Free Republic

Southwest Airlines will soon require travelers who don’t fit within the armrests of their seat to pay for an extra one in advance, part of a string of recent changes the carrier is making. The new rule goes into effect Jan. 27, the same day Southwest starts assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can either pay for an extra seat in advance with the option of getting that money back later, or they can request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the carrier’s new policy, a refund is still possible but no longer guaranteed. In a statement Monday, Southwest...

n his book Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Doolittle Raid pilot Ted Lawson recalls the moment his B-25 bomber reached the coast of Japan – the first land he had seen, he tells us, after being at sea on the USS Hornet for nearly three weeks. "It looked very pretty," he writes:"Everything seemed as well kept as a big rock garden. The little farms were fitted in with almost mathematical precision. The fresh spring grass was brilliantly green. There were fruit trees in bloom, and farmers working in their fields waved to us as we pounded just over their heads. A...

A shocking video shows the moment a family attacked a woman after she complained that a young boy was persistently kicking her seat throughout their 3-hour 47-minute flight. When the China Southern Airlines flight CZ6164 landed, chaos erupted when the family reportedly surrounded the woman and physically confronted her, insisting she should have more empathy because 'he's only a child.' The incident occurred on 7 August after the flight from Shenzhen to Dalian, and is now under investigation by the Dalian Airport Public Security Bureau. Passengers reported that the boy, seated directly behind the woman, repeatedly kicked her seat during...

Air Canada said on Tuesday it has asked for federal government intervention in contract talks with its flight attendants union, after the airline declared an impasse in the negotiations. The company also warned of potential flight disruptions, saying it had made arrangements with other Canadian and foreign carriers to provide customers alternative travel options. Patty Hajdu, Canada's Minister of Jobs and Families, said later in the day that she had met with both the union and Air Canada, and was closely monitoring the situation. "I ... encourage both parties to remain at the table until a deal is reached," Hajdu...

Key Points The airline issued a going-concern warning in its quarterly filing, months after emerging from bankruptcy, The budget airline icon has tried to attract bookings by marketing more upscale products like premium economy. The carrier has been challenged by an oversupply of domestic flights, changing consumer tastes and an engine grounding. ============================================================== Spirit Airlines has warned it might not be able to survive as a going concern if it doesn’t raise more cash, five months after the budget-travel icon emerged from bankruptcy. After cutting its debt during restructuring, Spirit has tried to attract bookings by marketing more upscale products...

To expand specialized training under the Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative, the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on Monday that the Federal Aviation Administration will be partnering with Nashua Community College. “​​Our new partnership with Nashua Community College will help us continue to attract the best and brightest to fill our air traffic control towers,” Duffy said in a statement. “To all the young Americans considering a career in this exciting field – your work will make flying safer and more efficient than ever.” Monday's announcement is the newest program “to be announced this year” in Duffy’s...

All flights grounded due to a system wide failure. Thats is all they are saying. Currently stuck on the tarmac in Denver

Passengers aboard a Cathay Pacific flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong endured a nightmare journey that may have just broken the record for the world's longest commercial flight - but not in distance. Flight CX883 took off from LAX at 12:55 am on August 4 with nearly 300 passengers onboard, expecting a 13-hour transpacific trip. But a freak weather event over Hong Kong turned the flight into a 29-hour ordeal in the sky - and on the tarmac.

A man has been found guilty of attacking two female police officers during a large violent disturbance at Manchester Airport. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, was charged with assaulting the Greater Manchester Police officers during the fracas on 23 July last year, with a video of the incident being widely shared on social media. Following a three-week trail at Liverpool Crown Court, Amaaz was convicted of assaulting PC Lydia Ward, causing actual bodily harm, and the assault of emergency worker PC Ellie Cook. The jury was unable to reach verdicts on allegations that Amaaz and his brother, Muhammad Ahmed, 26, assaulted...

The body of a passenger who died during an international flight to San Francisco, prompting the aircraft to divert to Chicago, is reportedly unaccounted for, according to reporting by SFGATE. Neither airport officials nor a representative for the airline would comment on the circumstances surrounding the death and declined to confirm the passenger’s identity, nationality and gender, the outlet reported. The passenger’s body would presumably then be under the jurisdiction of the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, though Natalia Derevyanny, a spokesperson for the department, told SFGATE that there was no record of the deceased passenger or of any case...

The Transportation Security Administration has introduced a significant change for travelers, allowing certain passengers to avoid rescreening. This week, the TSA rolled out the 'One Stop Security' program, with American Airlines being the first to adopt the change. This pilot program, authorized by Congress, permits passengers arriving in the U.S. from international airports with connecting flights to skip TSA rescreening. Delta Air Lines is set to launch its one-stop flight arriving at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport by the end of July, as per the TSA...... The airline explained travelers can then move straight to their connecting flight without retrieving and...

The Boeing X-32, derided for its “ugly,” cartoonish appearance, was a formidable contender in the Joint Strike Fighter competition but ultimately lost to what became the F-35. Despite its superb handling qualities, which one test pilot compared to an F/A-18, the X-32’s downfall was its flawed and complex Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) design.

WASHINGTON — Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg failed to replace outdated air-traffic-control systems while in office — with his agency instead shelling out tens of billions of dollars on a DEI agenda, according to federal spending records and airline-industry insiders. What his department was really interested in was handing out hundreds of diversity, equity and inclusion grants totaling more than $80 billion over four years — at least half of the DOT’s entire budget for a typical fiscal year, records show.

Passengers were stranded in a “war zone” at a Maine airport for over 17 hours after their flight was diverted due to a pair of butt-huffing bozos puffing cigarettes on board. Passengers were stranded in Bangor, Maine, for over 17 hours after their TUI Airways flight from Cancun, Mexico, to London, UK, was diverted due to a couple smoking on board. “It was like a war zone in a lounge — rows and rows of beds,” passenger Terry Lawrance said while painting the dismal scene in Bangor, Maine (pictured). “Everybody was fed up,” UK native Terry Lawrance, 66, told Southwest...

The Transportation Security Administration did not officially start requiring travelers to take off their shoes at the airport until August 2006. That was nearly five years after Richard Reid unsuccessfully tried to ignite explosives in his sneakers on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. The fear of Reid copycats was the ostensible justification for the TSA's seemingly belated shoe rule, which the agency finally ditched last week, nearly two decades after adopting it. The longevity of that widely resented and ridiculed policy, which the U.S. was nearly alone in enforcing, illustrates the ratchet effect at work in security...

President Donald Trump signed several executive orders on Friday, lifting regulations on aviation technology and working to boost American manufacturing of drones. The trio of orders lifts regulations that had made domestic production of drones costly, prioritizes the usage of American-made drones by federal agencies and provides for the creation of a grant program for U.S. authorities to buy drones, according to NOTUS. The American drone industry had in recent years been struggling to compete with that of China, The Wall Street Journal reported. “Red tape has hindered homegrown drone innovation, restricting commercial drone use and burdening their development,” Michael...

Flying soon? TSA just banned lithium batteries from checked bags. Here’s what’s allowed and how to pack your electronics the right way. If you’re like me and always pack a portable charger or spare battery for your devices, you’ll want to pay close attention to a new rule that could impact your next trip. The TSA has just banned lithium batteries—including those in power banks and charging cases—from checked luggage. Here’s what you need to know before you head to the airport. What You Need to Know Spare lithium batteries (including power banks and charging cases) are now banned from...

Newark Liberty International Airport on Monday experienced its fourth communications outage in less than a month. The Federal Aviation Administration says this latest outage lasted for two seconds at the Philadelphia air traffic control center, also known as TRACON, that handles flights into and out of Newark. The agency, which is investigating the latest outage, insists the system remains safe. But recent equipment failures, staffing shortages, and aging infrastructure have raised questions. Randy Babbitt served as FAA administrator from 2009 to 2011 under then Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. In an interview with NJ Spotlight News, Babbitt said he is not...

On Thursday, a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals partially overturned a previous ruling that found Southwest Airlines acted with religious discrimination when it fired a flight attendant who shared pro-life messages on Facebook. In 2017, Charlene Carter filed a lawsuit against Southwest, arguing that she was unfairly fired from her flight attendant position because of her pro-life stance. When the flight attendant union, TWU Local 556, decided to participate in the 2017 Women’s March, Carter shared her criticism of the decision on Facebook because of the March’s connection to pro-abortion messaging and Planned Parenthood. She sent a...

A ground stop was ordered at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport on Sunday due to an equipment outage. The Federal Aviation Administration issued the ground stop at 10:40 a.m. ET on Mother's Day. 'Departures to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International are grounded due to equipment outage,' the agency said. The ground stop was issued for flights scheduled to leave from East Coast area airports bound for Atlanta, reported Atlanta News First. Arrivals were slowed down due to 'a runway equipment issue,' and technicians worked to fix the issue. The ground stop was lifted shortly before 12:30 p.m., and departures continued to be delayed by...