Stink 0, Airlines 1

by Neil Woodburn on

A German man removed from a British Airways flight for being too stinky has lost his lawsuit against the airline.

The malodorous passenger sued for costs incurred as the result of missing his connecting flight. The $2,819 settlement he was seeking included the cost of one night in a hotel and the wages lost as a result of he and his wife missing an extra day of work.

A court in Düsseldorf, however, sided with the airline and their very clear policy of refusing transport to those who “have an offensive odor not caused by a disability or illness.”

The stinky German’s excuse of having to carry three suitcases in 84 degree heat was not considered a disability by the court and the case was tossed out. Interestingly enough, the man never showed up in court, making me wonder if he was concerned that the judge would have taken a whiff and tossed out the case before even hearing any arguments.

Warhol for Braniff

by Erik Olsen on


We’ve always known Andy Warhol had a rather rampant commercialism about him. I mean, what’s the deal with those cans!? And multi-hued Marilyn? The fact is, Warhol was all about drawing our attention to the commercialism around us, but also by removing things…like Campbell soup cans…from their usual context, he asked us to view them in a different light, and by doing so, they became art. He saw that an artist could transform the ugliness of commercialism into the beauty of art. He was oh so high concept.

But can you really get more LOW concept than this ad that Warhol did for Braniff Airways? Here is sitting next to Sonny Liston trying to explain the can thing and then an announcer’s voice comes over the video….it’s not even that funny, let alone ironic, let alone artistic. I saw it and I wondered what got into Warhol. Did he need the money? Too bad if he did and too bad he’s gone, because you might remember that one of his paintings…the multi-colored Mao… just sold for US$16.4 million. I’ll be he wouldn’t be doing Braniff commercials today.

iPod in the Air

by Erik Olsen on

Fans of the ipod unite!

I’ve always said that travel and the iPod go together like butter and jelly. And it seems like some of the big airlines are now agreeing with me. Apple said they have come to an arrangement with airline behemoths Delta, Continental, United and Emirates airlines to add iPod seat connections to their in-flight entertainment systems. This would likely happen next year. The idea is that you can basically charge your beloved white gadget of love during long flights and never spend another dull moment without your 60gB collection of Lost episodes and Pixar movies.

Best/Worst Airports

by Erik Olsen on

Fodor’s Travel Wire has a nice piece on Airports We Love (and Hate) that gives a break down of the places you would most/least like to be stuck during a layover. Personally, one of the best airports I’ve ever been stuck in was Munich. The terminal was glimmering clean and it just so happens I got to hang out in the executive lounge…which might have helped my attitude a bit since champagne, beer and snacks were free. Munich actually made it on the list here…on the plus side. Another airport that got plaudits was Cincinnati Airport. I’ve been there and even shot a pano inside, but I don’t remember it being particularly wonderful. The piece cites the “huge mosaics of laborers” created by Winold Reiss for the Cincinnati Union Railway Station during the Great Depression and that hang now in the terminal.

On the worst side of things is one of my least favorite airports: JFK. All I can say about JFK is thank goodness for the JetBlue terminal. Without that, JFK sometimes seems positively Third World. Speaking of Third World, another thumbs down goes out to Mumbai International Airport, and again I agree. The airport is a cacophonous nightmare, even though you have to give it some credit, since we are talking about one of the most sprawling cities in the world.

The only thing missing from the list are little airports like John Wayne in Southern California, which would make it big time on the positive side. I love little airports like this and do my best when traveling to take off or end up in them.

Caribbean Airlines to Debut in 2007

by Adrienne Wilson on

On my trips down to Trinidad & Tobago I always flew with American Airlines, mainly because I had enough mileage to get down there for little to no cost, which means I never had the opportunity to fly with BWIA. Sad, I suppose. In early 2007 BWIA will close after 66 years of service, but will become known as Caribbean Airlines. All tickets already purchased for travel on BWIA will be honored under the new airlines and customers can also count on having their BWEE club memberships transferred as well. For details and a full press release refer to the BWIA site or you can go see what Caribbean Airlines has in store for the coming year.