air travel

Stories 281 - 300 | << Prev   Next >>

Icelandic Ash Nears UK Airspace

Nervous officials monitoring cranky volcano

(Newser) - Volcanic ash from a spewing Icelandic volcano is drifting toward UK airspace, threatening a possible repeat of last year's travel debacle. Iceland grounded all flights at its main Keflavik airport yesterday after the Grimsvotn volcano shot steam and ash 12 miles into the air. The ash is expected to...

NTSB: Southwest Jet Had Fatigue Cracking

Meanwhile, airline grounds 79 planes, cancels hundreds of flights

(Newser) - Fatigue cracking has been found along the entire 5-foot section of a Southwest Airlines jet that ripped open on Friday, forcing an emergency landing in Arizona. The NTSB says that mechanics will cut a 9-foot by 3-foot section of the plane and send it to Washington, DC, for testing. Southwest...

Planes Landed as DC Controller Slept

FAA probing incident at Reagan National Airport

(Newser) - Two planes were forced to land without guidance or clearance from the control tower at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, DC, because the air traffic supervisor was asleep, federal officials say. Efforts to reach the supervisor—the only controller on duty at the time—failed, and the late-night flights early...

Holograms Will Greet Travelers at UK Airport

Digitized employees to explain security measures

(Newser) - Don't be startled if you accidentally bump into a staff member at Manchester Airport and pass right through them. The British airport recently unveiled their latest effort to reduce security queues—holograms of its staff members. The holographic projections will greet travelers and lecture them on topics such as liquid...

Tech-Savvy Travelers Rebook Flights Via Twitter

It beats waiting in line

(Newser) - An extra twist of the knife for the poor souls waiting in line for ticket agents to rebook flights: Some of their fellow travelers got it done with a tweet. Delta, for instance, has had several employees focused mainly on handling direct-message Twitter requests from tech-savvy passengers since the East...

Passengers Brawl as Storms Paralyze Russia's Airports

Airport chaos called the worst in 15 years

(Newser) - Furious Moscow airport passengers scuffled with employees and hundreds tried to rush a passport barrier at Sheremetyevo to board planes as weather continued to paralyze travel. Russian President Medvedev is calling for prosecutors to investigate what is being called the worst meltdown in Russian air travel in 15 years after...

Airlines' Crowded Planes Slow Storm Recovery
Airlines' Crowded Planes
Slow Storm Recovery
analysis
Dec 28, 2010 1:38 PM CST

Airlines' Crowded Planes Slow Storm Recovery

Passenger jets flying at record 82% capacity this year

(Newser) - When a blizzard the size of this week's arrives on the scene, air travel is going to suffer . But Nate Silver points out something else that's contributing to the slow recovery: airlines are flying with more passengers these days. Through September, "load factors on domestic flights—essentially the percentage...

Vicious Dog Forces Plane to Land
Vicious Dog Forces Plane to Land
Dec 7, 2010 1:41 AM CST

Vicious Dog Forces Plane to Land

Terrier runs amok in passenger cabin

(Newser) - A passenger who apparently had trouble following the instruction "Don't let your dog out of its carrier" forced a US Airways flight from Newark to Phoenix to make an unscheduled stop in Pittsburgh. The agitated 12-pound Manchester terrier, set loose in the cabin, bit a passenger and a flight...

Snow Shuts Europe Air Hubs
 Snow Shuts Europe Air Hubs 
Dec 1, 2010 3:30 AM CST

Snow Shuts Europe Air Hubs

Storms, strikes snarl travel across continent

(Newser) - European air travel hasn't been disrupted this much since Eyjafjalljokull was spewing: Winter storms have snarled air and road traffic across Europe for the third day in a row, forcing major air hubs like Edinburgh and Geneva to shut down completely and causing delays at many others, the AP reports....

Complaints on Airport Scans, Pat-Downs Get Louder

Travel industry airs concerns to Homeland Security

(Newser) - Rumblings about full-body scans and airport pat-downs are getting louder, and the travel industry is seriously worried ahead of the holiday travel season, reports CNN . So much so that Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano met with nearly two dozen industry representatives yesterday to hear their concerns. Those reps are not...

Why Airline Food Is So Bland
 Why Airline Food Is So Bland 
Oct 15, 2010 6:40 AM CDT

Why Airline Food Is So Bland

Background noise diminishes sense of taste

(Newser) - Airline food is notoriously bland because of engine noise, not a lack of spice, according to new research. Volunteers who ate sweet or salty foods while listening to silence through headphones found the flavors more intense than a group of volunteers who heard white noise. The latter group found the...

Airline Seat of the Future?

 Airline Seat 
 of the Future? 
Sep 10, 2010 4:52 PM CDT

Airline Seat of the Future?

It's kind of like sitting, kind of like standing

(Newser) - A new airline seat has riders straddling a saddle-like cushion, with just 23 inches of space between them and passenger in front of them, USA Today reports. The SkyRider, in which passengers are somewhere between standing and sitting, will be unveiled at an industry conference next week. Maker Aviointeriors hopes...

Flight Attendant Freaks Out, Flees Plane

JetBlue employee curses out passenger, exits using emergency slide

(Newser) - A potty-mouthed passenger was the last straw for a JetBlue flight attendant who cursed out the customer on the PA system of an arriving flight at New York's JFK airport today, then deployed the emergency slide to make his getaway. Steven Slater was arrested at his home nearby and charged...

7 Puppies Dead After American Airlines Flight

Airline investigating the shipper who put them aboard

(Newser) - American Airlines says seven puppies died after being put on a jet from Tulsa to Chicago. The airline says it contacted the shipper who put the puppies on the morning flight yesterday and is investigating further. The shipper put 14 puppies aboard Flight 851 scheduled to leave Tulsa at 6:...

United Flight Hits Turbulence, Injuring 30

At least one person is seriously injured

(Newser) - A fire official says a United Airlines jetliner was diverted to Denver after experiencing "significant turbulence," injuring about 30 people onboard, one seriously. The flight originated in Washington, DC, and was headed to Los Angeles. Denver Fire Department spokesman Eric Tade says the plane was able to land...

Budget Airline's New Idea: Standing Tickets

Ryanair proposes another doozy, but safety issues loom

(Newser) - Ryanair—already considering a plan to charge passengers to pee—has another brilliant idea for budget travelers. CEO Michael O'Leary is floating the idea of removing the last 10 rows of seats in its planes so passengers could stand in exchange for cheaper tickets, reports the Telegraph . He calls them...

Maggots Force Plane Back to Gate
Maggots Force Plane
Back to Gate 
Jun 30, 2010 7:20 PM CDT

Maggots Force Plane Back to Gate

Someone brought spoiled meat in a carry-on

(Newser) - It's not quite Snakes on a Plane, but close enough for passengers on a US Airways flight getting ready to take off from Atlanta to Charlotte. The plane had to return to the gate for cleaning when maggots emerged from an overhead bin. It seems someone brought aboard spoiled meat...

Scientist Warns of Airport Scanner Cancer Risk

(Newser) - The radiation emitted by airport body scanners is up to 20 times more powerful than previously believed, warns a scientist who says current calculations fail to take into account the concentration of scanner radiation in the skin. This would mean the potential cancer risk from scanners is also much higher....

Prince's Agitated Horses Delay Saudi Flight

Horses ultimately tranquilized for takeoff

(Newser) - Six Arabian horses owned by a Saudi Arabian prince became agitated in the cargo hold of a Saudi-bound plane today, delaying takeoff for more than an hour, officials at an Egyptian airport report. An EgyptAir pilot was forced to turn the plane with 189 passengers around on the runway because...

Airline Blames Customs for Stranded Flyers
Airline Blames Customs for Stranded Flyers
4 hours on tarmac
Jun 24, 2010 7:21 PM CDT

Airline Blames Customs for Stranded Flyers

Virgin says feds threatened arrests if passengers got off

(Newser) - Well somebody's lying: Virgin Atlantic says it had to keep passengers on a hot airplane for 4 hours on the tarmac because a Customs official demanded it, reports AP . The pilot says he called upon landing at the Connecticut airport and was told passengers would be arrested if they disembarked...

Stories 281 - 300 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser