Flight Wisdom

2008 is Here, and we’ll only be able to use it as an opening thought for a few more posts. Many exciting things have happened to our luggage in recent weeks. Let’s talk about the security screening process a bit.

The picture is from the TSA’s SimpliFLY page. The idea, and certainly better than some other [...]

We are looking for the people who actually take the Coalition for Luggage Security seriously. Let’s review some recent airline news through their lens…

On August 3rd, they noted that British Airways was forecast to lose over 1.3 million bags this year. British Airways has a less than stellar baggage handling record. Solution from the [...]

Today in the Sky reports that, unannounced, Delta raised fees on August 1st. Same-day confirmed standby has doubled to $50, the direct booking fee has doubled to $20, their $50 change fee is now a $75 change fee. $75 is now also the charge for redepositing unused frequent-flier miles and for booking frequent flier tickets [...]

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 [...]

It is a question we often ask ourselves…Perhaps a few bits of info should give you pause…

The body of an Asian male in his 50s was found in the nose gear wheel well of a United 747 yesterday at San Francisco International Airport. Counting the most recent victim, the FAA has tallied 75 stowaway attempts [...]

The Ithaca Journal reports that Delta Airlines is cutting all service to Binghamton, New York. The county was informed that service would end September 6th, surprising airport officials. Boardings are up 43 percent so far this year and Delta had just started service to Kennedy Airport. Flights to Atlanta and Kennedy have been running mostly [...]

London Heathrow reopened Terminal 4 after a security scare due to a suspicious bag led to the cancellation of over 100 flights. British Airways said it had cut 108 flights after cancelling all its European departures from the terminal for the day, as well as all long-haul flights for six hours. At least seven transatlantic [...]

Bloomberg reports that increased security measures will delay summer travel for some passengers during this Independence Day week.
Police arrested two men at Glasgow airport yesterday after their Jeep Cherokee crashed into the terminal entrance and caught fire. They arrested five additional people since. The Glasgow attack came as police were conducting one of their [...]

We don’t appreciate the media reporting airline delays as Flights from Hell. It seems too much hype as opposed to more useful reporting.
Reuters comments that if airlines “want to ensure long-term survival, they say they have no choice but to restrain capacity, fill as many seats as possible and cut costs wherever they can.”
It is [...]

For the first time, this Roundup was written while our editor was sitting at an airport, awaiting a flight. Hmm…perhaps a story on Airport Wifi is in order?

The Coalition for Luggage Security….don’t you love their press releases as much as we do? They reported(and we use the term lightly) on the 13th about a British [...]

Southwest has announced its schedule for the return of service at San Francisco International Airport. It will begin service August 26th, with 18 nonstop daily departures. Service will begin with three daily flights to Chicago Midway, eight to San Diego, and seven to Las Vegas. Through these flights, it will offer connecting or direct service [...]

Qatar Airways will be launching a national advertising campaign in the United States today, with service to New York on June 26th, and to Washington on July 19th.
Continental Airlines will be moving up the start of Newark to Mumbai service to October 1st due to positive market response to the proposed flights.
Aer Lingus will be [...]

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 [...]

A white mouse onboard a Japan-bound Vietnam Airlines flight delayed the flight for four hours. The rodent had to be seized as a matter of safety. It was theorized it might have been brought on in carry-on luggage.
On Thursday, Pinnacle Airlines, which operates as Northwest Airlink, was involved in an incident as Flight 4712 from [...]

Four fighter jets, two F-15s and two F-16s, were dispatched to inspect a Continental Airlines Boeing 777 today from Newark to Tel Aviv which failed to make contact with Air Traffic Control and comply with international regulations as it approached Israeli airspace.
The fighters incepted the Flight 90, carrying 251 passengers, once it reached the five [...]

Some days in the airline industry, it seems a neverending stream of negative publicity. Here are a few things we caught over the last few days. It fails to inspire us. (Note: In every one of our roundups, links to a news source are provided for each item. Feel free to click through for more [...]

The Associated Press reports that a United flight from Chicago to Portland, Oregon was diverted to Salt Lake City on Friday after Kenneth R. Bullard of Jacksonville, FL attacked his son during an argument about the son’s girlfriend.
Bullard had been drinking before and during the flight, and the flight attendants had to restrain him. The [...]

A passenger on a regional flight to Auckland, New Zealand from New Plymouth managed to bring a rifle onboard the flight. As reported, he was pulled aside only before he boarded another flight to Kerikeri.
Skywest Airlines has apologized for forcing him to urinate into an air sickness bag on a flight from Boise to Salt [...]

We are not surprised that the Imams thrown off a flight last November are now suing for discrimination. While US Airways told them that they were banned, forcing them to take another airline home, they now claim that was a miscommunication and they are welcome back on the carrier.
US Airways, however, stands behind its employees [...]

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 [...]

As we reported many months ago in a post, a Florida man, Yechezkel Wells acknowledged that he made the hoax threat at Long Beach Airport to try to keep a Aug. 26 evening flight to Fort Lauderdale from leaving before he could board. He admitted making a 911 call from an airport [...]

On January 14th, Julie and Gerry Kulesza and their daughter Ella were removed from an Airtran flight from Ft. Myers to Boston. Ella refused to take her seat before takeoff, and the flight was delayed fifteen minutes already and the crew made an operational decision to remove the family. The Kuleszas think that Airtran went [...]

An Australian man, Allen Jasson, is considering suing Qantas, which denied him boarding because he would not remove his t-shirt, which called President George W. Bush the “World’s #1 Terrorist.” He is currently unsure under what law, although he was aware beforehand that Qantas would take offense.
Qantas said in a statement, “Whether made verbally or [...]

We have to wonder how secure our airport security is if a nine year old kid can bypass it. Nine year old Semaj Booker ran away from home last week, the News-Tribune reports, hopping a Southwest Airlines flight from Seattle to Phoenix, then a flight to San Antonio, where he was taken into custody.
The night [...]

Hundreds of travelers today at Orlando’s McCoy International Airport were screened by machines designed to let passengers keep their shoes on their airport checkpoints. We are very much in favor of this…as no TSA agent has ever been able to tell us the last time anyone cleaned the floors.
Of fifty travellers, however, who used the [...]