Delta passenger busts open exit door at JFK

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Every passenger stuck on the ground fantasizes about busting open the door and liberating people on the plane. For me, it usually involves the battle cry, “I GRANT YOU FREEDOM!!!” Of course, I’m no Robert McDonald. He acted on these urges during a delay at John F. Kennedy International Airport (yep, no surprise there).

The Glasgow, Scotland resident was charged with reckless and endangerment and criminal tampering for his shenanigans, which involved opening the emergency exit hatch. The cabin crew stopped McDonald before he could open the door enough to activate the emergency chute.

Delta Flight 149, which had just come from Rome and was to finish in Las Vegas, was stuck on the tarmac for close to three hours when the angry Scot had had enough. Local District Attorney Richard Brown offered a “no shit” explanation that highlights the benefits of a top legal education: “Apparently, the defendant wanted to get off the plane,” District Attorney Richard Brown said, “so he opened the emergency exit door.”

Ultimately, McDonald’s act of defiance ruined the evening for the 146 passengers on Flight 149. McDonald, who is 60 years old, risks spending the next one in prison if he’s convicted.

Another week, another ring of luggage thieves busted

by Scott Carmichael on

Theft from airport baggage is becoming such a common thing, that pretty soon we’ll be reporting on the airports that have not yet been in the news for having a theft ring busted.

This week, it’s St. Louis airport that made headlines with the roundup of six baggage handlers and two of their friends who had been helping themselves to our belongings. The baggage handlers worked for a handling firm hired by Delta Airlines.

Their stash consisted of the kind of stuff you’d expect thieves to be after; DVD’s, GPS devices, mobile phones, iPods and even two handguns. According to police records, the thieves stuffed the stolen items in jackets and backpacks.

If you traveled through Lambert International Airport on Delta Airlines, and believe you may have been a victim of these crooks, you can contact a police hotline at (314) 890-1822. The police will need specific information on how to determine that the item belongs to you.

All this of course raises the question how on earth these people can get away with stealing items for such a long stretch of time (15 months). It is clear that the focus of airport security needs to be expanded from passengers, to everyone working at the airport.

It is great the our nation is being protected from nasty terrorists, but if gangs of thieves can steal guns from checked luggage, the whole concept really does need some work. Most electronics stores do not allow staff to bring any kind of gadgets into, or out of the store, which is how things should work at the airports too.

U.S. Airlines hoping for a successful summer

by Scott Carmichael on

Let’s file this one under “boo hoo”.

U.S. Airlines are hoping that summer air travel will help dig them out of the slump they have been in for the past year(s). As business travel has plummeted, consumers trying to escape all the doom and gloom for a couple of weeks of R&R is pretty much all they have left to hope for.

So, if summer travel is this important for them, you’d assume they would take the time to load some juicy low airfare for us, wouldn’t you?

Sadly, they want to have their cake, and eat it, as airfare prices for the summer months are absolutely atrocious.

Some examples of the fares loaded at the moment:

United Airlines – Chicago to Las Vegas in June – $521
United Airlines – Chicago to Paris in July – $1054
American Airlines – New York to Paris in August – $939
American Airlines – Los Angeles to Hong Kong in August- $2054
Delta Airlines – Atlanta to Paris in September – $1023
Continental Airlines – Newark to Amsterdam in August – $948

None of those fares are exceptionally cheap, and in a time where the airlines claim to be hurting so badly, it isn’t exactly like they put effort into lowering prices to help passengers.

In fact, I’m guessing that the airlines just assume (and hope) that you and I will be so eager to travel, that we’ll pay anything.

These high prices will have a bad effect on summer travel – it will force passengers to sit and wait for fares to drop, making their vacation plans even more complicated. You’d think the smart airlines would want to offer something good now and lock passengers in as early as possible.

Of course, only finding bad fares may force people to completely abandon their plans and stick to a more budget friendly trip.

For tips on how to squeeze the most out of your trip, check out this handy guide by Tom, or go through the budget destination posts we’ve written for you.

Delta to investors: capacity to be cut

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Yesterday, Delta CEO Richard Anderson and President Edward H. Bastian sent a memo to its 70,000 employees announcing passenger capacity cuts. Distributed with the subject line, “Responding to a Worsening Economy,” the memo outlines Delta’s proposed changes that were planned for announcement at an investor conference later the same day.

According to the memo, “In just the few months since we last announced capacity reductions, revenues have weakened, particularly in international markets. Once again, we must move quickly to adjust our capacity and stay in front of demand changes.” So, Delta is getting to trim international passenger capacity by an additional 10 percent – starting in September 2009. Flights across the Atlantic will get hit by 11 percent to 13 percent, with those across the Pacific losing 12 percent to 14 percent beginning this winter.

These cuts come on top of a previous announcement to reduce system-wide passenger capacity by 6 percent to 8 percent by December 2009. Nonetheless, capacity may be up slightly by December, as Delta takes advantage of “targeted growth opportunities through new routes and increased frequencies.”

Passengers protest peanuts, prefer pretzels

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Blame Northwest. Or, blame the merger with Delta. Either way, peanuts are back, and some passengers are pissed.

On February 1, Northwest began dishing out peanuts on flights, which Delta has been doing since dirt was new. The timing isn’t all that hot, given a national salmonella outbreak involving Peanut Corporation of America. And then there are the people who are allergic to peanuts … they’re also far from thrilled with the change.

A commenter on the Star Tribune website (local to Minneapolis, where NWA is headquartered) wrote, “Northwest is really out of touch with its customers and the reality of allergies to peanuts.” Another chimed in, “What’s wrong with pretzels?”

Indeed, what is wrong with pretzels?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 3 million people in the United States are allergic to peanuts (or tree nuts). Food allergies cause 30,000 cases of anaphylaxis, 2,000 hospitalizations and 150 deaths every year. On its own, this sucks. On a plane, it’s worse than sitting next to a fat person.

Delta is doing what it can to prevent an in-flight disaster, creating a “buffer zone” of three rows in front of and behind a peanut-allergic person’s seat. And, the airline is advising “cabin service to board additional nonpeanut snacks.” So, flight attendants who are busy with such trivial matters as keeping order on the plane and tending to broader safety issues will have to keep track of the “peanut zone,” as well.

[Via CNN]

What strange things have been found on planes?