"Some 150 people aboard a US Airways plane en route to Charlotte, N.C., from New York City were rescued today in a lightning-fast effort following the jet's crash into the frigid waters of the Hudson River off the West Side of Manhattan." 01-09
"Qatar Airways has an on-time percentage that other airlines would kill for. And it has a relatively young fleet, which means its planes are more modern and comfortable." 05-15
"None of the cargo carrier's eight Boeing 727s have lavatories, pilots say, forcing the pilots and crews to use plastic bags for all their elimination needs." 09-09
"Blaming extraordinary fuel prices, American Airlines (AMR) said Wednesday it plans for the first time to charge many passengers $15 on top of airfares to check one suitcase on a domestic flight." 05-08
"This whole dustup reminded me of an interesting alternative solution that a friend of mine (who asked not to be named) experienced a few years ago. When boarding an Alaska Airlines flight for a short hop in the northwest, my superpetite friend was stopped by a flight attendant and asked if she would be willing to sit next to an overweight passenger in exchange for frequent flyer miles." A commenter added: "Small planes and helicopters already ask for your weight when you purchase a ticket. Why not require all airline passenges to indicate height and weight when they purchase a ticket? Then,before the ticket purchase is completed, an algorithm could automatically pinpoint passengers who won't fit into a single seat and return a message saying that purchase of 2 seats is required (or recommended) for comfort and safety. With this approach, the airlines would provide privacy and evenhandedness. The calculations might also make note of very tall people and automatically assign bulkhead or aisle seats to them." 05-12
"But for Learmount, if a short circuit fire is to blame, one thing is for sure: 'We have to look here for the lessons we got from that [Swissair flight],' he says. 'Airplanes should have heat and smoke detectors all over them ... so that if a fire started anywhere you would know immediately', he adds. 'That has not been implemented by any of the world's leading aviation authorities, not by the [U.K.'s] Civil Aviation Authority, the French DGAC, or the American FAA.' " 06-09
"A nearly 9-hour flight delay turned into a standoff at Hong Kong airport Wednesday, with passengers refusing to leave the plane for 5-hours until the airline agreed to higher compensation.""The irate travelers would likely have been better off if they had been traveling within the European Union. The EU requires passengers be compensated between $330 and $800 if their flight is delayed by two hours or more, depending on the flight length. However, the airline can claim exclusion for “extraordinary circumstances,” including weather and security incidences.""The United States has no federal regulation on delay compensation, but it has instituted regulations that penalize airlines if passengers are stuck in a plane on the tarmac for more than three hours. The Department Transportation just fined an American Airlines’ subsidiary $900,000, in the first penalty since the regulations went into effect last year.""No traveler wants to spend 5-hours of their holiday staging an airplane sit-in. No airline wants the headache and the bad PR that results. Perhaps it is time we move towards a global, transparent standard for compensating passengers." 11-11
"U.S. airlines accumulated nearly $5.7 billion in fees in 2010, according to a financial report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Transportation." 06-11
"The fees aren’t chump change. Schumer writes that a family of four could incur $200 in seat reservations charges just so that they could sit together on both legs of a round trip"
"Now, the nonprofit Consumer Travel Alliance (CTA), which works on the behalf of travelers’ rights, has chimed in to criticize the rise of fees for seat reservations and baggage, as well as the decrease in policies allowing passengers with special needs to board planes first." 05-12
"From 1983 to 2000, according to government reports, nearly 96 percent of passengers involved in U.S. plane crashes survived. When studying the 26 most extreme crashes, the government found more than half of passengers and crew survived."
"Aviation experts say it's most important for passengers to know the location of the nearest emergency exit — even the number of rows it takes to get there." 8-05
"When a laser beam is on an aircraft, pilots see a flash of light. This can be distracting at best. Worse, the light can be so bright it causes glare (pilots can’t see past the light) or temporary flashblindness (like getting a camera flash in your eye). Also, some pilots have thought a laser gunsight was being aimed at them, so they have taken evasive action on takeoff or landing." 03-09
"Here are the results of Zagat's 2010 Airline Survey covering 16 domestic and 74 international airlines, as well as 30 domestic airports. The survey incorporates the opinions of 8,007 frequent fliers and travel professionals." 12-10
"When you first head off to places in the world that are a lot different from where you live, a number of things change. You have to learn to adapt." 11-10
"Let’s face it: Those dreaded airline fees are now as much a part of the traveling experience as long security lines. But that does not necessarily mean that passengers always have to pay them." 02-12
"A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down a state law requiring airlines to give food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers stuck in delayed planes, saying the measure was well-intentioned but stepped on federal authority." 03-08
"The trend toward bad fees is reversible if passengers would only pay the surcharges they believed in. I asked travelers to help me identify those 'good' fees." 03-10
Provides suggestions for gaining the lowest airfares. Also provides current information on flights in progress and typical costs for travel between two cities.
"The luggage box is one of the three options The UPS Store has to offer travelers who want to avoid airline baggage hassles such as lost luggage and time-consuming security checks."
"Luggage can be shipped as is, placed in a traditional box or shipped sans suitcase in the new luggage box. Shipping does come at a price, and the new box is extra." 06-10
"Food, or the lack of it on many flights, has become a big issue for fliers these days as airlines continue to eliminate complimentary meals in economy class on most domestic routes."
"To cope with a growling stomach -- and to avoid paying $10 for a so-so turkey sandwich or $3 for a stack of potato chips offered on board -- some air travelers are bringing their own options, often to the annoyance of fellow passengers who resent being exposed to a plethora of smells."
"The worst offenders are usually anything garlicky or fishy, but even fast food can be off-putting to some." 04-10
"FlyersRights.org, in issuing what it calls an air travel consumer report card, said there were more than 1,200 tarmac strandings -- in which passengers are locked in planes on the runways -- in 2008."
"Delta Air Lines had the greatest number of tarmac delays longer than three hours. Southwest Airlines was rated the best for handling delays by letting customers get off delayed planes, as well as providing food, water and other items." 03-09
"If you fly, you will get stuck. Unfortunately for many people, this is not an uncommon situation regardless of any airport's rating. We all get upset when our air travel plans are upended. That said, there are things you can do to make the best out of a bad airport situation." 02-09