You may remember that the US recently changed its passport rules so that people traveling to Canada and the Caribbean now require a passport.  Well, it turns out that the backlog of passport applications is so great that the US will relax those rules and permit Americans to travel to these countries without a passport.  [...]

Frontier Airlines recently conducted a survey and found that its passengers were 17 pounds lighter on average than the rest of Americans, resulting in a $3 million annual fuel savings for the carrier.  The airline suggests that people in Denver are in better shape than other Americans (which, I suppose, sounds about right).  No word [...]

If your family sucks, you probably want to avoid them for Thanksgiving (mine doesn’t, but yours might).  That’s why I’m letting you know about great Thanksgiving travel deals now.  In June.  Way before Thanksgiving.  Because then you can tell your family that you’ve had this trip planned for a looooong time, and you’re really sorry, [...]

(thanks to UpgradeTravelBetter):
A Hong Kong based tycoon has purchased his very own Boeing 787 because he was embarrassed after seeing a fellow first class passenger in his underwear.  This embarrassment led to him purchasing six private jets for himself, including the 787.  I’m not sure what to make of this.

Turns out I’m occasionally correct:
I noted last week that I was calling bullshit on a story that was being passed around about director Mike Figgis getting in trouble in an airport for saying he was going to LA to "shoot a pilot."
Well, it was bullshit.

AirTran has dropped quarterback Michael Vick as a celebrity endorser after a series of, uh, unsavory incidents have caught up with the football player.  While the airline did not specifically mention Vick’s recent ties to a dogfighting ring (classy!), one can only assume that Vick’s association with the, um, sport (?) had something to do [...]

Indian Airlines has won a court battle with flight attendants that permits the carrier to put weight restrictions on their flight staff.  In short:  fat chicks need not apply. 
In one of the more confusing verdicts ever, the judge wrote, "If by perseverance, the snail could reach the Ark, why can’t these worthy ladies stand [...]

Bad news for Eos, Silverjet and MAXjet (though mostly for Eos and Silverjet):  Richard Branson has announced that Virgin will launch all-business class flights between New York and a bunch of European cities within the next 18 months.  They plan on purchasing about 15 planes to dedicate to this service, which will initially serve Paris, [...]

10 passengers were injured when a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Osaka hit turbulence about 10 hours into the flight.  The plane landed without incident, and injuries were only minor.
I’m asked all the time about whether a given airline is safe, but you should be far more worried about getting injured in a bout of [...]