Denver airport’s train system has broken down. Only one train can run every ten minutes. Passengers are backing up waiting for trains and inside the terminal and people are missing flights, as the airport runs buses from the A concourse to other concourses.
Luxury in Decline: American Airlines Cuts Corners on First Class Champagne [Roundup]
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Fact Check: Unraveling False DEI Allegations in Virgin Atlantic’s Wing Incident
Virgin Atlantic cancelled a Manchester, U.K. to New York JFK flight after a passenger noticed bolt fastener tops missing on a panel of one of the Airbus A330’s wings on January 15th. The story has made the rounds worldwide because it was a passenger who flagged the maintenance issue prior to departure.
There’s an odd attempt to link this incident to… diversity hiring?
A New Way to Upgrade: American Airlines Rolls Out oneworld Upgrades in 2024
Two weeks ago American Airlines detailed changes coming for the AAdvantage program in 2024. One of those changes was ‘upgrades on select partner airlines’.
While American declined to offer any details of the new option for upgrades on partner airlines, I wrote that I expected this to be the long-delayed oneworld alliance upgrade program.
Air France Flight “Lands Twice,” Bounces And Scrapes Its Tail
Air France flight 356 from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Toronto Pearson experienced a tail strike as it attempted to land, aborted the landing and executed a go around. It’s one of the worst tail strikes I’ve seen in some time. Fourteen minutes later it executed its second landing on runway 4L.
United Airlines CEO Takes Aim at Boeing Executives: Will President Biden Force A Change At The Top?
Kirby is apparently seeking management changes at Boeing after losing confidence in the planemaker. Whether Boeing’s CEO stays or goes may rest with the federal government.
Real Life MacGuyver: Quick-Thinking Doctor Uses An Apple Watch To Save a Life Mid-Flight
Dr. Rashid Riaz of Britain’s National Health Service saved a passenger’s life onboard a flight this month using an Apple Watch.
Boeing Whistleblower: Production Line Has “Enormous Volume Of Defects” Bolts On MAX 9 Weren’t Installed
A reader at respected airline industry site Leeham News offered a comment that suggests they have access to Boeing’s internal quality control systems, and shares details of what they saw regarding the Boeing 737 MAX 9 flown by Alaska Airlines that had a door plug detach inflight, causing rapid decompression of the aircraft.
The takeaway appears to be that outsourced plane components have so many problems when they show up at the production line that Boeing’s quality control staff can’t keep up with them all.
Higher Authority Meets Airline Policy: Torah Receives Cabin Bag Tag
Hebrew National hot dogs has used the slogan, “we answer to a higher authority” since 1965. When flying, though, we all answer to the cabin crew, pilots, gate agent, airline and aviation regulatory authority. With Aerolineas Argentinas, they can be pretty strict with cabin baggage. Everything gets a tag to show it’s been inspected and certified compliant with carry on rules. So before a recent Buenos Aires to Bariloche flight on the state-owned carrier, a passenger spotted a man carrying a torah up the boarding stairs. The torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, is supposed to be carried in the right hand and rests on the right shoulder. It’s tough to do that up a set of air stairs! Credit: Hannah Roberts And, answering to the authority of Aerolineas Argentinas, the torah…
Eco-Friendly or Eco-Failure? The Unexpected Impact of France’s Flight Ban
As part of a massive pandemic bailout of Air France KLM the French government banned the airline from flying the shortest domestic hops that can be taken by train in the name of the environment.