Monster storm heading to Chicago – airlines issue ticket change waivers

by Scott Carmichael on

Winters in Chicago are usually long and cold – but really big snow storms are quite rare.

As is often the case, they only come one every couple of years, which means the city is due for something big. That “big” will come in the form of a monster storm with up to 20 inches of snow, and 45MPH winds – creating everything you need to essentially shut the area down for a couple of days.

Even though O’Hare is very well equipped to deal with snow, 20″ will bring any airport to a standstill. Weather blog “meteorological musings” has some great in-depth analysis of the storm, along with a snow prediction – and it doesn’t look good.

Thankfully, airlines can see these charts too, and have issued fee-free travel waivers. Here are links to airlines with big operations in Chicago, and their waiver/weather update pages:

And if you are planning to travel, don’t forget to check out our guide to surviving air travel during a winter storm.

[Photo: meteorological musings]

Travelers scramble in Cairo

by Chris Owen on

The situation for travelers overwhelming Cairo International Airport was critical as foreign tourists and Egyptians scrambled to find outgoing flights. Most without reservations, between 1,500 and 2,000 travelers were looking for any available flight at the airport’s main departure terminals.

The Associated Press reports that airlines have canceled a number of flights, the United States is cautioning citizens against travel to Egypt, and tourism agencies are giving travelers the option to reschedule.

Egypt does not need to lose the tourism business, estimated at $10 billion a year. Egypt’s military has closed off access to the country’s treasured pyramids in Giza, normally a very busy tourist area.

Tour operators of the Association of French Tour Operators suspended all departures for this weekend to Egypt and travelers already on the ground are being diverted to less volatile areas.

Flickr photo by Unbathed

Delta Airlines kills another pet: kitten dies of cold in cargo hold

by Scott Carmichael on

After a pet death earlier this month, you’d expect Delta Airlines to inspect and improve its protocols for transporting animals.

Sadly, another pet has died after a flight on one of their jets – Snickers the (hairless) kitten was just eleven weeks old when she made the trip from Utah to Connecticut.

Her owner, Heather Lombardi paid just under $290 for the pet ticket, which included a $50 surcharge to have Snickers removed from the hold immediately upon landing.

Unfortunately, someone screwed up, as Snickers was left in the hold for 50 minutes in 10 degree weather. When she was reunited with her owner, she could not move her head or paws, and was rushed to a vet wrapped in a coat. Upon arrival at the vet, she had passed away. Because of the cold, Snickers was bleeding from the mouth and nose, a symptom of hypothermia.

A Delta Airlines spokeswoman had the following to say:

“We are turning our attention now to offering our condolences and discussing how we can provide some kind of restitution to support her during this time”

Sadly this is just another tragic incident that shows the need for better regulation of pet transport. The US Department of Transportation does track animal deaths, but only of pets that die in transit in the cabin. No numbers are recorded for deaths of pets in the cargo hold.

Click here to learn all about “a day in the life of a pet in airline cargo” from our friends at AOL Travel

[Photo: AP/Heather Lombardini]

Woman arrested at Ben-Gurion airport with 44 iPhones strapped to her legs

by Scott Carmichael on

Forget drugs, animals and bomb parts – the new hot commodity of choice for smugglers is apparently the Apple iPhone. At Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, a passenger was caught trying to smuggle 44 of the smartphones into the country.

The Israeli woman was returning from London when security guards noticed the phones on the screen of their full-body scanner. Apparently, the passenger had dressed herself in layers of traditional Georgian attire, but failed to realize that the scanners would be able to see right through them.

When she was scanned, the operators were amazed to see the 44 phones in her stockings. After the catch, she was released and a decision will be made later this week whether to indict her.

At least the iPhones were relatively “normal” – other smugglers have tried to import live pigeons, a dead relative and a monkey.

[Photo: AP]

Venezuela’s Caracas airport shut down due to power outage

by Scott Carmichael on

Simón Bolívar International Airport in Venezuela just emerged from a rough night after it was forced to send inbound flights to other airports. Four main power sources for its runway lights were knocked out, effectively making the airport unusable.

The outage lasted eight hours, and planes heading to Caracas had to be rerouted to airports in Porlamar, Maracaibo, Curacao and San Juan.

According to a statement issued by the airport operator, 23 outbound flights, and 20 inbound flights were impacted. The fault was eventually located in part of the wiring for the landing lights on runway 10-28. At 3:45AM, engineers located the fault and power was restored. Because the fault was in the runway cables, it was not possible to restore power using backup systems.

By Wednesday morning, nine rerouted international flights were scheduled to arrive, most with a 12 hour delay.

Back in 2008, we reported on a large power outage in Stockholm that cut the power in parts of the city center after a rat entered a signal box, and more recently, passengers on the prestigious Queen Mary 2 lost power after a catastrophic explosion in the engine room.

Just goes to show how important it is to carry a flashlight and some backup power to keep your phone going – you never know when you’ll find yourself in total darkness stuck at the airport.

[Photo: Flickr/Slash_)