Tag: Air Travel
Lost Luggage Mishap Helps Sink Drug Ring
by Eva Holland | 09.23.10 | 3:50 PM ET
Twenty-two people have been charged with conspiring to shift cocaine from California to Pennsylvania by domestic air carrier—and it looks like a misdirected luggage incident may have helped bring them down. From the AP:
Ruben Mitchell, of Stockton, Calif., lost track of more than 40 pounds of cocaine in a misdirected piece of luggage during a Pittsburgh-bound Southwest Airlines Inc. flight last year, prosecutors said.
Mitchell had the drugs in a carry-on bag when he boarded the flight on Feb. 19, 2009, but a flight attendant put the bag in the plane’s cargo hold because it wouldn’t fit in an overhead luggage compartment, they said. The bag then was mistakenly unloaded during a layover in Las Vegas, and Mitchell later filed a lost-baggage claim for it after arriving in Pittsburgh, they said.
What’s next? Bank robbers’ getaway foiled by tarmac stranding? Counterfeiters snared by $7 blanket fee?
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Yahoo! BuzzMeet the SkyRider, the Tiniest Airplane Seat Yet
by Eva Holland | 09.13.10 | 3:32 PM ET
Wired has the scoop on the SkyRider, a new “saddle-style” design that debuts next week at an aircraft interiors conference. This latest innovation shaves up to ten inches off each row. Blogger Charlie Sorrel asks: “Is it one step closer to just drugging us and piling us onto shelves like suitcases, or a legitimate next-step for cheap air-travel?”
Airline-Fee Angst
by Jim Benning | 09.09.10 | 2:48 PM ET
MSNBC covers the latest in travelers’ frustrations over baggage fees and other supplemental charges, and it notes a new website for venting, aptly named MadAsHellAboutHiddenFees.com.
Anxious About Full-Body Scanners? xkcd has a Solution
by Eva Holland | 08.16.10 | 4:59 PM ET
Here’s the web comic’s, er, modest proposal. (Via James Fallows)
In Alaska, ‘There Are No Easy Flights’
by Eva Holland | 08.12.10 | 12:01 PM ET
In the wake of the plane crash that killed former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens and four others this week, James Fallows digs into “the unique world of Alaskan aviation,” noting that it’s “more dangerous than elsewhere in the country, but also more necessary.”
Your Flight Attendant Jokes Do Not Amuse JetBlue
by Eva Holland | 08.11.10 | 1:06 PM ET
The airline’s been objecting to cracks about Steven Slater’s infamous emergency chute escapade via its official Twitter account. Of course, this only inspires the tweeting jokers to new heights; here’s comedian Andy Borowitz’s response: “At @JetBlue you have to pay $5 extra for a sense of humor. Exact change, please.”
Meanwhile, the New York Times has unearthed the 1947 story of a Bronx bus driver who got fed up with his job—and took his rig on a 1,300-mile joy ride. That sounds even better than a trip down the inflatable slide, no?
JetBlue Flight Attendant Flees Plane Via Emergency Chute
by Eva Holland | 08.09.10 | 6:59 PM ET
The New York Times City Room blog has the details on today’s drama on the tarmac at JFK:
One passenger got out of his seat to fetch his belongings from the overhead compartment before the crew had given permission. Mr. Slater instructed the man to remain seated. The passenger defied him. Mr. Slater approached and reached the passenger just as he pulled down his luggage, which struck Mr. Slater in the head.
Mr. Slater asked for an apology. The passenger instead cursed at him. Mr. Slater got on the plane’s public address system and cursed out all aboard. Then he activated the inflatable evacuation slide at service exit R1, launched himself off the plane, an Embraer 190, ran to the employee parking lot and left the airport in a car he had parked there.
And then the puns began. NYT commenter Dave Ryan chimed in just 26 minutes after the story went live: “In this case, I’m hoping that the authorities just let it slide…”
Gawker’s always-reliable readers followed up with several more: “Yeah, the FAA is never gonna let this slide.” “Airplane security is a very slippery slope.” “Sounds like he blew his slid.”
The Red Eye: A Visual Diary
by Michael Yessis | 08.04.10 | 4:28 PM ET
Peanut stacking! A remote with a delete neighbor button! Clouds that look like a Henry Moore sculpture! Yup, more travel-related brilliance from Christoph Niemann.
Niemann previously mapped the hokey pokey, an omelet and Rumsfeld’s Iraq.
Christopher Hitchens and United Airlines’ Million-Miler Club
by Jim Benning | 08.04.10 | 12:26 PM ET
Christopher Hitchens’ touching piece about his battle with cancer in the latest Vanity Fair notes that he learned of the cancer after he reached a couple of milestones, including one on United Airlines:
Of course my book hit the best-seller list on the day that I received the grimmest of news bulletins, and for that matter the last flight I took as a healthy-feeling person (to a fine, big audience at the Chicago Book Fair) was the one that made me a million-miler on United Airlines, with a lifetime of free upgrades to look forward to. But irony is my business and I just can’t see any ironies here: would it be less poignant to get cancer on the day that my memoirs were remaindered as a box-office turkey, or that I was bounced from a coach-class flight and left on the tarmac? To the dumb question “Why me?” the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: Why not?
Here’s hoping Hitchens is around to write more best-sellers—and to enjoy many years of those free United upgrades.
Photos: Adventures in Airport Contraband
by Eva Holland | 08.02.10 | 3:49 PM ET
The New York Times Magazine offers up a selection of photos from Taryn Simon’s forthcoming photography book, “Contraband,” shot over five days at JFK. The seized items range from the predictable—pharmaceuticals, bongs, “mixed fruits”—to the truly bizarre: Cow-hoof bottle, anyone? (Via Kottke)
Travel Weekly Tackles ‘the Ralph Nader of the Skies’
by Eva Holland | 07.28.10 | 3:53 PM ET
Travelers who’ve been following the fight for a Passengers’ Bill of Rights will probably recognize the name Kate Hanni—she’s one of the leading voices lobbying for an end to tarmac strandings and other issues. Travel Weekly has just published a meaty look at the activist, in which “current and former members of the group’s inner circle have criticized Hanni’s leadership, questioned her motives and impugned her credibility.”
The story includes everything from allegedly hacked email accounts to accusations of influence peddling on Capitol Hill.
The Onion: Data-Recording Parrot Recovered From Plane Wreckage
by Eva Holland | 07.28.10 | 12:53 PM ET
The Onion News Network has the scoop:
Video: Man Builds Vintage First Class Pan Am Cabin in His Garage
by Michael Yessis | 07.23.10 | 11:33 AM ET
Suitcase Stickers: Guaranteed to Get You Pulled Aside at Airport Security
by Eva Holland | 07.22.10 | 11:54 AM ET
TheCheeky.com is selling these adhesive troublemakers—just $25 for a set of four. Enjoy. (Via Boing Boing)
Out the Airplane Window
by Peter Ferry | 07.20.10 | 12:59 PM ET
Photo: Jim Benning During flights, Peter Ferry isn't quick to pull down the window shade or watch a bad movie. Here's why.
‘Why Your Plane is Always Full’
by Eva Holland | 07.15.10 | 3:22 PM ET
James Fallows explains the increased congestion in the air, with helpful charts.
Scenes From the Golden Age of Airplane Food
by Michael Yessis | 07.06.10 | 11:10 AM ET
I guess there’s a Golden Age for everything. Marketplace turns back the clock to the post-WWII glory years of “platters laden with hors d’oeuvres” and “heaps of brisket.”
In-Flight Peanut Debate Rears Its Head Again
by Eva Holland | 06.18.10 | 2:56 PM ET
Yep, a possible airplane peanut ban is back on the table this week, and, much like the legume in question, opinions are split down the middle. Over at Salon’s “Ask the Pilot,” Patrick Smith thinks a switch to pretzels or another peanut-free snack should be a straightforward decision. Christopher Elliott isn’t so sure, noting the difficulties in enforcing a complete ban.
Mapped: The Places Your Travel Dollars Will Take You
by Eva Holland | 06.15.10 | 9:40 AM ET
Kayak has unveiled a pretty cool new Google maps-powered feature, Explore. Enter a price range and departure city—plus a few optional bonus fields, like your preferred temperature at destination—and Explore generates a map of all the places you can fly to on the budget you’ve specified. $550 dollars from my home in Whitehorse to San Francisco? Tempting, Kayak. Very tempting. (Via Kottke)
World Travel Watch: Volcanoes in Ecuador and Guatemala, Violence in Rome and More
by Larry Habegger | 06.09.10 | 12:29 PM ET
Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news