibility, or holding time, in the event of unexpected delays. It's this above-and-beyond fuel that airlines are cutting back on, not regulatory fuel."

So take a deep breath and relax. Depots like MSNBC are excellent at stirring up trouble, generating hits and causing a controversy -- it's what makes them money. In this case, however, there's no real reason to get worked up.