Ah, back when air travel was more than just a pain. No long security lines, no crazy fees, and United had a nice livery!
Source: Airliners.net
How big of a shirt do we need to show all the fees we pay too?
There are some pretty crazy fees for airlines now-a-days. From checking a bag, to getting a pillow. But these are some of the weirdest (and some dumbest) ones I have seen.
- Spirit Airlines was charging a $2.50 “natural occurrence interruption fee” to try to re-capture losses from weather. They also had an $8.50 “international service recovery fee” meant to get money for having international destinations. The US DOT gave them a $40,000.00 fine and made them take down the non-advertised fees.
- Allegiant Air charges a “convenience fee” of $13.50 for getting a ticket on their website. Which goes against the industry standard now of charging people to NOT book on the website.
- Ryaair charges about $7 per passenger for a “payment handling fee” no matter how you end up booking the ticket.
- United charges a $349 flat annual fee for frequent flyers (and companion) to fly in the Economy Plus in the front of the plane whenever possible.
- In the CRAZIEST fee I have seriously heard of (have always heard people joke about this), Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary says they are looking to charge for bathroom usage. “Eventually it’s going to happen. It’s just we can’t do it at the moment because we don’t have a mechanism for charging you,” he said. Although, mostly a well-crafted publicity stunt (yes, I know I am guilty of writing about it and furthering their agenda), but it shows that maybe someday, some airline will be silly enough to try this.
Sources: The Consumerist, ATW, and ABCNews Image: Marchorowitz
Let's Honk for JetBlue
There has been a lot of bad economic news for the airline industry for a long while now. But many individuals are starting to feel the pain of the suffering economy by losing their jobs.
To assist those unfortunate people who lose their jobs, JetBlue Airways is offering a full refund to anyone “who experiecnes involuntary full-time job loss prior to their trip.” This is quite helpful for those who planned a nice vacation before receiving a pink slip for sure (even though that is probably a time where they need a vacation the most).
The JetBlue Promise Program also allows people to be confident in purchasing new tickets, if their job is on the line. Of course there are the normal restrictions (must give 2 weeks notice, your flight must be booked from Feb 1 to June 1 2009, and you must lose your job on Feb 17th or later). All that being said, it is kind of nice an airline helping out someone who might need a nice vacation right about now!
Source: JetBlue.com Image: jetblueflickr
Boeing 787 airplane ZA001 outside the final assembly hall in Everett, WA
If you have been following the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, you have probably been pretty frustrated with the delays. I always love the day when a new airliner is able to come out of the hanger, taxi out, and fly. Boeing says the Dreamliner is on target (well the newest target) to start deliveries in the first quarter of 2010. This sounds of good news, but deliveries were supposed to start in May 2008.
They have had delays from parts, production “glitches” and of course that 2-month strike. Then add to all of that the global economic downturn and people flying less, creating a smaller demand for new aircraft like the 787. Although the demand might be smaller, Boeing still has 878 orders from 57 different customers.
Source: KOMO Image: andyconniecox
Continental Airlines Dash-8 Q400 Image: lindsaywp
I notice I seem to avoid having to write about stories in the news that aren’t so positive in the airline business. I know those of us interested or that work in this business hate to see when a plane goes down and lives are lost.
Flight 3407, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, crashed at about 10pm on February 12th. It crashed into some houses, killing a 61-year old man who was home at the time and all 48 people (44 passengers, 4 crew) that were aboard the plane.
It appears at this point the plane lost forward momentum and came down flat on its belly. Some indicators are pointing to icing that was reported before the crash.
Even though ice could turn out to be the main factor of this, the Dash 8 is well known to handle the ice well and ability to get through almost anything. From what is reported now, it seems this accident happened very quickly, giving very little opprotunity for the pilots to save the doomed plane.
My thoughts go out to the families of those affected by this tragic loss.