Tag Archives: air travel

A US Airways jetliner has crash landed in the Hudson River just after takeoff at LaGuardia. The aircraft is in the center of the river approximately over the Lincoln Tunnel. Numerous commuter ferries have rushed to the scene to rescue passengers, many of whom are standing on the planes wings. Unconfirmed reports suggest the jet may have struck a flock …

And man, is it ugly. Is it a car? Is it a plane? Actually, it’s both. The first flying car, equally at home in the sky or on the road, is scheduled to take to the air next month. If it survives its first test flight, the Terrafugia Transition, which can transform itself from a two-seater car to a plane …

In July 2007, I told you about Raed Jaffar, who was thrown off a JetBlue flight at JKF because his t-shirt said “We Will Not Be Silent” in both Arabic and English, which made the passengers and crew uneasy. One TSA official likened Jaffar’s wearing the shirt to a bank robber who walked into a bank wearing a “I Am …

Gotham is being belted with its first snowstorm of the year and already I’ve fallen on my ass, right in front of a window full of women sitting under nail dryers at Dashing Diva. Eight winters in NYC and I still don’t know how to walk on icy sidewalks. Anyway, it’s sucky timing for holiday travel – JFK and LaGuardia …

To great fanfare, today Emirates Airlines begins nonstop flights between San Francisco and Dubai. However, the SF Chronicle points out that the airline’s rules specify that it will not hire openly gay flight attendants – making the company in violation of laws regarding any entity that does business with the city. The airline, which is run by the government of …

Squeezed by fuel costs, airlines are cutting nonstop service between New York and 25 cities. [N]onstop flights between New York City and 25 other cities – including upstate Binghamton and Tucson – will disappear. Service to another 55 cities will be cut, according to Crain’s New York Business. “We’re losing service to a lot of cities,” Rick Seaney, chief executive …

The UK Times Online tested some of the new electronic passports and discovered that they can be hacked and cloned in under ten minutes. In the tests, a computer researcher cloned the chips on two British passports and implanted digital images of Osama bin Laden and a suicide bomber. The altered chips were then passed as genuine by passport reader …

More jet fuel fallout: JetBlue Airways Corp. said Monday it will begin charging customers for pillows and blankets. The carrier has done away with the recycled blankets and pillows used on its flights, and will begin offering an “eco-friendly” travel blanket and pillow that can be purchased for $7 on flights longer than two hours. A JetBlue spokeswoman declined to …

I’ve lost stuff at airports over the years, usually a hat or a jacket that I took off while waiting for a flight – but this surprises me. Lost your laptop at a U.S airport and thought it was bad luck, well guess what? You are one of 12,000 in a week. According to a study published by the Ponemon …

As Dan Savage says, “Somebody give this guy an airline to run.” Airlines know that people prefer to bring their bags on board because they want to avoid the time and hassle needed to collect them at baggage claim and the risk that they’ll be lost. Charging to check bags, then, is foolish because it is an attempt to get …

Now, American: American Airlines said Wednesday that it would soon start charging passengers $15 to check their first bag each way, or $30 round-trip, if they are flying on a discounted fare. The airline’s new policy — to take effect June 15 — comes only two weeks after many major carriers, including American, began charging $25 each way for checking …

Thrilling news. Five of the six major airlines in the United States plan to start charging coach passengers as much as $25 next month to check a second bag, the latest move in their quest to offset high fuel prices. But while the airlines, and even some industry specialists, say they expect the fees will primarily affect leisure travelers, business …

After being forced to remove her nipple rings in order to pass through airport security, a woman has hired the grand dame of litigiousness, Gloria Allred, in order to sue the TSA. Having traveled many times with fairly hardcore leathermen, I can tell you that as I am typing these words, TSA employees around the country are getting quite an …

When I do these weekend trips, I rarely carry more than a backpack and small carry-on, but this time since I was bringing something for Father Tony, I had to use my big suitcase….which Spirit Airlines charged me $20 to check at the ticket counter.  Grrr.  I vaguely recall hearing about this new practice a few months ago, but since …

It appears that U.S. courts are about to reverse a 2006 ruling that customs officials cannot search the laptop computers of travelers without probably cause. The government contends that it is perfectly free to inspect every laptop that enters the country, whether or not there is anything suspicious about the computer or its owner. Rummaging through a computer’s hard drive, …

It’s really too bad that there’s a writers strike right now, the Daily Show and Letterman would have a field day with this.

Air New Zealand has announced a promotion aimed at the gay market. Passengers departing San Francisco for Sydney’s gay Mardi Gras on February 26th will be treated to an in-flight drag show, pink cocktails, and other “in-seat” (ahem) entertainment including gay-friendly movies. There will be a pre-boarding party called “Get on board, girlfriend.” Groan. Still, sounds like a riot. The …

Yesterday a NYC-bound Spirit Airlines passenger smuggled a “fist-sized” marmoset past security at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International by keeping the monkey under his hat. Only after the flight was airborne did other passengers notice the animal “playing in the man’s ponytail.” A day earlier, the passenger got the monkey past security as he departed Lima, Peru. When asked how they could …

A JetBlue airliner pushed back from the gate at JFK on Wednesday and waited for the bad weather to clear so it could take off. ELEVEN hours later, the passengers were still on the plane, waiting for take off. Finally, the jet returned to the gate and the enraged passengers were allowed to get off. We’re hearing these stories more …