Category Archives for Airports.
Just since Monday we’ve seen the amazing Cathay Pacific business and first class fare deal get honored and we’ve seen business class between Chicago and Sydney for under $1500 roundtrip. Now it looks like there’s another special fare deal out there.
There’s an Alitalia business class offer starting at $538 roundtrip between Barcelona and New York JFK — and possibly also Los Angeles and Chicago.
Are water filling stations a good idea? We all know not to drink water from a plane’s on board tanks. But do you trust your government-run airport to ensure clean water? How aboutin Detroit?
Water fountains at the Cleveland airport were shut down after at least half a dozen passengers on a Frontier flight became violently ill.
Early in the year American Airlines CEO Doug Parker described his airline’s Boeing 767-300s as a poor customer experience.
It’s certainly true that business class on the plane — while fully flat with direct aisle access — is uncompetitive. It’s a narrow, uncomfortable seat that feels like a coffin. The Thompson Vantage seat is one that many airlines have used for their 767s, but United is putting their Polaris seat in their 767s (which is marginally better) and Delta is putting suites with doors in their 767-400s. But it’s better than what American offers on many routes, and offers more space in coach period.
Roughly 80% of the dogs used by TSA have floppy ears. The other 20% with pointy ears scare children so as pointy-eared dogs retire they are being replaced by dogs with floppy ears.
The TSA spends $26,000 to $42,000 training each dog and accompanying dog handler. Though they’re trying to make the dogs friendlier-looking, they don’t want kids to pet the dogs but did you know that dog handlers are given “baseball-like cards for [their] dog” to “give to children and adults who want to greet the canine while its working” which may be the most valuable feature of the program.
Will anyone pay attention now that we know thousands of people are getting their own armed agents watching them on flights for no reason whatsoever, even if TSA now says they’ve stopped reporting back when we sleep and go to the bathroom?
Last year’s Air Canada Toronto – San Francisco flight AC759 that lined up to land on taxiway C could have been the worst aviation disaster in history.
Four planes were waiting on the taxiway to take off. Air Canada descended to as low as 59 feet — just three above the height of a United 787. Just after was a Philippine Airlines Airbus A340.
It seems the woman wasn’t as unable to communicate as her son reports. And she wasn’t actually left overnight at the airport. Nor was her family left unaware of her situation — indeed, they rebooked her travel.
We’re inclined to believe the worst stories of customer service about an airline though, because in large measure dealing with an airline is like dealing with the IRS, DMV, and TSA all wrapped into one.
Two years ago someone was pretending to be Melbourne, Australia air traffic control. A Virgin Australia flight from Gold Coast was instructed to land by this person — the plane came witin 275 feet of the runway before the real air traffic control waved them off. The Boeing 737 climbed to 3800 feet and made a go-round.
Frighteningly that seems not to have been a one-off. A man has been arrested for pulling that same stunt in Buenos Aires.
Air travel brings people together from all sorts of backgrounds and experiences. So there are bound to be cultural clashes. And we’re not just dealing with people, we are also dealing with pets. And we’re dealing with how those people deal with their pets.
Walking through Washington Dulles airport on Thursday a passenger in front of me had their dog on a leash….
Donald Trump used to own a whole airline. He purchased the Eastern Shuttle in 1989 and renamed it the Trump Shuttle. He lost $100 million on the deal, and also lost big in a takeover attempt of American Airlines the same year. The Trump Shuttle is now the American Airlines shuttle.
Trump does still own a Boeing 757 (as well as a Cessna). He acquired the jet in 2011.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
