Which airlines are you most likely to get kicked off?

by Jerry Guo on

According to the Department of Transportation, more people were involuntarily bumped from their flights last year than in over a decade. The total comes to a whopping 63,000 very angry passengers who had no choice but to give up their seats because of an overbooked flight.

An additional 620,000 passengers voluntarily gave up their seats last year to get those free-flight vouchers and other goodies the airlines dangle. So which airlines have the worst habit of overbooking? Delta had the highest rate of involuntary bumps followed by Continental.

An involuntary bump really sucks. What if you had to urgently get somewhere? Or what if the next flight leaves two days later? What if your $3,000 cruise will be leaving the port without you unless you get on the flight?

The silver lining here is that the DOT is thinking about mandating airlines to give passengers up to $400 who are bumped, but end up flying out within 2 hours. The vouchers would escalate to $800 for longer delays.

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You’d hate to get kicked off Singapore Airlines, with their amazing new A380 — it has a king-size bed! Check it out:

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Did he, or did he not, cause the crash?

by Iva Skoch on

Pilots in Jakarta have been protesting over the arrest of Marwoto Komar, the Garuda national airline pilot accused of causing the 2007 plane crash, which killed 21 people. There are, of course, two sides of the story.

The pilot has been under police supervision since the crash, BBC reports. The chairman of the Indonesian Pilots Federation, Manotar Napitupulu, said that the “criminalization of pilots will put pilots under pressure in carrying out their job”. The federation has been receiving support from pilots’ groups around the globe.

On the other hand, the Indonesia’s National Transport Safety Committee said that the pilot ignored 15 warnings against landing and approached the runway too fast. He has been charged with five offenses, including negligence causing deaths and the destruction of an aircraft and could face more than five years in jail.

This is a tough one. I don’t envy the responsibility pilots have over human lives. Yet, not even pilots are immune from making bad judgments…

Jetblue passengers to get free breakfast in February*

by Grant Martin on

Free breakfast provided by Kraft that is.

This month, the mega-food-conglomerate is teaming up with Jetblue in a new sort of viral marketing campaign: they’re providing free breakfast to passengers on select flights across the nation with their new special low-fat cream cheese that they hope they can sucker people into buying.

In today’s Marketplace segment, members of Kraft’s PR team say that the “captive audience” on an airplane are an excellent market to which companies can now pitch ads. After all, where are the passengers going to go?

Perhaps if this campaign is successful we’ll be seeing more of these adverts from the likes of Countrywide Financial and Gap.

While I am pleased that tired, hungry passengers will be getting free breakfast (low fat, no less!) from Kraft, what concerns me more is the direction in which advertising in general is moving. Put it into perspective: we are now officially being strapped down and force fed corporate drivel. What will they serve up next?

Wasps nest inside planes, cause delays

by Iva Skoch on

The airline industry hardly seems to run out of reasons for flights to be delayed or canceled. Here is a really good one from Australia.

A total of five Qantas airline flights were delayed or canceled between January and March 2006 because of “wasp infestation.” Yes, apparently, wasps had built 20-30 nests inside parts of the A330 planes while they were waiting on the runway, according to BBC.

While the plane was taxiing away from the runway, the pilots noticed the brake temperature rose to 685C, causing six of the eight main landing gear tires to deflate. Smoke was coming from the main landing gear area, but nobody was hurt (aside from the wasps).

Qantas and the airport operators have been criticized for responding too slowly to the wasp infestation but a subsequent “enhanced pest eradication program” had now brought the problem under control. Man wins again!

New direct Beijing to Seattle route with Hainan Airlines

by Anna Brones on

The Seattle Tacoma International Airport has been my starting point for many an adventure, so I am always partial to any news regarding the caffeinated city’s connection to the outside world. Well, add another point to Seattle’s cool list: China’s largest privately owned airline Hainan Airlines will begin flying a direct Seattle to Beijing flight starting June 9, 2008.

With four flights a week, this is Hainan Airline’s first service to North America. On top of it, if you end up traveling with the airline once in China you will get to play its Unexpected Fortune game. “What,” you may ask, “is the Unexpected Fortune game?” All domestic travelers receive a ticket (10 of them if you are seated in First Class) which has a mahjong tile symbol on it, and depending on which one you get, you might win some Chinese yen.

Despite the chances of winning some Chinese spending money, I am personally most excited about the in-flight seated yoga service; the 11.5 hour flight from Seattle to Beijing never looked so good.