Independence Air offers free tickets for lost bags
Independence Air offers free tickets for lost bags –
Low-fare carrier Independence Air will offer customers a free one-way flight if the airline loses their checked baggage. The carrier will offer a credit for travel in the amount of the one-way fare paid for the flight in which the luggage was misplaced. (Business Journal)
Spying WestJet switched terminals, court told — WestJet Airlines Ltd. shifted its eastern hub to Toronto from Hamilton after stealing confidential data from Air Canada in an elaborate spying scheme, according to new court documents that show what forensic auditors uncovered on a WestJet co-founder’s hard drive. Air Canada, in the latest instalment in the corporate espionage case that has gripped the country’s airline industry, filed new exhibits in support of its $220-million lawsuit against WestJet. (Globe & Mail)
Audit: staff shortages, bad training, plague TSA — Shortages of staff and high-speed Internet connections prevent thousands of security screeners at the nation’s airports from getting the training they need to more effectively detect guns and explosives, according to a government audit released Monday. From July to October, screeners at 75% of the 450 airports didn’t get the three hours of weekly training required by the government, says the audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). (USA Today)
Golly, this Brazilian startup isn’t bankrupt — In an age when airlines are going bankrupt faster than you can say Chapter 11, some might say that starting one in a developing nation like Brazil was a brave decision. But since taking off in January 2001 with just six planes and seven destination cities, Gol Airlines has proven itself a worthy successor to the US and British discounters that founder Constantino de Oliveira Jr. used as templates. (Christian Science Monitor)
Tough choices ahead for Amtrak, Congress — Trains cost taxpayers too much. Every 10,000 miles that a train passenger traveled in 2002 cost federal taxpayers $200 in subsidies, compared with $6 for passenger jets and $4 for long-distance buses. Amtrak, the main operator of passenger trains across the country, has proposed ideas to fix this madness, and so has the Bush administration. Now Congress has to act. (Washington Post)
Frat cruise turns into streetfight — It definitely was not the “Love Boat.” Police said Monday that when they responded to a
9-1-1 call from frantic crew members aboard a Blue and Gold ferry making an emergency docking at Jack London Square shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday, they found people fighting on both decks and some so drunk they couldn’t even stand up. (Oakland Tribune)
Contributing: Charles Leocha, John Frenaye