Commentary

Category Archives for Commentary.

Delta Calls Cops on Downgraded Law Professor Who Claims He Was Assaulted By Pilot

by Gary Leff

delta plane
Feb 12 2019

University of Arkansas Law School professor Khaled Beydoun is claiming he was assaulted by a Delta Connection regional jet pilot after flying from Atlanta to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport on Delta flight DL5325 operated by Endeavor Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Airlines.

The man was upgraded to first class based on his Platinum status but then downgraded to extra legroom coach. He says it’s because of his race. He then had words with the captain, whom he claims proceeded to ‘grab him by the neck’ and call the police on him.

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Academy Award Nominee Jessica Chastain Takes Up Flight Attendant Pay Justice on Twitter

by Gary Leff

Feb 11 2019

Actress Jessica Chastain is aghast that flight attendants aren’t ‘getting paid’ during boarding, they are working, how can this be legal she wants to know?

The Academy Award nominee isn’t alone. Several flight attendants who read this blog feel they shouldn’t have to serve predeparture beverages since they ‘aren’t getting paid’.

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United Slams Boarding Door in Face of Big Bang Theory Actress

by Gary Leff

Feb 11 2019

Carry on bags are a challenge for airlines that are trying to depart on time. That’s become far more the case over the past 11 years since US airlines added checked bag fees (so passengers try to carry on more) and they’ve resisted adding flights (capacity discipline) so that planes are increasingly full.

It takes time to store carry on bags on the plane, but perhaps more importantly when passengers discover at the last minute that there’s no overhead bin space left it takes time to gate check their bags.

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Triple Amputee Purple Heart Veteran Undergoes Invasive Pat Down at Tucson Airport

by Gary Leff

security line
Feb 10 2019

The TSA itself said there were no actual active threats in the years following 9/11. However if there were the TSA wouldn’t likely be able to stop them since they miss most of the contraband going through checkpoints.

Nonetheless because of our fears – even our imagined ones – we’ve given up our freedom to travel. We have to carry papers with us and show them to authorities on demand. We go through invasive screening. And it’s all become so normal we don’t even question it.

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The Craziest TSA Checkpoint Story I’ve Ever Heard (Yes, Drugs Were Involved)

by Gary Leff

lego tsa agents
Feb 10 2019

A woman screams “I know my rights” as she shoved past a TSA checkpoint in Orlando. I know her rights too, that’s one that no court has recognized. But it’s also not where the story starts to get weird, or where it stops.

The 38 year old woman drove up to curbside at Orlando International airport departures on Wednesday at about 8:30 p.m. She went inside and demanded at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter “to be checked in for a flight and to have her truck parked.”

You can probably guess where this one eventually ends, but not how it gets there.

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After 20 Years of Trying Pakistan No Longer Plans to Privatize the World’s Worst Airline

by Gary Leff

pakitstan international airlines
Feb 09 2019

Pakistan International Airlines is the worst airline in the world. Best known for sacrificing a goat for safety and flying with more passengers than seats (and making customers stand for 1700 miles), the airline’s former CEO was actually detained as a result of his efforts to provide good seats and service by wet leasing aircraft from SriLankan.

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Miss Manners: Kids in Business Class are A-OK

by Gary Leff

Feb 09 2019

Readers have lots of opinions of whether young kids belong on planes in the first place. If there’s anything close to an official word, though, you’d expect it from the columnist who calls herself Miss Manners. And she declares that “It is public transport: There is nothing prohibitive about who sits in which class except for the cost itself.”

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Milwaukee Renames Its Airport, Stripping Father of the Air Force of His Rank (Again)

by Gary Leff

Feb 08 2019

Putting Milwaukee in the airport name emphasizes where it is but I don’t think anyone was confused about the Milwaukee airport’s location. The idea that this rebranding is going to “help[..] more people recognize MKE as an option” when they want to fly to Milwaukee seems to me patently absurd.

Meanwhile the irony of an airport named for General Mitchell – who had his title of General stripped by the military — having his title stripped from the airport that honors him is a bit too much.

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