Roller Girl busted for stealing 525 tickets from United Airlines

by Scott Carmichael on

Mercedes Stafford, the president of the Cincinnati Roller Girls pleaded guilty yesterday to illegally obtaining more than 500 airline tickets.

Stafford, who is known as “Sadistic Sadie” in her roller team works as a ticketing agent for United Airlines at Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport and figured out a way to issue herself free tickets.

Her system involved printing tickets normally issued to passengers involved in canceled or delayed flights, but her greed eventually caught up with her when she was caught.

The tickets ended up costing United Airlines up to one million Dollars – and Stafford admitted she sold them for more than $50,000 to friends, family members and fellow Roller Girl team members.

If convicted, she could end up in jail for 20 years, but since she agreed to make restitution to the airline, she may get a more lenient sentence. If she does go to jail, she should do just fine – Sadistic Sadie is the current holder of the “most feared” award in her team.

(Photo from avstop.com).

Microsoft Zune becomes exclusive audio provider for United Airlines In-Flight Entertainment

by Scott Carmichael on

In a smart marketing move, Microsoft’s Zune service has become the exclusive audio provider for United Airlines In-Flight Entertainment. Of course, this does not mean all passengers will be handed a Zune, the collaboration merely means the music experts behind Zune put together the music on all United Airlines domestic and international flights.

The 21 channels of digital programming include selections like classic rock, electronic dance, piano jazz and opera. Of course, United will still be in charge of their awesome channel 9 cockpit audio channel.

As a fan of Zune, I’ve always been impressed with their features, and taking their musical skills to the skies seems like a very smart step.

Top ten best airlines revealed in 2010 World Airline Awards

by Scott Carmichael on

Spoiler alert: U.S. based airlines apparently all suck. At least, if you believe the results of the Skytrax 2010 World Airline Awards. The top ten airlines in the world are mostly from Asia. The only upside for U.S. based airlines is that no European airlines made it to the list either.

American airlines are only represented in the “best North American Airlines” results – and even there, Air Canada takes the top spot.

The results are hardly surprising – I’ve flown many of these international airlines, and their product is indeed miles ahead of anything on offer in the U.S. or Europe. Still, it is a bit of a disgrace that none of the U.S. based airlines managed to make any of the winning categories. The top ten airlines of the world are:

  1. Asiana Airlines
  2. Singapore Airlines
  3. Qatar Airways
  4. Cathay Pacific
  5. Air New Zealand
  6. Etihad Airways
  7. Qantas Airways
  8. Emirates
  9. Thai Airways
  10. Malaysia Airlines

Still, it isn’t all doom and gloom – in recent weeks, the AOL “spy in the sky” flew all major U.S. carriers and found that there are still some friendly and helpful airlines out there. Check out their report cards for the ten airlines they reviewed.

New United Airlines livery still keeps a bit of Continental in the mix

by Scott Carmichael on

What you see here is the proposed final product of the United Airlines – Continental merger. As you can see, the new airline will fly with the United name, but keeps the globe logo from Continental.

I’m not sure what to make of it – but since these two airlines have been such important players in the aviation world, it’ll take a while to get used to the combination.

Over at Unitecontinentalmerger.com, you’ll find a lot of information about the merger, and how it’ll impact travelers.

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Continental and United Airlines approve merger

by Grant Martin on

Two of the nation’s largest airlines, United and Continental have taken one step closer to joining forces to becoming the world’s largest carrier. Early last week, news in underground was that the two airlines were in high level talks to discuss merging operations. Things became more official with the announcement late last week that their respective boards had approved the undertaking.

The new airline, which would be called United Airlines, would have Continental’s CEO Jeff Smisek as the man in charge and would be based in Chicago. Continental’s livery would absorb United’s.

Despite the positive steps last week, several major milestones still need to be addressed before the merger gathers steam. Primarily, the airlines need to obtain regulatory approval from the government before joining forces, and in this political climate, that permission may be difficult to find.

Issues with unions, operations and finances will also take time and patience to address; as a result, even if an official announcement comes on Monday there are months left of negotiation and heartache. Get ready for a long ride.