Jan 1st, 2010 at 12:00PM: Remember Eastern? Pan Am? Well, the next one to join the list of airline has-beens will be Northwest.
Northwest Airlines may have made it to the beginning of 2010, but won't see another New Year's Eve. The carrier, which was acquired by Delta in October 2008, has received permission from the FAA to ditch the Northwest name and operate the whole deal as Delta. The cutover process for "legacy ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
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Northwest to disappear this year
Jan 1st, 2010 at 12:00PM: Remember Eastern? Pan Am? Well, the next one to join the list of airline has-beens will be Northwest.
Northwest Airlines may have made it to the beginning of 2010, but won't see another New Year's Eve. The carrier, which was acquired by Delta in October 2008, has received permission from the FAA to ditch the Northwest name and operate the whole deal as Delta. The cutover process for "legacy ...Only approved electronic devices allowed in the cockpit?
Nov 22nd, 2009 at 8:00AM: Maybe the flight attendants should start talking to the cockpit, too. When a plane overshot Minneapolis last month because the crew was playing around with personal laptops, national attention turned to what actually goes on in the front of the plane. Congress is kicking around the idea of a new bill that would kick personal electronic devices from the cockpit.
Unsurprisingly, the pilots and ..."Nationwide system outage" grounds flights
Nov 19th, 2009 at 9:25AM: Only when I arrive at my gate do I learn of the FAA's "nationwide system outage" grounding flights across the country. Gate attendants are reading from prepared FAA statements, explaining they don't know what caused the delay, but that they're working to fix the problem as quickly as possible.
My 8:50am flight has been pushed back to 9:50, but now -- at 9:20 -- there's been no word about ...White House pushing for answers to airline industry woes
Nov 14th, 2009 at 12:00PM: The Obama Administration is taking a closer look at the airline industry with the hopes that something can be fixed. Transportation Secretary Roy LaHood is pulling together a panel that will investigate the problems the industry faces and hopefully come up with a solution. But, I don't think anyone's breath is being held.
The airlines are always swamped with criticism, with consumers unhappy ...Drunk pilot arrested in London
Nov 13th, 2009 at 1:00PM:
After (another) pilot was found drunk in London this week, the issue of pilot inebriation has become a frequent discussion topic. Since 1997, 11 commercial pilots, on average, have tested positive for alcohol every year. According to FAA regulations, pilots can't fly with a blood alcohol content of above 0.04 percent (it's 0.02 percent in Great Britain). Last year, 13 pilots tested ...
United to receive heavy fine for towel stuffed in engine
Oct 19th, 2009 at 10:30AM: US Airways and United Airlines both stand to receive multi-million dollar fines from the FAA for maintenance violations.
US Airways' violations include failing to inspect cargo doors and landing gear on a few plans and for failing to perform routine checks on dozen of others. US Airways responded quickly to the news, saying that the violations stem from the integration of their maintenance ...New FAA plane tracking computer off to a bad start
Oct 8th, 2009 at 9:30AM:
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For years, the Federal Aviation Administration has been working on modernizing the computer systems that keep our skies safe.
Many of these systems have been in operation for over 30 years, and while the old "it it ain't broken, don't fix it" saying may ...Falling airplane debris hits Michigan man
Aug 5th, 2009 at 4:30PM: Nope, that's not something thrown at you by your wife. It's a falling piece of airplane debris. That was Wissam Beydoun's first reaction on Monday, until he noticed that the 6x8" piece of aluminum that had hit him had writing on it: "Aircraft weight on wheels inflaction chart." Two concerns here: the man's safety on the ground, and the passengers' safety in the plane. Beydoun thankfully wasn't ...Mexican airlines grounded after safety violations and unpaid bills
Jul 23rd, 2009 at 2:30PM: It's one thing when the recession leads to higher prices and a general doom and gloom in the travel industry. But when the economic downturn actually starts jeopardizing aviation safety, it's a pretty serious issue. In Mexico, the aviation sector has been in a real double nightmare - the economy sucks and they had to deal with the swine flu outbreak. The Mexican government recently grounded their ...JetBlue flight attendant assaults elderly woman or vice versa? One of them is to pay fines
Jun 2nd, 2009 at 8:30AM: Imagine your grandmother (or mother) being grabbed by the arm and moved down a plane aisle by a flight attendant. Is the flight attendant being gentle and understanding? Respectful? Particularly since your grandmother is from another culture and has been in route for 30-hours. In the case of Talat Taharia, a woman from Pakistan, the Jet Blue flight attendant forcibly moved her from the exit aisle ...Hawaii safer than ever (in the sky)
Apr 15th, 2009 at 1:30PM: Air tour accidents are down according to a bizarre measurement. For the current decade, crashes are down from the 1990s. However you stack it up, though, this can only be seen as a positive development. For the past 10 years, there has been an average of 2.5 accidents per year. The decade before, it was 3.6 a year. Last year was a below-average year (a good thing), with only two accidents. A ...Jackson Hole Airport to undergo runway work
Apr 13th, 2009 at 12:00PM: Jackson Hole Airport is likely to close for around four days next month because of runway work. The closure is scheduled to begin at 5 PM on May 25, 2009 (Memorial Day), with the four-day estimate coming from the contractors hired by the airport. If the hired help can get the work done according to schedule – and when was the last time that happened? – the airport could reopen as early ...Flight attendant rumors: What your oversize carry-on costs her (or him)
Mar 4th, 2009 at 9:00AM: Let's say you've opted to carry on your luggage, the very luggage that is a wee too big to fit in the carry-on size box at check-in. You saw the box, but you really didn't look at it that closely because it seemed your bag would fit--it should fit, and who really checks anyway?
As it turns out, FAA does check such things. At least, from what I've heard from a very reliable source, they're ...Pilot sues flight attendants over safety
Feb 23rd, 2009 at 12:30PM: Three Phoenix-based flight attendants are in the unusual position of defending themselves from pilot-instigated litigation. Of course, they deserve it. I mean, what would you do when people responsible for passenger safety report safety concerns to federal regulators? Either you can fix a problem or you can sue. Since the pilot is obviously a proud American, he chose the latter course. And, he's ...Southwest pilot called in sick after passengers accused him of drinking
Jan 8th, 2009 at 8:00AM: Because I live in Columbus, this story ended up on Wednesday night's local news. As I listened to the report, this is what I picked up.
At 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, two guys heading for a Southwest flight at Port Columbus International Airport saw a pilot who seemed like he had been drinking at the security check point and decided to intervene. First, they told TSA officials that they were ...FAA systems outage causing nationwide delays this afternoon
Aug 26th, 2008 at 4:15PM: If you are heading to the airport this afternoon, then you may be in for a nasty surprise. The FAA's "NADIN" system based out of Atlanta, is experiencing an outage. This system (National Aerospace Data Interchange Network) is the big computer responsible for processing flight plans from every flight in US aerospace. Delays are increasing all across the FAA map. At the moment, Chicago Midway is ...Plane Answers: A rant in favor of cell phones on airplanes
Jul 18th, 2008 at 11:00AM: Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away! Bud vents a little frustration: There is no data whatsoever that cell phones interfere with airplane navigation systems. In fact, there have been tests with cell phone signals amplified ten ...Plane Answers: Medical issues for pilots and the FAA
Jun 20th, 2008 at 10:00AM: Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away! Tom asks an interesting question: Hi Kent, I am a big fan of your website and your weekly additions here. Great stuff. But my true question comes down to this. I had a seizure two weeks ago and ...Plane Answers: Is "Free Flight" the answer to ATC delays?
May 30th, 2008 at 10:00PM: Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away! Kent: I know a lot has been written lately about airport delays, I have also read something about "Free Flying." With TCAS is ATC obsolete? Should ATC be more focused on ground operations, to ...FAA whistle blowers blow and spill about Southwest Airlines violations
Apr 3rd, 2008 at 8:30AM: Yesterday CNN broke a story that two FAA inspectors have decided to come forward and start talking. And have they talked. According to Bobby Boutris and Douglas Peters, the issues with Southwest Airlines not complying with FAA safety inspections is an old problem that the FAA has known about, but has ignored. Boutris and Peters, uncomfortable with the FAA protocol not being followed, decided to ...
