
Way back in the early 1990s when I was writing Travel Rights the DOT had a helpful pamphlet titled “Fly Rights.” Finally almost two decades later, the booklet, that has lived all this time on the Internet I am told, has been updated. Does it make sense of the crazy airline world that has emerged during the last decade in terms of security and during the last three years in terms of airline fees?
Sometimes yes, and sometimes no.
[click to continue…]

While airlines seem to be coming up with tighter and tighter seats in economy class, business and first class markets are still seeing many carriers striving to offer the most attractive seating options, especially on lucrative international routes.
United Airlines has been one of the last major carriers in the U.S. to install flat-bed or even “lie-flat” seats on many of their planes. Their international 747s and 767s have been converted for some time, with business class seats that recline 180 degrees.
But passengers on international 777s have been dealing with the old-style business seats, which are a big step down, for example, from British Airways’ flat-bed seats, or even Lufthansa’s lie-flat angled seats.
[click to continue…]

This is one of the most bizarre cases I’ve ever come across. Gregory Machon says he was kicked off his flight because he was sleeping. With his eyes open.
His condition, called nocturnal lagophthalmos, may affect somewhere between 4 and 20 percent of the population, so you would imagine the US Airways flight attendants who made the call to remove him from the flight had seen something like this before. Apparently not.
[click to continue…]

Atlanta, airlines reach deal on airport rent
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport came to an agreement with the airlines that will help fund a new terminal.
Under the deal, Delta Air Lines, AirTran Airways and other carriers will pay a supplementary fee of USD$30 million spread over four years from fiscal year 2013 to 2016.
That money will help fund an international terminal due to be completed in early 2012 and enable the airport to retain adequate financial reserves to maintain its credit rating, Reed said.
[click to continue…]