Virgin America announces new flights to Dallas-Fort Worth

by Melanie Nayer on

Grab your 10-gallon hats and pull up your cowboy boots, kids – there’s a new way to fly South. Virgin America is heading to Texas.

We just got word that Virgin America will launch daily flights from the West Coast to Dallas-Fort Worth starting in December 2010. A sneak peak from the Virgin team showed daily flights from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to DFW as of Dec. 1 and daily flights from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to DFW as of Dec. 6.

The airline’s DFW schedule includes:

  • LAX-DFW: two nonstop daily flights
  • SFO-DFW: two nonstop daily flights
  • DFW-LAX: two nonstop daily flights
  • DFW-SFO: two nonstop daily flights

Connecting flights are available from LAX and SFO, of course. And in true Virgin style, the airline is kicking off a sale to welcome in their new route.

The “Texas Sized” fare sale tickets start at $129 in Main Cabin. Connecting flights start as low as $44 on routes like Los Angeles (LAX)-San Francisco (SFO) and SFO-Las Vegas (LAS). Giddyup!

Lady attempts to fly out of Dallas Fort Worth airport – in her car

by Scott Carmichael on

Taking your car to the airport is usually a hassle – high parking rates, strict cops that refuse to let you wait more than 2 minutes in front of the terminal, and of course pesky toll collectors. At DFW airport, Yasmine Villasana really wanted to leave as quickly as possible – because she attempted to take off using the barrier at the toll plaza.

Upon landing, she managed to get out of her car (unharmed) and made a phone call while she watched her vehicle burst into flames. DFW spokesman David Magana told the Dallas Observer that “The driver was, as you might guess, suspected of inebriation and investigated for such and arrested for such.”

She’s very lucky she didn’t kill the toll booth operator or herself – that is one impressive jump – the Duke boys would be mighty proud of her. The Dallas Observer has her mug shot, along with a full police report.

Flight attendants fake strike to make point

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Contract negotiations between American Airlines and its flight attendants have stalled. So, the flight attendants kicked off a fake strike on Wednesday. At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, they picketed, handed out leaflets and wore red badges, showing flights they feel couldn’t run without them. So, just think of how strong a real strike would have been! Similar protests were held at 12 other airports, as well.

Because of federal laws that intentionally make it difficult for airline industry employees to strike, the fake alternative was the best that could be summoned, at least on short notice. USA Today reports that gauging public support for a flight attendant strike is difficult, but union officials seem unwilling to roll the dice by disrupting flights, especially with the holiday season coming. Smart move: if fliers have demonstrated anything this year, it’s that they don’t give a shit about the airlines. They just want to get from Point A to Point B for as low a fare as possible.

And, public sentiment aside, it’s hard to draw blood from a stone. In less than two years, American’s parent company, AMR, has lost $3.2 billion, and revenue has taken a dive. So, what’s left for the flight attendants to demand?

The union and the airline have been trying to hash out a new contract since June 2008. The airline’s last pay cut came in 2003, at 33 percent. Since then, the flight attendants have picked up 1.5 percent annual pay raises — except in 2009, where compensation was stalled because the contract hasn’t moved.

American says they two sides have come to an agreement on around 75 percent of the items on the plate, but the union says the airline hasn’t put up a comp number yet. The flight attendants are pissed that they had to take a pay cut six years ago, while the airlines management continues to get sweetheart bonus deals.

Man can’t wait for plane to reach the gate – opens door and jumps down slide

by Scott Carmichael on

It’s starting to look like we’ll soon need a “stupid passenger of the week” segment here on Gadling, because there certainly does not seem to be a shortage of material.

The stupid passenger for today was on his way on American Airlines from Charlotte to Dallas Fort Worth when the plane was waiting for a spot at its assigned gate.

Apparently this wait was a bit too long, so instead of grumbling and complaining loudly like most of us do, he got up, ran to the front of the plane and opened an exit door.

Of course, if you have paid attention on your flights, you’ll know that doors are still “armed” until the plane is at the gate, so when the door was opened, it deployed the emergency slide.

This handy getaway was just what this idiot needed to get off the plane and walk to the terminal.

The man has not yet been charged with any crimes, as the airport police are awaiting the results of his psychological evaluation, because apparently you have to be pretty insane to pull a stunt like this.

If he is deemed “sane”, he may be in for a whole bunch of nasty charges, varying from tampering with safety equipment to trespassing on the ramp. Then of course the is the matter of American Airlines presenting him with the bill for replacing the slide, which will run anywhere from $15k to $35k, depending on any damage he caused.