Around the world solo
Around the world solo — After three sleepless days and a nail-biting 24 hours wondering if he would have to ditch in the ocean for lack of fuel, millionaire aviator Steve Fossett rode a rollicking tailwind into America’s heartland Thursday to become the first pilot to complete a solo nonstop flight around the globe. Fossett guided his single-engine jet to a flawless landing here at 2:50 p.m. Eastern time and triumphantly disembarked on a brilliantly sunny day as thousands cheered.
Study: online agencies outperform airlines — Online travel agencies outperform airlines in terms of customer experience, a major contributor to the agencies’ success in converting shoppers to customers, a website-tracking firm said Thursday. Based on research with 2,000 consumers using the 16 leading travel and airline web sites, Keynote Systems Inc. found that the three top agency sites, Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity, scored “significantly better” than any airline site, except Southwest, in customer satisfaction and customer conversion.
Flying the cranky skies — It’s official. Americans are now flying the crowded, cranky skies. Flight delays in January were the worst for that month since 1999, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. And passenger complaints spiked dramatically, more than doubling since January a year ago and increasing 40 percent over December.
Travel firms take action on Google keywords — Three top travel operators have taken action to ensure internet users are driven to their websites first when searching through Google. Companies pay to have their websites linked to particular terms on Google - one of the world’s top search engines.
‘Our patience is over’ TSA chief told — A powerful House lawmaker grilled the chief of the Transportation Security Administration at a hearing Thursday over the slow pace of developing and fielding new screening technology for the nation’s airports. “Our patience is over. This is it,” Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security told TSA Administrator David Stone. “When are you going to get these machines into the airports?”
A fine for feline on flight — One of the world’s leading airlines has been fined £1500 for allowing a woman to take her family cat on a flight. Air France allowed Sandra Merlet to take Jasmine, her pedigree Thai cat, into the aircraft cabin alongside passengers on a flight from Paris to Edinburgh.