JetBlue helped a man pull off a sky high proposal when the company let him take over the plane’s in-flight entertainment system to showcase a video montage of the couple’s five years together before he wedged himself between airline seats to get down on one knee.
“I’ve been with Taryn for five years and she’s the love of my life, so I had to do something that was super special,” Adam Leisle, 28, told GoodMorningAmerica.com. “I had heard of people proposing on flights, but it was always over the PA system, and they didn’t really have a plan to it.”
According to ABC News, it took months of back-and-forth organization between Leisle and JetBlue to try and figure out how to get the video to play on the company’s internal channel without being broadcast on every other flight in the air. But in the end, everything went off flawlessly, except, perhaps, for the fact that it’s a little hard to hear his proposal over the sound of the flight. But still, kudos to JetBlue for going above and beyond on this one – they even handed out cake pops to everyone on board the plane, and then greeted the newly engaged couple when they exited the plane with a congratulatory cake and a champagne toast.
International travelers arriving in the United States this summer are often faced with a waiting time of three hours or longer to clear U.S. Customs. If their first stop in the U.S. is not their final destination, that wait can easily add up to missed connections too. In March, with several international flights on my upcoming travel schedule, I took a look at what could be done to speed things up.
“It’s a major problem,” said Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president at Airlines for America in a Wall Street Journal report. “People get very, very frustrated when they spend seven or nine or even as long as 17 hours on a flight and then wait another two to three hours in line. People get really unhappy.”
I saw that unhappiness first hand at Orlando International Airport (MCO), my hometown airport and one that sees a bunch of families as the gateway to a number of central Florida theme parks and attractions. It has always been good to be an American at Orlando customs where the line for U.S. citizens is a fraction of what those from other countries face. Still, with recent government cutbacks, lines and waiting time for all had increased.Looking into the Trusted Traveler program, I liked the idea of speeding through the process of entering the United States. I rarely have anything to declare and travel enough internationally to make the $100 fee, good for five years, worth it. After completing an online application, U.S. Customs and Border Protection performed a background check, conditionally approved the application and then allowed scheduling of a one-on-one interview with a customs agent at a choice of local locations. That interview took no more than five minutes and off I went with my Global Entry ID card, something I would never need again.
Arriving in the United States, program members go directly to Global Entry kiosks, present their machine-readable passport, scan fingertips for verification then make a customs declaration. The kiosk issues a transaction receipt, which is very much like a second fast pass, used to access a second fast line after baggage has been claimed and others are being checked again.
Entering the U.S. in Atlanta (ATL) on a flight from London, the process could not have been smoother. I walked from the plane to my connection with just a brief stop at the Global Entry kiosk, the luggage claim area and on through customs.
A bonus to Global Entry is that it also admits participants to the TSA Pre✓™ program, normally reserved for frequent fliers of certain airlines. In the dedicated TSA Pre✓™ lanes at participating airports screening might not require removing shoes, 3-1-1 liquids, laptops, belts or taking off a jacket.
The down side? If traveling with others who are not part of the Global Entry or TSA Pre✓™ program, I still have to wait for them but can do so at a comfortable airport lounge.
Alec Baldwin and other gadget-addicted fliers may be getting some good news later this year, as the Federal Aviation Administration will likely reverse its ban on using most portable electronic devices during takeoff and landing.
The panel was recently given a two-month extension by the FAA to further study potential safety ramifications of eliminating the ban, which has been in place since the 1960s.
While the use of laptop computers and tablets will likely be allowed during low altitudes, the current ban on cell phone calls will likely remain in effect.
The FAA “recognizes consumers are intensely interested in the use of personal electronics aboard aircraft,” an agency spokesperson told Pasztor, “that is why we tasked a government-industry group to examine the safety issues and the feasibility of changing the current restrictions.”
The proposed move comes months after Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) threatened to introduce a bill eliminating the ban if the FAA failed to do it on its own.
“It’s good to see the FAA may be on the verge of acknowledging what the traveling public has suspected for years-that current rules are arbitrary and lack real justification,” McCaskill said in a statement shortly after the news leaked. “In the meantime, I’ll continue my effort to have these regulations rigorously examined until scientific evidence has been presented to justify them, or the rules are altered.”
Earlier this year, the DePaul University Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development estimated the electronic device ban costs U.S. industry more than 105 million hours of productivity annually.
Having a pet passport can speed up and simplify traveling with animals between countries. A typical pet passport will have the microchip or tattoo number of the animal and a complete record of immunizations and vaccinations required for entrance into most countries. While airlines have inspected that document in the past, look for increased scrutiny going forward after one carrier received a hefty fine in a pet passport related incident.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has been fined £1,800 (about $2,800) by a UK court for carrying a cat found to be traveling on an invalid pet passport, reports Barry & District News. On top of that, KLM was ordered to pay costs of £3,000 and a victim surcharge of £120.
A pet passport is just one part of the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS), a system that enables animals to travel between member countries without undergoing quarantine. Started in the UK, the PETS program then rolled out to other European Union countries, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
In the case of the KLM incident, the Mexican cat’s passport had discrepancies over its identification and, more importantly, its rabies vaccinations. “Without trading standards’ intervention, the possibility of a rabies outbreak could have been catastrophic,” said Principal trading standards officer Christina Roberts-Kinsey.While the PETS program is a step in the right direction, standardization between countries is still a work in progress. To fly, pets need a wellness exam, food in-transit and they, too, will have to go through security at the airport. Companies that specialize in transporting pets like PetRelocation.com have the most current and accurate information.
The PetRelocation.com approach designs a custom plan for each individual pet, satisfying or exceeding the entry requirements of countries around the world. Clients receive their pet‘s flight schedule the week before the flight detailing all of the flight numbers, departure and arrival airports along with the pet’s “Air Way Bill” (or ticket) number. These 24/7 flight tracking instructions keep pet owners informed.
It’s been almost 17 years since Paris-bound TWA Flight 800 exploded and crashed into waters off Long Island, New York, killing 230 people on board. A parallel investigation by the CIA and FBI deemed the root of the accident was a fuel tank explosion, but now, six former investigators have stepped forward claiming there was a cover up.
Yahoo! is reporting that an upcoming documentary on the accident claims to have proof that a missile caused the flight to crash. One investigator maintains that information provided by more than 750 witnesses was never shared with the FBI, while another says he was “physically removed” by CIA agents from a room when tests from the right wing of the plane came back positive for explosives.
According to the news outlet, the former investigators filed a petition with the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday that called for the case to be reopened, but none of them are speculating on who would have fired the missile or on any reasons for the alleged cover up. We’ll leave it up for readers to draw their own conclusions after watching the film, which premieres on EPIX on July 17, the anniversary of the disaster.