Feb 7th, 2012 at 12:00PM:
We're in a different world of air travel in 2012. Airlines have upped the ante in the a la carte pricing and fee game, and the Department of Transportation has taken steps to reduce the volume of nefarious fare marketing. American Airlines is now bankrupt, while Malev Hungarian is almost completely out of business and Spirit Airlines is on the full offensive. To put it mildly, the airline ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
airline posts
Tips for flying cheaper in 2012
Feb 7th, 2012 at 12:00PM:
We're in a different world of air travel in 2012. Airlines have upped the ante in the a la carte pricing and fee game, and the Department of Transportation has taken steps to reduce the volume of nefarious fare marketing. American Airlines is now bankrupt, while Malev Hungarian is almost completely out of business and Spirit Airlines is on the full offensive. To put it mildly, the airline ...LAN Colombia will begin flights to the U.S.
Jan 28th, 2012 at 1:00PM: On February 1, LAN Colombia will celebrate the airline's inaugural flight to the United States when it touches down at Miami International Airport from Bogota. The event will be marked by a water cannon salute and will be attended by the iconic Juan Valdez (and possibly his mule Conchita) in an effort to promote his coffee brand-which will now be served exclusively on all of LAN's long-haul ...Southwest airline interior evolves, gets planet-friendly
Jan 20th, 2012 at 2:30PM:
Called Evolve: The New Southwest Interior, Southwest Airlines introduced a new cabin layout this week at their Dallas headquarters. Due to be rolled out fleet-wide over the next year, the plan will cut 635 pounds off each plane and add six seats per aircraft in an eco-friendly way.
Many of the new developments were fabricated using products and manufacturing processes that favor the ...5 airlines with great in-flight services in economy class
Jan 9th, 2012 at 8:30AM:
Last week, I spent 13 hours desperately trying to fall asleep on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to London; my economy class seat didn't have a personal entertainment system and the cabin monitor was pitch black from my angle. The week before, my sister took a red-eye United Airlines flight from Honolulu to San Francisco without the benefit of a pillow, blanket, or snack.
For many ...Your bag's perspective from Atlanta to New York
Dec 23rd, 2011 at 11:30AM:
Ever wonder what happens to your bag after you send it down the tunnel behind the gate agent at the airport? I was always under the impression that it was handled by a series of Oompa-Loompas who gently carry your bags from point A to point B on their heads, quietly singing the song of the baggage handler as glitter falls from the sky.
Apparently that's not the case. The kind folks over at ...
Cockpit Chronicles: Video—Food in the cockpit. How it's prepared and what is served
Oct 12th, 2011 at 11:00AM: "I'm getting kind of tired of these chicken Caesar salads."
I said those words just a few months into my career at American. The statement resonated loudly after I was furloughed and flying for a freight airline with barely a bottle of water on board, so I vowed that I would never complain about a crew meal again.
In fact, when I came back to AA I nearly cried when a flight attendant entered ...Video of the Day: Tiny overhead bins
Oct 3rd, 2011 at 7:30PM:
We've all seen it: that guy who has crammed a large bag in the overhead bin of the airplane and then can't seem to understand why the door won't close. It's aggravating for everyone witnessing it. Why do so many people lack such basic spacial relations? We were reminded of that frustration when we discovered this commercial for 1Time, a low-cost South African airline. Granted, the ad is a few ...
Bob Crandall thinks out loud, on topics you wouldn't expect from a former airline president
Sep 28th, 2011 at 10:30AM: As much as American Airlines employees loved to hate Bob Crandall, their outspoken President and Chairman in the '80s and '90s, many are now longing for the leadership he provided not just to AA, but the entire industry. At the time, he was the Steve Jobs of the airline world.
Credited with developing the first frequent flyer program in the airline industry and pioneering modern reservations ...Cockpit Chronicles: A captain's line check
Sep 16th, 2011 at 10:30AM: Once every two years a captain is required to be observed by a check airman. And captains over sixty must be checked every six months.
I touched on the line check in the last Cockpit Chronicles, and I've had yet another trip with a check airman performing a line check, making it two in the last eight days. Both of the captains I was flying with were over sixty. As a result of the change in ...Hurricane rebooking madness: US Airways wins, American loses
Aug 30th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
Stella Service just captured an interesting slice of airline customer service data during hurricane Irene. The weather catastrophe, which stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers throughout the weekend, left many trying to rebook their tickets at the airport and on the phone -- only to be met with hours of on-hold-music and frustration.
Not all airlines handled the disaster equally, ...Cockpit Chronicles: One long date with Hurricane Irene
Aug 28th, 2011 at 10:00AM: Plunk, plunk, plunk, went the water as it dripped from the ceiling into a trash can behind me. "I'd just as soon call it quits here and go to a hotel." the captain said, looking at the latest weather report for Santo Domingo and the radar picture of hurricane Irene which was just northwest of our destination. All of Puerto Rico, where we were contemplating our decision, had just been through the ...UK strike slows down ports and airports
Jun 30th, 2011 at 8:30AM: UK airports and ports are experiencing delays as many customs and immigration officials are on a one-day strike.
The UK Border Agency is one of several UK public sector unions on strike over plans to change pensions, a move they say will have employees working longer, paying more into the system, and getting less out of it when they retire.
Some Border Agency workers started early, at 6pm ...Boeing moves flight attendant call button
Jun 22nd, 2011 at 10:00AM: It happens on many flights: you or a seatmate is groping blindly for the reading light or trying to plug earphones into to the armrest, accidentally hitting the flight attendant call button. This may happen several times per flight, causing flight attendants needless trips up and down the aisle to check on embarrassed passengers. It's a pet peeve on the Gadling team, among both crew and other ..."Come Fly With Me" crash lands tomorrow on BBC America
Jun 17th, 2011 at 3:00PM: Back when the only thing on television was either about lawyers or crime scenes, I lamented about the lack of a show featuring the airline industry.
How things have changed.
There are now documentary, drama, comedy and reality shows that cover every aspect of the airline world.
BBC and ITV have each done 'fly on the wall' documentaries; Airport and Airline, there are dramas such as the ...Airline fuel costs up almost a third since last year
Jun 14th, 2011 at 1:00PM: So, how expensive is fuel for the airline industry? Brace yourself: the situation is pretty ugly. In April 2011, airlines in the United States dropped an average of $2.99 a gallon on fuel. That number sounds a lot better than what you're seeing at the pump, right? How can it be that bad?
Well, this is yet another month-over-month increase. In March, the airlines spent an average of only $2.80 a ...Airline fees are worth more than Facebook
Jun 13th, 2011 at 3:30PM:
Outside the travel world, everyone's marveling at the prospect of a Facebook IPO, which could be valued at as much as $100 billion. So, what are we missing while we fawn over Mark Zuckerberg's creation? How about the slow, stodgy, ugly airline industry. Known for a painful user experience and a steady decline of free features, the likes of Delta and American Airlines are outdoing the hottest ...Airline tarmac delays: the first full year of results is in!
Jun 7th, 2011 at 1:30PM: We're now looking back on a full year of limited tarmac delays. In April 2010, the airline industry seemed like it was begging and pleading with the American public not to accept the insanity that the government was forcing upon them. Mayhem would rule, the industry claimed, as standards for performance would prevent everyone from getting anywhere. It would be ugly ... far uglier than the service ...Iceland volcano cancels flights
May 24th, 2011 at 7:00AM:
Here we go again.
After last year's misery from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, now another Icelandic volcano, Grimsvötn, is causing a new round of worries.
More than 250 flights have already been canceled as a cloud of volcanic ash blows over Scotland. Most of Ireland, northern Wales, and northern England will see the ash later today.
Several Scottish airports have been ...The weather delay blues
May 15th, 2011 at 8:00AM:
Ahh... travel. It can be such a magnificent, wonderful thing. Exploring other cultures, visiting beautiful destinations, and sampling local cuisines are all magically sublime experiences. But when things don't quite go as planned, it can be an extremely frustrating affair. One that makes us wonder why we ever left home in the first place.
I received a sobering reminder of this little fact ...Virgin Blue rebrands as Virgin Australia; launches sexy new commerical
May 10th, 2011 at 2:30PM:
Our friends at AOL Travel speculated on Virgin Blue's new name last week and the airline's new commercial confirms the decision to dub the airline "Virgin Australia." We're not sure what the flying experience will be like, but, judging by the commercial ... we're thinking that people will fly the airline if only for the modelesque flight attendants. Wowza. ...
