Northwest Flight Makes Emergency Landing

by Josh Lew on

Visitors to an air show at Dayton Int’l Airport got more excitement than they paid for when a Northwest Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing on the runway during the festivities.

The flight originated in Tampa and was bound for Detroit. The crew decided to land when one of the computers connected to an engine failed. The pilot landed at the nearest airport, which happened to be Dayton, as a precaution.

No one was injured.

The air show was stopped for about half-an-hour while the plane landed. Spectators were made aware of the situation over the air show’s public address system. They applauded when the plane landed (and no doubt had something extra to talk about on the way home).

The plane’s passengers were not able to hang around for the end of the show, however. They were whisked away to Detroit by bus.

Actually, the successful emergency landing might have been a welcome event for Northwest’s public relations department. They finally have something to talk about besides bankruptcy and their recent merger with Delta.

Photo: Flickr user Sakurako Kitsa

Talking travel with SkyTeam ’round-the-world’ exec

by Jerry Guo on

With the summer season in high swing, backpackers are zipping off for around-the-world trips. Here to shed some insider’s tips on the process of planning your next around-the-world journey is Bobby Spann, Director of International Development for Delta’s alliance program (the SkyTeam alliance consists of 14 airlines around the globe).

When might travelers pick a round-the-world (RTW) cruise rather than travel by plane?

While we all may dream of cruising around the world, traveling by plane is actually quite attainable given that a RTW cruise can range anywhere from $10,000 to $200,000 a person! A RTW airline fare package is actually the most cost effective way to travel around the world – if you bought tickets individually from city to city, it would cost you a lot more.

What are some of your favorite RTW trip itineraries?

It all depends on the destinations that you want to go to. SkyTeam offers four programs that offer you total travel freedom. With a 39,000 mile RTW program for example, you could fly from New York across the Atlantic to see historic European cities like Paris, Rome, Madrid, Prague, Moscow and Amsterdam, travel to some of the most popular Asian destinations, including Bangkok, Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo, and tour through the Americas to take in the sights of Los Angeles, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires and Atlanta, before heading back to New York.

I’ve heard that SkyTeam is relatively weak for itineraries through South America, the Middle East, India, Australia, and the South Pacific. Is this true?

SkyTeam has a very strong and expanding global network. We have major hubs in numerous popular destinations around the world, including Guangzhou, Seoul, Mexico City and Moscow, which help link people to the places they want to go. We offer strong service in South America – from Quito, Ecuador to Buenos Aires, Argentina – and in India, from Mumbai and Delhi to Bangalore. Our online route map can give you a glimpse of all the destinations served by SkyTeam.

What should travelers do if they want to backtrack? Is a RTW trip still appropriate?

Absolutely! With SkyTeam’s RTW product, you don’t have to keep traveling in the same direction – you can always backtrack within the same region. For example, a RTW passenger originating from Beijing, China who visited Osaka, Japan can backtrack west to Seoul, South Korea before traveling to a new region. SkyTeam’s RTW fare also permits surface sectors – meaning that travelers can drive or take the train between destinations as part of their trip.

What if a trip is not quite around the world? (If you focus on two or three continents, for instance) Is this type of ticket still possible?

Yes – however, your RTW itinerary must include one transatlantic flight and one transpacific flight. It also has to start and end in the same country, but not necessarily in the same city.

A perk to traveling with us is that your RTW fare can be used in conjunction with a SkyTeam Europe Pass, America Pass or Asia Pass ticket. Depending on your itinerary, using a SkyTeam fare pass not only provides you with an opportunity to explore and totally enjoy each region you visit, but could result in significant cost savings.

Is the recent emergence of RTW tickets on low-cost carriers a threat to SkyTeam and other traditional carriers?

No. Low-cost carriers provide point-to-point travel options, but the alliance offers an extensive global hub network – providing customers with flexibility and greater control of their travel schedule, access to more destinations and consistent customer service standards. Additionally, one of the greatest benefits to passengers traveling RTW with SkyTeam is the opportunity to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles on all alliance member flights – a passenger can earn quite a few miles traveling RTW.

Are there any ideal times/seasons for RTW travel?

Traveling in the fall is best. This way, you avoid the heavy peak vacation season.

What are three mistakes first-time travelers may make when booking/planning such a trip?

  • Not allotting enough time to research, plan and book a RTW trip. You should start researching and planning at least six months in advance of your intended RTW trip. Keep in mind that with SkyTeam’s RTW fare, you are only required to book the first flight of your itinerary. The remainder of your trip can be left “open” for you to book dates whenever you wish.
  • Not taking care of passport and visa requirements for each destination well in advance. It’s
    always good to take care of all necessary requirements well before your departure date.
  • A RTW trip should not be rushed. Remember to take your time to fully experience each destination. SkyTeam offers four flexible RTW fare packages that leave the length of your trip to you. Depending on the time you have, you can return in 10 days, 6 months or even 1 year.

Any more tips for planning a RTW trip?

Try traveling East Bound – traveling in this direction makes it a lot easier on your body’s time clock!

Are frequent flyer programs dying?

by Grant Martin on

With all of the recent cutbacks in the airline industry, frequent flyer programs are taking a beating. While passenger loyalty rewards are a great perk to air travel, any freebies given away by the carriers cut into the bottom line — a mark that has fallen under intense scrutiny over the last six months.

To mitigate some of the loss from award mileage and ticket redemptions, airlines are making it harder and more expensive to use to earn and use your miles. Just last month, Delta Airlines instituted a fuel surcharge for booking an award flight; now in addition to taxes that you pay for that ticket you’ll have to pony up up to fifty dollars for the privilege of booking it. Others, like American Airlines, are increasing the number of miles that you have to redeem for certain tickets and charging an additional fee to upgrade your seats into a higher class.

All of these changes are provoking industry analysts to worry about the future of frequent flier programs. George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com, points out that some alternative reward credit cards are now more beneficial then keeping a miles card. Others, like Clark Howard point to the devaluing mile and wonder if it’s even worth accruing miles at all, saying “Don’t waste any effort chasing frequent flyer miles, which are like fool’s gold.”

Is the situation really this dire?For the casual traveler, it may be. Those of you who only fly once in a while and slowly earn miles up to a free ticket every five or ten years may see their award programs changed or their miles devalued from under their feet — such is the nature of business in a tight, evolving industry.

But for the acute traveler, there are many many reasons to still keep banking miles. Elite status, the key to getting upgrades, better seats and more miles is still a huge part of any mileage program and is still worth attaining. And there are still many uses for your miles — even if those avenues are harder to approach. Patience, timing and strategy play a critical role in making the correct award booking and with the right perspective it’s still possible — if not easy — to find award tickets.

If you want to bore down into the nitty gritty of making your miles work for you, here’s a tip: think about how much you travel and think about how much time you want to devote to working the system. If mile accrual is an every-so-often occurrence and you’re having a hard enough time finding a chance to cook dinner, you might want to relax, have a couple of bottles of wine and ask your neighborhood geek to look into your miles situation.

Alternatively, if you’re a 150k mile/year earner with some time at the airport lounge, orient yourself with Flyertalk, Airfarewatchdog and your local airline’s website. You’ll quickly learn how to best apply your miles.

Just don’t stop plugging your frequent flyer number into your reservations — trust me, it’s worth it.

Galley Gossip: A question about tipping flight attendants

by Heather Poole on

As a chronic over tipper in restaurants I’ve always been a bit confused when on a plane. While very occasionally an attendant will accept a tip, most often they move off before you can even try. Sometimes they outright won’t accept a tip. I’ve been in union jobs where the union disallows tipping in order to get a higher wage. Is this the case? I tip at the very least a dollar a drink at a bar, and I figure an attendant deserves even more than that. What gives?

Cliff F.

Before I can address Cliff’s question about tipping flight attendants, I have to say that I want you, Cliff, on one of my flights! Please let me know when you’re traveling again and I’ll trade onto the trip. Why? Because you sound nice. Because good passengers make good trips. Trust me, I’m not saying this because you’re a big tipper, but because you understand the plight of the working class. As for your question about tipping on flights, flight attendants, at least the ones at my airline, are not supposed to accept tips. Why aren’t we allowed to accept tips? I’m not sure – exactly. But my guess is it has something to do with the higher wage flight attendants make opposed to other service industry workers, like Cliff mentioned. Even though I do not accept tips (it’s my job to serve you that drink!), that tip, the one I did not accept, is greatly appreciated. So thank you, Cliff, for thinking of me. And I’ll be looking for you on my next flight.

Heather Poole

Passenger strips nude, tries to open an emergency exit door mid-flight

by Iva Skoch on

It seems that we have been averaging about one crazy passenger a week lately. And those are just the ones who make it into the press!

You typically read about the in-flight drunkards, angry folks, and people with out-of-control children. But I can’t remember the last time we had a ‘misbehaving nudist’ story.

The AP reports that an American Airlines flight from Boston to Los Angeles was diverted to Oklahoma City yesterday after a passenger emerged from the bathroom naked. He then tried to open an emergency exit door before being subdued by other passengers, specifically the members (no pun intended) of a professional soccer team.

Members of the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer (and others on the plane) saw the erratic passenger near an exit door, grabbed him, and placed tie wraps on the man.

American Flight 725, a Boeing 757, arrived in Oklahoma City at 1:35 p.m. CDT, and said nudist was taken into custody in Oklahoma City and placed under psychiatric evaluation.

Makes you wonder what he was doing in the bathroom naked. Some sort of mile-high club self-initiation?