The OTR staff is heading out west for a few days, so we’ll be closed up until July 5th.  But don’t worry, I’ll be back then with coverage of the earth shattering Qatar Airways press conference I attended this week.  You can look forward to earth shattering exchanges like this one:
Reuters Reporter to CEO: Have [...]

In what is shaping up to be the worst flying summer in history, Northwest has canceled about 1,000 flights this week due to a number of factors, not least of which is some sort of labor action by pilots who are upset with management.  Bad weather hasn’t helped either, as a bunch of airlines have [...]

On the very same day I mentioned that the EU banned TAAG Angola from flying into European Airspace, the small airline proved the point by crashing in the Congo.  The 737, which departed from Luanda, Angola, broke apart on landing at M’Banza Congo Airport killing 4 passengers and 1 crew member.  This is the airline’s [...]

Yes, that’s it.  A passenger on a Delta flight from LaGuardia to Greensboro, NC, became unruly after flight attendants took too long to prepare his apple juice, causing the plane to divert to Philadelphia where, if there is any justice in the world, authorities kicked his ass.

The EU has put the hammer down on all Indonesian airlines, forbidding them from entering European airspace because they have been deemed unsafe.  A slew of other airlines you haven’t heard of are on the list, but so are TAAG Angola (which you may or may not have heard of) and some aircraft flown by [...]

Remember how every article written about Southwest used to be a love (luv?) letter?  Not anymore.
The WSJ (sorry, registration req’d) looks at the array of ills facing the airline, not least of which is that many of their competitors have lowered their costs through bankruptcy, leaving the carrier with some of the highest labor costs [...]

JetBlue is desperately trying to fill its Pittsburgh – JFK flights.  How desperately?  Fly a round trip from PIT to JFK (NOT the other way around), and you’ll get a free ticket anywhere JetBlue flies.  Simple!  Register by June 30th and fly before November 15.  R/T tickets start at just $98. 

Probably not.  The Irish carrier said that they expect the European Commission to reject its proposal to purchase Aer Lingus over competition concerns.  Michael O’Leary, the outspoken CEO of Ryanair, said that the rejection is unlawful, considering the Commission has greenlighted the Air France/KLM and Lufthansa/SWISS mergers, combinations which have far more impact.  This won’t [...]

I know, most of you won’t care about this, but there is a pissing match going on between the governments of India and Kuwait that could lead to the end of flights between the 2 countries.  This may not affect you, but it will affect a whole bunch of expat workers from India who now [...]

The NY Times has an interesting story about yet another flight stranding passengers on a plane for 5 hours.  A passenger on the Comair flight from JFK to Detroit was fed up after spending 5 hours on the aircraft, which had no air conditioning.  After being told by the pilot that the long delay meant [...]