News and notes from around the interweb:
- This was the night before last week’s collision. I cried watching this flight attendant announcement, knowing what would happen the next day. I’m not going to embed the video, you can watch it here.
- Man caught stealing from passenger carry-on bags in business class
A man traveling in business class on flight UL 226 from Dubai to Colombo, which arrived on February 3rd, was caught stealing from fellow passengers’ hand luggage. To everyone’s surprise, many hand luggage items were found cut open with a sharp instrument, and valuables such as gold sovereigns, expensive wristwatches, wallets, and more were missing. The thefts were only noticed when passengers were preparing to disembark after a comfortable sleep in their business class seats.
…He eventually admitted to the theft, and most of the stolen items were recovered from his luggage. Additionally, three or four Chinese nationals from the same province, who were traveling in economy class, were also detained.
柒出國際 pic.twitter.com/STbkiHgKGM
— bravo for everyone (@BravoEveryone) February 7, 2025
- Hilton offers service members up to 100k points to assist with transitioning out of military
- More cost-cutting at British Airways, this time lounge-focused
There are premium sausages, there are normal bangers, there are Sainsbury’s Basics – and then there are the new burnt-out processed meat tubes in the [British Airways] Heathrow Arrivals Lounge.
The staff told me that it’s cost-cutting (again). But to save a few more pennies, they are brought in pre-cooked and then reheated. Apparently, no-one wants to eat them so the ones in my photo had been lying there for several hours.
- Virgin Atlantic ending its partnership with Singapore Airlines April 23. Singapore Airlines used to own 49% of Virgin. They bought the stake in 1999 for £600 million, and sold it in 2012 to Delta for $360 million.
- Whoa boy. (On the one hand, pilots gonna pilot. On the other hand, do we think this is true?)
Just happened on my JetBlue flight…
Pilot: “sorry folks, just a little bumpy as we fly over the Gulf of America.”
— Lara Trump (@LaraLeaTrump) February 6, 2025
- $661 in rubber ducks earns enough Qantas points to fly Sydney to Paris in business class
I’m agreed with the name change away from the Gulf of Mexico, but I think that President Trump missed an opportunity. That body of water is situated squarely in the middle of the landmass entitled “The Americas”, which encompasses the totality of North America and South America. To me, a more appropriate name would be Gulf of the Americas.
People get upset when I put my carry on in the overhead across from me and not above my seat.
This way I have a visual on it… More so than stealing something, I’m concerned that they’ll put something into it and I’ve become an unsuspecting mule… Then robbed once I’m out of the airport, if I made it thru customs.
Regarding the Lara Trump X post. Why wouldn’t that be true? Why would that be a bad thing for the pilot to say? The sitting president changed the name of that body of water (where the US has ownership / stewardship). In my opinion it was a foolish, ego-driven waste of time and effort, but it is done. So why shouldn’t the pilot refer to it that way. Each of our 2 political parties have engaged in wasteful renaming efforts. Don’t blame the pilot, blame the current silly 2 party nonsense.
@Gary — Wow, thank you for including that ‘tribute’ to Ian and Danasia. They really seemed like awesome flight attendants and great all around people. A true loss.
Since it’s a [Round-up], meaning wildly different topics in the same post: This whole Gulf of ‘America’ thing is kinda funny–not my preference–and, technically, He/we can call that body of water whatever we want, but the rest of the world may not join us in that endeavor. I doubt Aeromexico pilots are doing the same.
I’d just like to know when the ‘price of eggs’ will finally go down and when all the wars will be over, as He promised. And for those who want to end the ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ programs, how did Lara get her role leading the RNC? It had to be ‘merit,’ and her beautiful voice. Good for her.
@ Robert — I do the same, and I frequently get nasty looks or hateful remarks. Worst was a guy on AF J yelling at me like a 3-year old that the bin was HIS bin.
@ Gary — More concerning than the theft is the sharp object that was able to be carried on board…
Such a shame, that flight attendant seems like the type who makes flying bearable, if not downright entertaining. It’s truly painful to know what is coming.
And Lara Trump is full of BS, just like her father. They can call it whatever they want, it has always been and will always be the Gulf of Mexico to the rest of the world and to many who live near it like myself.
That’s called cost cutting. I lose faith in humanity when reading this stuff.
Put carry on in overhead across the aisle to avoid contorting when getting it out.