Flight Wisdom

Today is the fifth anniversary of 2003 Blackout, the worst in U.S. history.

JetBlue will be adding daily nonstop service from Washington-Dulles to Tampa on December 18th and Saturday service to Cancun on December 20th.
JetBlue will be launching twice daily service using its 100-seat Embraer 190s on October 18th between Long Beach and San Francisco. A [...]

British Airways Flight 38 from Beijing to London Heathrow landed short of the runway on arrival, injuring almost 20 people.
The pilot indicated there was a complete failure in the plane’s electronic systems, forcing the plane to make an unpowered landing. It is currently unknown what caused the situation, but more information will no doubt be [...]

We’ve been a bit occupied of lot, and have a lot to catch up on. Rest assured, that while this is not our primary responsibility(we have jobs), we hope to be back on top of things soon, bringing the best in air travel developments in a timely fashion.

Hagerstown Airport, 80 miles northwest of downtown Washington [...]

One can be shocked by the repeated stories of woe and disaster…here are some that are not to be believed. Airline complaints in the United States overall are up this year, increasing 47.2% in the first six months of 2007, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. In order…the top five complained about U.S. airlines [...]

Airtran has signed a new three year contract with Coca-Cola. Onboard, you can get Coca-Cola Classic®, Diet Coke®, Sprite®, Sprite Zero(TM), Coca-Cola Zero(TM), Minute Maid® Lemonade, Dasani® Water, Cherry Coke(TM), Cherry Coke Zero(TM) and three types of Minute Maid® juices. Poor Pepsi. Has anyone signed with them lately?
Air France-KLM announced last week they would reduce [...]

Delta has officially announced their nonstop flight from Salt Lake City to Paris beginning June 2nd, 2008, with a Boeing 767-300ER. The flights will be operated in cooperation with Air France, and will offer over 200 destinations on either side beyond the flight’s endpoints on both carriers. The new route is also expected to offer [...]

In a late breaking news story, ABC news in Salt Lake City has reported that sources has reported that Delta will unveil new service from Salt Lake City to Paris. Paris, unlike London, the focus of planned Delta expansion in Europe, is the hub of Air France, a Delta Skyteam Partner, which would give it [...]

Amadeus has signed an international rail distribution agreement with Wandrian, a global rail specialist, to distribute rail content to travel agents outside Europe who want to book rail globally. Through the web-based Amadeus RailAgent, travel agents outside Europe will have online connectivity and tools enabling them to book global rail passes and point-to-point tickets [...]

There’s a lot to catch up on…

Qantas is expanding its flight schedule to the United States, effective March 2008, bringing total flights to 46 flights per week. The increased schedule includes daily service between Los Angeles and Brisbane effective March 27th; Increasing to 17 weekly flights between Los Angeles and Sydney, effective March 30th; increasing [...]

Friday marked the inauguration of seasonal service from Montreal to Rome on Air Canada…with connecting flights on Air One out of Rome to onward destinations.
Air Canada Jazz launched two nonstops on Friday from Calgary to Prince George, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington, operating both with 50-seat CRJs…
American Eagle has added a weekly flight from Miami [...]

Final assembly of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner began today with a ceremony. The Dreamliner has 568 firm orders from 44 airlines, and is the fastest-selling new airplane in aviation history. The first 787 is due to roll off the assembly line on July 8th.
Eos has increased its fleet to four 757-200ER aircraft in preparation for [...]

Yesterday, Continental, American and Delta raised fares systemwise in the continental US by $5 each way. Northwest matched…although United and US Airways did not. Continental, which initiated the increase, said it was due to fuel increases. Airlines has warned of sluggish revenue and bookings for the summer.
Frontier launched once daily service between Denver and Vancouver [...]

Airtran will be the first to serve Cherry Coke and Cherry Coke Zero onboard all flights effective this month. We just love the fact that it is big news which soft drinks an airline has…probably bigger for the airlines that don’t give you any.
United raised fares on popular business routes by up to $50 each [...]

Investigators say that fatigued air traffic controllers contributed to four aviation mishaps in recent years…including the Comair crash. They are calling on the FAA to revise work schedules and take other action. Their union jumped on the report as validation of its own claims that air traffic controllers are overworked and understaffed. Details available here.
The [...]

Avianca, the flagship carrier of Colombia, announced an order for 10 787s.
Later this week, Air Canada will be picking up its first Boeing 777, which will kick off its wide-body modernization program. Over the next two years, Air Canada will receive 19 777s, as well as 45 100-seat Embraer 190s.
Delta announced service from Los Angeles [...]

An Iraqi man wearing wires and concealing a magnet inside his rectum triggered a security scare at LAX yesterday. USA Today reported that he was carrying a “suspicious item.” We suppose the truth was too shocking…His bags, however, made it onboard and the US Airways plane bound for Philadelphia was diverted to Las Vegas where [...]

Reuters reports that BA Chairman Martin Broughton said today that the new Open Skies agreement risked ceding benefits to U.S. Airlines in return for only “miniscule concessions” from Washington.
We can’t disagree with them, although we hope Open Skies comes to be. European carriers would not be allowed to fly domestically in the U.S., which they [...]

USA Today’s Today in the Sky blog has a good roundup on the new British Airways luggage fees. Many will be surprised about these fees, as the press confirms that BA actually failed to instruct its sales staff to advise customers of the new baggage policies when they booked their tickets.
Thus, those who didn’t know [...]

Pilots found the body of a South African teen yesterday in the wheel well of a British Airways flight at LAX during a routine inspection shortly before it was scheduled to return to London.
British Airways 283, a 747-400, had arrived at LAX from London Heathrow. Before that, the plane had made trips to Hong Kong, [...]

British Airways has reinstated the flights it cancelled for tomorrow in anticipation of a cabin crew strike. The Transport and General Workers’ Union has called off the strikes, as their issues with BA have been resolved.
Customers wishing to take the reinstated flights must contact British Airways or their travel agents as soon as possible. Some [...]

British Airways will be canceling all of its flights from London Heathrow airport on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week due to a strike by cabin crew. The Transport and General Workers Union has set walkouts for January 30-31st; February 5-7, and February 12-14.
While Willie Walsh, head of British Airways, insists their door remains open [...]