Tag Archives: air travel

WaPo Blasts GOP Opposition To Federal No-Fly List

From the editorial board of the Washington Post: The federal government does not maintain an official “no-brainer list” of policies. If it did, there’s a good chance many Americans would applaud if one were a rule barring violent, unruly and disruptive airline passengers from the skies. Nonetheless, some Republicans in Washington are grandstanding, rejecting no-nonsense measures to keep passengers and …

Read More »

Man Charged With Attempting To Open Emergency Door So Passengers & Crew Would Record His Anti-Vax Rant

From the Justice Department: A Portland man is facing federal charges after attempting to open an emergency exit on a commercial airline flight from Salt Lake City, Utah to Portland. Michael Brandon Demarre, 32, has been charged by criminal complaint with threatening to interfere and interfering with a flight crew and attendants. According to court documents, on February 11, 2022, …

Read More »

Deranged Passenger Forces Emergency Landing

The New York Times reports: An American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., made a rapid emergency landing in Kansas City, Mo., on Sunday afternoon after an unruly passenger tried to break into the cockpit and then attempted to open an exit door, witnesses said. The passenger was subdued by crew members and other passengers. He was taken …

Read More »

Frontier And Spirit Airlines Approve Merger Deal

NBC News reports: Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines, the two largest low-cost carriers in the U.S. have agreed to merge, creating what would become the fifth-largest airline in the country. The boards of both companies approved the deal over the weekend, prior to the CEOs of both airlines announcing the agreement in New York City. The deal, valued at $6.6 …

Read More »

Indian Parliament Seeks Change To “GAY” Airport Code

NDTV reports: A Parliamentary panel on Friday said the use of ‘GAY’ code for Gaya airport is inappropriate for the holy city and asked the government to make all efforts to change the code. The Committee on Public Undertakings, in its first report tabled in Parliament in January 2021, had recommended changing the code of Gaya airport from ‘GAY’ and …

Read More »

Southwest To Resume Booze Sales After Two Year Halt

USA Today reports: Southwest Airlines will resume the sale of alcoholic beverages on Feb. 16 after a nearly two-year absence due to COVID concerns. The move will leave American Airlines as the only major U.S. airline still not serving alcohol in economy. The airline planned to resume inflight cocktails, beer and wine in June 2021 but scrapped those plans after …

Read More »

Airlines Ask WH To Drop Testing Rule For Flights To US

Reuters reports: Major airlines, business and travel groups urged the White House on Wednesday to end COVID-19 pre-departure testing requirements for vaccinated international passengers traveling to the United States. Airlines for America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, International Air Transport Association, Aerospace Industries Association, the U.S. Travel Association and other groups called for change in a letter to White House …

Read More »

Thousands Of Weekend Flights Canceled Due To Storm

The Hill reports: According to FlightAware, 3,049 flights have been cancelled for Saturday with airliners JetBlue, Republic and American Airlines having the largest percentage of cancelled flights. The cancellations are mostly impacting airports along the East Coast, including New York City’s John F. Kennedy International airport, Boston’s Boston Logan International airport, and Newark Liberty International airport. JetBlue cancelled 50 percent …

Read More »

Mounties: “Unruly” Man Was Drinking Hand Sanitizer

Canada’s Nunatsiaq News reports: A 38-year-old man faces a variety of charges after “unruly” behaviour caused a flight to be rerouted, say Nunavut RCMP. The passenger was drinking hand sanitizer during the flight, and he began “yelling, swearing and being threatening toward the staff” after it was confiscated, according to the news release. The passenger has been charged with causing …

Read More »

Maskhole Arrested For Assaulting Delta Flight Captain

The New York Daily News reports: Horrified passengers on a flight from Ireland to Kennedy Airport were shocked when an out-of-control man dropped his pants and mooned a passenger and everyone else in sight, federal prosecutors said Friday. Shane McInerny, 29, was heading to America where he was set to take on a job coaching soccer in Florida, but he …

Read More »

Maskhole Forces Return Of Miami To London Flight

CNN reports: An American Airlines passenger plane bound for London turned around mid-flight due to a mask-related disruption on Wednesday. “American Airlines flight 38 with service from Miami (MIA) to London (LHR) returned to MIA due to a disruptive customer refusing to comply with the federal mask requirement,” American Airlines said in a statement. Local law enforcement met the flight …

Read More »

FAA Nixes FedEx’s Request For Anti-Missile Lasers

Reuters reports: The Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday it was withdrawing proposed conditions that could have allowed delivery company FedEx Corp to install a laser-based missile-defense on Airbus A321-200 airplanes. The FAA said Tuesday it “has determined that further internal study is necessary.” The FAA said to avoid confusion “a comment period on a proposal that the agency is …

Read More »

Foreign Airlines Cancel Some US Flights Over 5G Issue

CNN Business reports: Major international airlines are scrambling to modify or cancel flights to the United States amid uncertainty about potential interference between new 5G cell phone services and critical airplane technologies. Emirates, Air India, All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa and British Airways all announced changes to some flights, citing the issue. A spokesperson for British Airways told CNN …

Read More »

Carriers Delay 5G Rollout Over Concerns By Airlines

The New York Times reports: Verizon and AT&T said on Tuesday that they would delay the debut of new 5G cellular service near some airports, an attempt to address concerns that their equipment would interfere with airplane equipment when the service started on Wednesday. AT&T said in a statement that it had “voluntarily agreed to temporarily defer turning on a …

Read More »

SCOTUS Rejects Bid To Block Mask Rule For Air Travel

The Hill reports: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request to block a federal mask mandate for air travel. The emergency application was filed by a father on behalf of himself and his 4-year-old autistic son, both of whom claim to be medically incapable of wearing masks for extended periods. Their request was filed to Justice Neil Gorsuch, who …

Read More »

Airlines Warn New 5G Service May Affect Instruments

NBC News reports: The aviation industry faces “catastrophic” disruption from the rollout of a new 5G service this week, airline leaders have warned. In a letter sent Monday to United States transportation and economic officials and obtained by NBC News, the CEOs of major carriers said that the launch could ground flights and leave “tens of thousands of Americans” stranded …

Read More »

2700+ Flights Canceled As Winter Storm Hits US East

Reuters reports: Airlines canceled over 2,800 U.S. flights on Sunday as a winter storm combining high winds and ice was poised to hit the U.S. East Coast over the holiday weekend. The flights canceled by 12:30 p.m. ET (1730 GMT) on Sunday included over 2,800 entering, departing from or within the United States, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.com. Over …

Read More »

FedEx Seeks Anti-Missile Lasers For Some Cargo Planes

Politico reports: Package delivery giant FedEx wants to equip some of its aircraft with military-style missile countermeasures, which could allow it to continue flying over contested areas that might otherwise be closed to air traffic, according to a filing posted by the FAA. In a notice of this “special condition” posted Friday, the FAA dryly observed that its design standards …

Read More »

Three Women Charged With Beating Delta Workers

The New York Daily News reports: A trio of unruly would-be passengers at John F. Kennedy Airport viciously beat down two Delta Air Lines employees after a flight crew decided they were too drunk and belligerent to board a flight to Puerto Rico, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Long Island residents Jordan Nixon, 21, Janessa Torres, 21, and Johanna Zavala, 44, …

Read More »

Passenger Storms Cockpit, Damages Controls [VIDEO]

Miami’s ABC News affiliate reports: A passenger was arrested after reportedly breaking into the cockpit of an American Airlines flight Tuesday, while boarding was underway, officials said. American Airlines officials confirmed the incident happened in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, as people were boarding a flight for Miami, Florida. The airline said a passenger entered the open flight deck and caused …

Read More »