Breaking news – Turkish Airlines plane crashes at Amsterdam Schiphol

by Scott Carmichael on

Details are only slowly being released, but a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 has crashed at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The plane was on its way to Amsterdam from Istanbul with 135 passengers on board. Flight number TK 1951 hit the ground before it was able to reach the “Polderbaan” runway.

As for right now, CNN is reporting 9 dead and an unknown number of injured passengers. The plane went down at 10:40am local Dutch time.

Update: Dutch news sources are reporting 50 injured passengers, of which 25 are in serious condition. Turkish Airlines has published a passenger name list on their site listing all the names of passengers on flight 1951.

Rejoice! Free drinks return to US Airways coach

by Jeffrey White on

Amid the slew of airline fees introduced last year, US Airway’s announcement that it would begin charging for beverages it once offered for free — soda, juice, water — struck a lot of passengers as a real desperation move.

Unlike a lot of other fees, however, charging for non-alcoholic beverages was one that many other carriers chose not to implement. That, US Airways now acknowledges, put the airline at a disadvantage.

So…free drinks are returning to US Airways flights, starting March 1.

Passengers will be offered free soda, juices, tea, water, and coffee in flight. Beer, wine, and cocktails will still be available for purchase for $7.

US Airways is holding on tightly to its overall a la carte business model, which has you paying for checked baggage, pillows and blankets, special seats and the like. The airline says this model will generate up to $500 million this year.

“We are firmly committed to the a la carte model and believe it’s the right one for our business,” said US Airways Chairman and CEO, Doug Parker. “It is also a work in progress – US Airways was the only large network carrier to charge for drinks and that put us at a disadvantage.”

“The beverage program was distracting from the outstanding improvements in on-time performance and baggage handling US Airways’ 34,000 employees worked so hard to achieve last year,” said Parker.

Thanks, Moody 75.

Virgin America’s next destination: Orange County

by Grant Martin on

Now that the dust has settled from Virgin America’s Boston route launch, it’s time to move onto the next destination: Orange County. John Wayne Airport, nestled in the Southern Los Angeles suburbs plans to receive service some time this spring.

But why Orange County? The airline already offers service to LA, a mere few miles to the north and plenty of Midwestern and Southern cities would love to entertain the airline. Well, it’s got a lot to do with strategy. Abby Lunardini, spokeswoman from Virgin America puts it as such:

“As the only airline headquartered in Cali, this is an enormously important travel market for us – and the demand is certainly there even in the current economy. The Bay Area and Orange County are two of the nation’s leading innovation-based economies and are more insulated in the current economic climate. We also know that Orange County travelers are a perfect fit for our high-tech amenities and upscale service — like in-flight WiFi and touch-screen personal entertainment.”

The route is also a natural extension of our LAX-SFO routes. We’ve got really great schedules (especially for business travelers) flying into SNA.”

There you have it. We cavemen in the Midwest just don’t fit into the Virgin America model. Kidding aside, Virgin America plans to kick off the first flight in late April. As usual, we’ll be there to give you the lowdown.

United crew – it’s time to serve drinks to the idiots in coach

by Scott Carmichael on

There is not much I like about United Airlines, but their Channel 9 in-flight audio is one perk you won’t find on any other carrier. Channel 9 is the audio channel that lets you listen in on the cockpit communications with Air Traffic Control. I’ve always found it a great way to pass the time, and get a better idea what is going on when the plane is delayed.

A reader on The Consumerist apparently shares my love for Channel 9, but got a rude awakening when he noticed that the Channel 9 audio was relaying the flight attendant phone communications instead of the cockpit.

Unfortunately for the cabin crew, the things they were exchanging over the phone were really not intended for the passengers, especially when one of them told a colleague that they’d soon “start on drinks for the idiots in coach”.

Ouch.

I’ve always known coach class passengers were sometimes referred to as “roach class”, or “self loading freight”, but to actually refer to your paying customers as “idiots” seems rather harsh.

One of the passengers who heard the remarks let a crew member know they were able to hear what they were saying, at which point they stopped using the phones. Of course, no apology was issued, nor did anyone at United Airlines respond to the story.

(Via: The Consumerist)

Stories of booze gone bad in the skies

Ryanair removes the airport check-in desk

by Scott Carmichael on

By now I’m sure everyone has heard of Ryanair, the cheeky European low cost carrier. Their insanely low fares have turned them into the third largest airline in Europe.

Of course, in order to offer low fares, you need to cut a few corners. You won’t find any free pretzels on Ryanair. In fact, pretty much anything service related is either non existent, or requires an additional fee.

Their latest cost saving measure is to completely remove all airport check-in desks. That’s right – the familiar desk at the airport where a smiling airline employee would get you checked in and on your way to the gate is being replaced by the Internet.

Ryanair now expects all their passengers to check-in using the web. Of course, this would not be a huge issue if anyone could use the service, but non-EU passengers on Ryanair are unable to do a web checkin. This means that anyone without a European passport will be forced to use (and pay for) the single baggage drop desk at each Ryanair location.

We’ve finally reached a point where a super cheap ticket starts to look less and less interesting. What good is a $20 ticket when the cost of checking in at the airport and taking 2 bags with you can add an extra $80? I’ve long joked that we’ll eventually see an airline charge for using the bathroom, but now I’m convinced that we’ll actually see that happen some time this year.

(Via: The Telegraph)