The Week: Most Recent Air Travel

The latest outrage-inducing airline fee: $25 for a window seat?

The Week — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:59:00 -0400

Everyone knows airplanes' middle seats are the worst. And of course, the airlines realize it, too — and are looking to profit off of our reluctance to be sardined. An increasing number of carriers are reserving window and aisle seats for frequent fliers or passengers willing to shell out an extra $25 or more each way. This makes it harder, or at least more expensive, for families, friends, and couples to sit together. Here, a guide to what could be your next summer travel headache:

Why charge for window seats?
Airlines have become shameless when it comes to wringing extra cash out of...

Are airplane seats dangerously small for fat Americans?

The Week — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:28:00 -0400

Under safety standards written more than 60 years ago, airplane seats must be designed to accommodate a 170-pound passenger. The trouble is, Americans have grown much larger in the decades since the rules were established, and some engineers are starting to question whether airline seats are strong enough to protect overweight travelers, according to The New York Times. Is flying unsafe for obese passengers? Here's what you need to know:

How heavy are we?
Today, the average man weighs 194 pounds, making him 24 pounds heavier than the passengers for whom the seats were designed. The average woman...

Ryanair's 7 most ridiculous cost-saving ventures

The Week — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:23:00 -0400

Dubbed "the Walmart of the skies," Ryanair embodies the once-glamorous airline industry's new reality as a cattle-car delivery system. Searching high and low for any way to undersell its competitors, the Irish airline, led by outspoken CEO Michael O'Leary, takes a no-frills approach to the extreme. And judging by Ryanair's popularity, fliers are willing to tolerate a little hardship, and perhaps sacrifice a smidgeon of dignity, in exchange for cheaper tickets. Here, Ryanair's seven craziest tightwad proposals:

1. Urging flight attendants to lose weight
With fuel costs rising, Ryanair is ...

Will airlines finally stop forcing fliers to turn off their iPads?

The Week — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:00:00 -0400

Alec Baldwin is hardly the only air traveler who doesn't like it when a flight attendant announces that all electronic devices must be powered down prior to takeoff. Experts and frequent fliers have long suspected that the rule — which ostensibly prevents our gadgets from interfering with the plane's complex equipment — is unnecessary, and might have been created just to torture us. After all, pilots are allowed to use iPads in the cockpit, so why can't we? Well, happier flights might be on the horizon: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is giving the rules a "fresh look" to...

Petty controversy: Alec Baldwin vs. American Airlines

The Week — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:32:00 -0500

The petty controversy: Call it "Words with Friends-gate." On Tuesday, 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin said via Twitter that an American Airlines flight attendant had "reamed" him out for playing the popular Scrabble-like game on his smartphone while his plane sat at the gate. The airline said on Facebook that an indignant Baldwin refused to turn off his device, got up and "slammed the lavatory door so hard, the cockpit crew heard it and became alarmed." Baldwin, who was kicked off the flight, "was extremely rude to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and using offensive...

The girl barred from flying because her purse was considered a lethal weapon

The Week — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:15:00 -0500

The TSA may have shot itself in the foot once again. Vanessa Gibbs, 17, was recently stopped at a Virginia airport by a Transportation Security Administration official because her purse was decorated with a gun motif. TSA agents flagged the handbag as a security risk, and the resulting delay caused Gibbs, who is pregnant, to miss her flight from Norfolk, Va. to her home in Jacksonville, Fla. Instead, Gibbs was diverted to Orlando, sending her waiting mother into a panic. Here's what you should know:

What does this purse look like?
On the front of the small brown bag is a miniature revolver dotted...

Do gadgets really need to be turned off during flights?

The Week — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:16:00 -0500

"Ladies and gentleman, we'll be landing soon. All electronic devices must now be powered off." That familiar, groan-inducing announcement is heard on just about every commercial flight. But is it necessary? Can a laptop really screw up a jumbo jet's communication system during takeoff and landing? As the holiday travel season approaches, commentators are asking once again: Is it time to change the rule?

This is a pointless rule: "If electronic gadgets could bring down an airplane," says Nick Bilton in The New York Times, "you can be sure that the Department of Homeland Security...

The airline passengers forced to pay $31,000 extra for fuel

The Week — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:58:00 -0500

Air travelers have been forced in recent years to pay extra for everything from pillows to leg room to assigned seats. Now, two charter flights from India to England have taken things to a new low. Twice in the last week, Comtel Airline customers have been forced to cough up cash to pay for fuel and landing fees. In one instance, a flight from India to England stopped in Austria, where it was stranded until travelers raised $31,000, supposedly for fuel. Here, a brief guide:

Passengers were asked to chip in for gas money?
Yep. On Tuesday, a flight by charter airline Comtel took off from Amritsar...

Should porn be allowed on airlines?

The Week — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:12:00 -0500

Airlines already charge for blankets, legroom, food, and booze. Now one European carrier wants to expand those offerings to include porn. The chief of Irish discount airline Ryanair tells Britain's Sun that the company is considering offering titillating in-flight entertainment. The porn would be available via a Ryanair app for tablets and smartphones, which passengers could also use to gamble or play games. Does porn really have a place on crowded, irritant-packed airplanes?

This is a terrible idea: "If you thought sitting next to someone with a baby or a large person spilling over into...

The 'hilarious' TSA note about a woman's vibrator

The Week — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:22:00 -0400

The TSA's full body scanners have prompted privacy and modesty concerns, but one woman alleges that the TSA violated her privacy in a far more overt way. Feminist blogger Jill Filipovic says that after flying from Newark to Dublin, she opened her suitcase to find a special note from the TSA. Scrawled across the agency's official search form was a message: "GET YOUR FREAK ON." (See a picture of the note here.) I "guess they discovered a 'personal item' in my bag," Filipovic tweeted. "Wow." The item in question was a small, inexpensive silver bullet vibrator from the sex toy chain Babeland, chosen...

The deadly Reno air-race crash: 4 lessons

The Week — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:08:00 -0400

On Friday, a vintage World War II–era P-51 Mustang fighter plane piloted by veteran stunt flyer Jimmy Leeward crashed into the VIP stands at the National Championship Air Races outside Reno, Nev., killing Leeward and at least eight others, and injuring dozens more. (Watch an expletive-laced video of the crash below.) The next day, a post-war T-28 Warbird crashed at an air show in Martinsburg, W.Va., killing the pilot, Jack "Flash" Mangan. What do the crashes tell us about the safety and future of air competitions?

1. These races will never be completely safe
The Reno air races are different...

TSA airport screening: Are we safe enough to keep our shoes on?

The Week — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:21:00 -0400

In news likely to soothe frazzled travelers, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano tells Politico that airline passengers might soon be able to go through airport security screening without removing their shoes. Passengers have had to remove their footwear for scanning ever since Richard Reid's failed shoe-bombing attempt three months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But there hasn't been a similar attempt since. Is it safe to take this step back toward the pre-9/11 normal?

It is too soon to let down our guard: "We're safer, but not safe enough," says Nancy Benac for the...

Is autopilot making airline pilots too 'dumb' to fly?

The Week — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:15:00 -0400

Hundreds of airline passengers have died in the past five years because pilots were unable to right a stalled or otherwise out-of-control plane. And according to a draft Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report obtained by the Associated Press, part of the problem is the increased reliance on autopilot. Human pilots are "forgetting how to fly," says FAA adviser Rory Kay, and this "automation addiction" is a real problem when automatic flying systems fail. Is the reduction in hands-on flying time making pilots too "dumb" to fly?

Yes — be afraid: Yikes, says Adrian Covert at...

The end of 'naked scanners'?

The Week — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:22:00 -0400

The Transportation Security Administration announced last week that airport scanners will no longer show images of travelers' naked bodies to security officers. Instead, thanks to a software upgrade, the scanners will "auto-detect items that could pose a potential threat" and display them on a generic, family-friendly cartoon image that the passenger himself can see. Is the nationwide "naked scanner" privacy scare officially over?

The peep show ends now: All the critics wanted was for the TSA to "find a way to simultaneously protect lives and preserve privacy," says the Chicago Tribune in an editorial...

The fastest way to board an airplane

The Week — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 10:30:00 -0400

Airlines have devised a number of ruthless cost-cutting strategies, from surcharges for extra bags to "standing seats" that force passengers to lean into a saddle-like chair. (Following a storm of complaints, that last idea never got off the ground.) The latest innovation, from American Airlines, is more about speed than cost, however. American has decided that boarding passengers in a random fashion is faster than its former policy of boarding passengers sitting in the back of the plane first, before those in the front. Here, a guide to this new seating scheme:

How does random boarding work...

The woman who allegedly 'molested' a TSA agent

The Week — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:48:00 -0400

Phoenix police have arrested a Colorado woman, Yukari Mihamae, and accused her of "squeezing and twisting" a Transportation Security Agency employee's breast. Mihamae was charged with felony sexual assault. Though early reports said Mihamae, 61, admitted groping the unidentified agent, the New York Post says she denied it in an interview. Is Mihamae's alleged treatment of the agent fair payback for the TSA's hands-on history, or just plain wrong?

Mihamae should get a medal, not jail time: The only rational reason to do such a thing, says Lauri Apple at Gawker, is to make a heroic stand against the...