The Airlines Hate Us

by Jonathon Morgan on

Airlines are treating their passengers worse than ever, with customer service blunders on the rise for the third year in a row. According to the annual Airline Quality Rating, last year saw more people bumped, more bags lost, and more flights delayed than in 2005.

Worst of all, it looks like things will continue to go downhill. An industry spokesman told the Associated Press that because the number of flights is exceeding the capacity of air traffic controllers, “We’re going to see more delays and those delays translate to cancellations, mishandled bags and unhappy passengers.”

United — who’s stranding of passengers for hours on runways wasn’t included because it was weather-related — tied for the most-complained-about airline with US Airawys, while Southwest registered the fewest complaints.

I’m at the point where I almost expect some kind of delay when I’m at the airport. But what about you, is the change noticeable? Any flight-delay horror stories you’d like to share?

Spirit Airlines to Offer Flights to Port-au-Prince

by Adrienne Wilson on

In today’s competitive airline industry carriers have to think outside of the box, be sharper than a razor’s edge and fly to destinations where many dare not to go. As of recent, the low-cost carrier, Spirit Airlines, has filed an application with the federal government to fly out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL and into Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Me, personally, I think the news is great and will be all the merrier if things go in favor for Spirit Airlines. First off, it would make the carrier the only big U.S. low-cost airline to offer regularly scheduled service to Haiti. Secondly, I live only a few hours drive from Ft. Lauderdale and I wouldn’t mind checking out Haiti for a weekend or so.

However, this short news update from USA Today’s blog gets mixed reviews and heated in the comments. If the news sounds good to you keep your fingers crossed or just go check out what some of the other people seem to think about traveling to Haiti.

Flight 001 Looking for Ground Crew

by Adrienne Wilson on

We are by no means a job board here at Gadling, but occasionally we’ll see something that could be of interest to our travel feigning readers and from there we blog about it. Depending on where you land a career in the travel industry it is either a blessing or a hellish nightmare. I like to imagine working where the perks are many and woes are few. I’d never want to be a TSA screener and while I never made a stellar salesperson, I wouldn’t mind applying for a gig at Flight 001. The online travel shopping portal is looking for ground crew at their east coast, west coast, and Midwest locations. That gives almost anyone with a knack for ringing in the sales an opportunity to get in on what seems like a pretty happening place to work. Even if only for the holiday season so you can stash some extra cash and break for Brazil after you’ve saved enough, but don’t go in there talking like that. Chances are you won’t get the job. Go figure.

Flight 001 is currently seeking Sales Crew and Store Leaders at various NY and CA locations. Their headquarters is in need of a Buying Office Assistant and Staff Accountant.