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?


Merge your Delta and Northwest frequent flyer accounts — get 500 miles

by Grant Martin on

In this week’s chapter of “Merger Mania, Delta Devours Northwest,” lots of changes have happened to each respective frequent flyer program.

To merge the two programs, small changes in mileage earning, spending and transfer have been implemented, largely to make Northwest’s program emulate Delta. System Wide Upgrades, a feature that many Northwest flyers briefly enjoyed, will now be translated to Medallion Upgrades, a weaker, less useful tool. Northwest Platinum flyers will now earn fewer bonus miles as well; their earnings will be reduced from 125% to 100%.

The most abhorrent change to the programs, however, is the addition of an extra “reward tier” on mileage tickets. As billed, this change is supposed to provide “more flexibility” by charging more miles and providing extra seats when searching for rewards. But in actuality, it’s just another way to gouge passengers.

Think of it this way. Last year, if you wanted to fly from Atlanta to New York there were 10 options to fly for 25k miles. This year, there are 20 options to fly at 30 – 35k miles and 2 options to fly at 25k miles. And those latter flights? Only good on Wednesday redeyes on a 12 seat propeller plane.

It’s not that egregious, but you get the picture.

The (scant) good news is that we now have better, fluid access between both accounts. As of last week, passengers from each program can log in, link accounts and swap miles, which means if you have orphaned miles in either account, you can move them over. Yes, you can move elite miles as well.

You can link the accounts by going under Worldperks | Manage My Account | Link Accounts and Transfer Miles. Once you link them up, you’ll get 500 bonus miles.

If you want to read more about the details of the mergers, a good resource is Flyertalk.

Delta wonders about Atlanta

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Is Delta playing chicken with Atlanta? The airline is getting ready for negotiations with Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport … and has opened by threatening to lean on secondary hubs like Memphis and Cincinnati. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution questions the airline’s likelihood of pulling the trigger, though.

Delta is concerned that the costs of running through Hartsfield-Jackson, the world’s busiest airport, could be twice as high as those of other airports. Moving two-thirds of connecting traffic away could save a pile of cash for a company in a perpetually struggling industry.

When you need an expert, you can always find one to take your side, it seems. Airport consultant Jerry FitzGerald believes that pulling out of Atlanta could cost Delta a good chunk of business traveler dollars – and that Memphis or Cincinnati may not be able to cover the difference.

Well, like anybody sitting on the tarmac, all we can do is wait and see.

[Via USA Today]

Hot or not? JetBlue decides for flight attendant

by Tom Johansmeyer on

JetBlue may not comment on litigation, as it told USA Today, but clearly flight attendant attire is fair game. The airline is being sued by Karin Keegan. In what appears to be the friendly skies’ version of “put out or get out,” Keegan was not allowed to board a JetBlue flight because she wasn’t dressed provocatively enough. After ditching her threads for something she felt would be more consistent with JetBlue’s unusual “standards,” Keegan was told that she had missed her flight … and that she should have dressed the part of a sexy flight attendant from the start.

Keegan was flying JetBlue because of an agreement the airline has with her employer (Delta), under which Delta employees are ferried among locations. The altercation occurred in October 2007. The flight attendant complained to the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, which gave her a “right to sue” letter late last year. Though not an employee of JetBlue, the law gives her the right “sue over workplace harassment even when they are not directly employed by the alleged harasser,” according to reporting by USA Today.

JetBlue’s recent spanking in Connecticut small claims court is nothing compared to this debacle, which is headed for federal court. If the airline is looking for some form of precedent to cite, it may want to consider France’s advances in attire and accommodation.

Maybe a scantily clad workforce is JetBlue’s way of making a nine-hour stint on the runway more bearable for passengers, but c’mon guys, there has to be a better way.

[Via USA Today]

[Picture via The Sun]


Keegan wasn’t provocative enough. Check out the stories from these women — who were all too provocative!


So long, Northwest 747’s

by Grant Martin on


The end of an airline is upon us. While there are still a few wrinkles in th merger between Delta and Northwest Airlines to iron out, things are pretty much set in stone when they start repainting aircraft. To start, Delta, a carrier that has never had the 747 jumbo jet in its livery, will be usurping Northwest’s aircraft and putting them on long haul routes.

You can see the whole process of repainting in the above video.

To many, this is a sad passage of redtail aircraft from the once proud Northwest Airlines into the sad mass of Delta airlines. It’s nostalgic, I suppose, but I’m going miss the NW frequent flyer program more than it’s 747s.