Gadlinks for Friday 8.21.09

by Brenda Yun on


Hallelujah! The sun came out today and I am now eager to get out into the hot sun and soak in some rays (the good kind — UV, stay away). And the surf here in Peru is on the rise! Things are looking up, and it appears the travel news is pouring in as well. Have a look at these cool reads.

‘Til Monday, have a great weekend!

More Gadlinks HERE.

Airlines and social media: dialogue waiting to happen

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Social media means that airlines just have another place where they can be raked over the coals. We complain to ticket agents. We complain to gate agents. We complain to customer service reps. And now, we can complain to the world, thanks to the likes of Twitter. I, for example, follow @DeltaSucks, though there hasn’t been any action on it in several months. I don’t just listen, though. When I’m stuck in an airport, I tweet relentlessly, and I know I’m not alone.

So, what’s an airline to do about this? And Facebook? And YouTube?

The attack is coming on all fronts, and an industry that’s been beaten up so severely and so often has few options. For now, the response is limited to tweeting fare deals, but obviously, that does little to address the continued stream of negative exposure to which the airlines are subjected.

When in doubt, the philosophy on social media complaints appears to be silence. Continental and American Airlines wouldn’t comment on recent tweets from disgruntled fliers, according to a Reuters report. They are monitoring and claim to be responding, but that’s about all. Billy Sanez, who manages social media for American’s parent, AMR, believes that these platforms make it easier to open a dialogue with passengers … but where is that dialogue?

When I got pissed off at JetBlue a year ago, I wrote about it on my personal blog and heard nothing from JetBlue. But, I did hear from other passengers … one of whom was afraid to say too much because he was still in transit and didn’t want to risk angering the airline. This level of paranoia may be extreme, but the implication is clear: passengers could find even a small blog, but airlines are squandering a chance to really engage the people who pay their bills.

Christi Day, who takes care of Twitter and Facebook for Southwest Airlines, told Reuters, “The main thing that our customers need to know is that we hear them.” But, again, there is no discussion of what the airline is doing about it.

Customers finally have a voice, and as we saw with “United Breaks Guitars,” it can get pretty loud. While the airlines may be listening, we’re still waiting for the second half of “dialogue” to happen.

The feds want to know how to make international travel better

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Here’s your chance to gripe! The U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries is looking for your thoughts … on how a questionnaire is structured. So, rather than weigh in on the issues facing the industry, you can set the framework for how you’ll respond later. Yeah, it seems like a bit of bureaucratic overhead, but let’s face it: this is the language of government. And, you have the opportunity to shape the lexicon.

The questionnaire will be open to U.S. and non-U.S. residents to provide some insights on how to make international travel to and from the United States easier. You have to provide your recommendations by 5 PM on October 1, 2009, and then begin to hold your breath. The changes are expected to be put to use in January 2011!

So far, it’s pretty bland, so we’re relying on you to spice it up a bit.

SF Chronicle reports exclusive image of deranged passenger who exposes himself, punches seatmate, strips naked

by Scott Carmichael on

There never seems to be a shortage of deranged people in the air. On a Southwest flight from Oakland to Las Vegas, one passenger exposed himself to his seatmate, then punched her in the face and took all his clothes off, forcing the plane to turn around and land in Oakland.

The suspect, 21 year old Darius Cappille, was arrested, and after a brief medical checkup, he was booked into a Dublin prison.

As is often the case with nutjobs like this, Mr. Chappille had an outstanding drug arrest warrant, which would probably explain some of his behavior.

The incident onboard came to an end when flight attendants and multiple passengers pinned him down, and upon landing, 10 police officers boarded the plane to remove him.

As more and more of these crazy people start popping up, it would appear our flights are more at risk from the mentally insane, than terrorists. It’s a shame the TSA can’t perform a simple sanity check before letting people board their flight.

[Photo credit: Danielle Lichliter / Special to The Chronicle]

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JetBlue quits flight pass deal

by Tom Johansmeyer on
You can’t jet as much as you want any more, as discounter JetBlue has suspended its “All You Can Jet” promotion. The deal offered fliers unlimited flights for a month for only $599.

To JetBlue’s surprise (but nobody else’s), the program was quite successful. The airline is taking advantage of the “while supplies last” comment in the promotion. Since the airline ran out of passes, it won’t keep the deal alive until Friday.

JetBlue does cite the realistic concern about seat availability: if too many people have passes, it could become impossible to accommodate everyone who’s entitled. Of course, the world is silent on whether oversized passengers need to buy two monthly passes, based on the growing airline trend regarding growing fliers.