The WSJ reports that the Air Transportation Stabilization Board (the government entity set up to give airlines loans after 9/11) was somehow able to turn a $300 million profit on the $1.6 billion in loans it gave out to America West and others. The board was widely derided (ok, derided by me and a few [...]
Read the Rest of the Story: Maybe Those Airline Loans WERE a Good IdeaAccording to a Wall Street Journal article, airline bereavement fares are disappearing as fast as your elderly third cousins. You used to be able to go to relatives funerals for 50% off of full fares. Now, US Airways has eliminated these fares altogether. Continental has reduced the discount to 5% off fares below $499 and [...]
Read the Rest of the Story: Bereavement Fares Join Your Dead RelativesIf you enjoy reports of flights gone awry, this is a pretty good one. This article has the details, but in short, a 90 minute trip in the UK took 48 hours, involved five aborted landings, a cancellation, an unscheduled stop at another airport and more than 2,000 miles. And a tortoise sanctuary.
Enjoy.
One of the odder ongoing sagas in Canadian aviation just ended when WestJet admitted that it had been spying on Air Canada and collecting flight operations information illegally. While Air Canada was in bankruptcy in 2003 and 2004, employees from WestJet accessed an employee-only website for Air Canada, where they discovered financial data about Air [...]
Read the Rest of the Story: WestJet to Air Canada: Sorry We Spied On YouWith the holiday weekend here in the US, the OTR offices are closed Friday through Monday (we have a very generous vacation policy). Have a great weekend, and we’ll be back on Tuesday.
Read the Rest of the Story: OTR Offices Are ClosedGo-Today has a fantastic deal on a package from New York, Miami or Los Angeles to Montevideo, Uruguay. Travel between August 15 and October 31 and you’ll get a flight and 4 nights hotel for just $679. That’s cheaper than air alone by almost $200. Book by June 15th.
Read the Rest of the Story: $679 for a 4 Night Package to Montevideo, UruguayWith the news that Mesa’s new airline called Go! will be flying regional jets between Hawaiian islands, I was kinda wondering how you get a regional jet to Hawaii since it’s too far to fly nonstop from the mainland under normal circumstances. If you were wondering the same thing (and I’m sure you weren’t), here’s [...]
Read the Rest of the Story: How Does a Regional Jet Get to Hawaii?A passenger on a Delta flight from Fort Lauderdale to Salt Lake City died during the flight, but no one noticed until she did not get off the plane. Flight attendants did not notice the woman until everyone had left plane except her. Which she did not do because she was dead. In case you’re [...]
Read the Rest of the Story: Woman’s Death on Plane Goes UnnoticedMichael O’Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, said he would walk naked through Warsaw if Polish carrier LOT removes the fuel surcharge from their flights. We can only hope they do not.
Read the Rest of the Story: Ryanair CEO to Drop PantsUnited Airlines is introducing 3-times-a-week nonstop service from Washington (Dulles) to Kuwait City beginning in October. This is significant because it’s the only nonstop service between the US and Kuwait City (Kuwait Airlines flies to the US, but through a stop in London), and because they’re banking on cargo and mail traffic to make it [...]
Read the Rest of the Story: United Airlines to Fly Nonstop to Kuwait