Your days of using a long flight to escape the office are over…but in a good way:
Virgin America announced that it will offer in-flight wi-fi next year. Pricing details haven’t been announced yet, but we can assume it will cost about $20 or so to use the service for a transcon flight. The service will [...]
The NY Times is reporting that Google has been permitted to park its 767 and its two Gulfstream Vs at Moffett Field, a NASA-run airport near the Google offices that is generally closed to private airplanes. Google reps say that they have an arrangement with NASA for the agency to use the aircraft for science-related [...]
Read the Rest of the Story: Google Founders Park Plane at NASA AirfieldAircraft manufacturer Bombardier told airlines to ground their Q400 aircraft after landing gear collapsed in two separate incidents in the past week. Bombardier told airlines that aircraft with more than 10,000 landing gear cycles should be grounded, but several airlines are taking a more conservative approaching, pulling most or all Q400s from service. In the [...]
Read the Rest of the Story: Q400s Grounded for Safety Reasons; Not Good News for Horizon AirlinesMarion Blakely, the outgoing head of the FAA, told airline executives that if they won’t change their flight schedules to actually reflect when flights depart and arrive, the government may step in and do it for them. Flights in the US had an on-time arrival rate of just 69.8% in July (that would be a [...]
Read the Rest of the Story: FAA: Please Make Your Flight Schedules Resemble RealityYesterday was a bit nutty a Ireland’s Shannon Airport, as three separate flights were diverted there because of passenger-related nuttyness.
First flight: Martinair flight from Amsterdam to Havana. Plane diverted because of two unruly Ukranian passengers.
Second flight: Delta from Istanbul to JFK. Iranian national arrested for some reason not mentioned.
Third flight: Thomas Cook Airlines from Manchester [...]
You’re not the only one who has sat through long delays flying into Chicago: The Chicago Bears sat and waited for 5 hours in San Diego when their United Airlines charter faced a mechanical problem. After a while a new plane was flown down from LAX. See, it’s not just you who can’t get back [...]
Read the Rest of the Story: Chicago Bears Delayed 5 Hours in San DiegoChange fees for tickets have often been a source of annoyance in this age of low fares because many of us have been in a situation where the change fee is more than the ticket itself. Annoying, yes?
Eight Chinese airlines are taking a different approach: tickets are refundable, but they’re basically charging a "restocking [...]
I’ve written before about how Bruce Dickenson, the lead singer for Iron Maiden, is a licensed commercial pilot, but I thought this was worth mentioning: Captain Dickenson will be flying the band’s chartered 757 for the next tour. I’m going to guess this is the first time a band member has piloted a commercial aircraft [...]
Read the Rest of the Story: Iron Maiden Lead Singer to Fly Band on Next TourA female passenger was recently asked to leave a Southwest flight prior to takeoff because airline staff considered her skirt to be too short and her top to be too revealing. The woman, who happens to be a Hooters waitress (though that’s neither here nor there), was wearing a short skirt and tanktop on a [...]
Read the Rest of the Story: Woman Asked to Leave Southwest Plane Because of Short SkirtUS Helicopter, the company that flies passengers from Manhattan to JFK and Newark airports, is now offering trips for $99 each way through the end of October (normal fares are $159/$169 each way). A cab to Newark with tax, tip and tolls will run you $60, and a car service runs about $20 more, so [...]
Read the Rest of the Story: Helicopter Flights to New York Airports on Sale