Free Republic

Now might be the moment to get a table at Tatiana — because everyone has been stranded in paradise by the Venezuela crisis. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy closed down airspace around the South American nation Saturday night amid the jaw-dropping operation to seize president Nicolás Maduro, meaning that the commercial flights and private jets that were meant to ferry movie stars, moguls and mega-millionaires back to reality after their New Year’s celebrations were grounded. We’re told Queen Latifah, Mike Tyson, Ming Lee Simmons, Natalie Portman and party pacha Richie Akiva were among those beached in St. Barts and the...

Athens (AFP) – Flights at Greek airports were cancelled or delayed Sunday after a technical problem knocked out airspace radio frequencies, the country's civil aviation authority said, calling the outage "unprecedented". At Greece's main airport, Eleftherios Venizelos in Athens, passengers were stuck in long queues as several domestic and international flights were delayed or grounded altogether, an AFP reporter saw. The radio frequency loss was first reported around 0700 GMT. "No plane landed or took off for at least two hours," said the press office at Athens airport, where 31.6 million passengers transited in the first 11 months of 2025....

Business class comes with Champagne, lie-flat seats and an unspoken sense of calm. What it does not guarantee is immunity from crime. A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 months in jail after attempting to steal another passenger’s carry-on bag mid-flight on a Singapore Airlines service from Dubai to Singapore. Liu Ming boarded the August flight with intent. Prosecutors told the court he deliberately targeted business class passengers, assuming premium cabins meant premium valuables. He was seated only a few rows away from an Azerbaijani couple whose overhead luggage contained items worth more than S$100,000, roughly A$116,000. The timing...

A nasty fight erupted outside of Miami International Airport on Monday as travelers were seen pulling each other's hair and dragging one another to the ground. The fight began just after 9 pm EST near the airport's lower-level doors 16 and 17, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office. A video of the altercation went viral on social media, depicting the terrifying moments when two individuals began beating each other. As fists flew, others ran to join the fight. The brawl involved both men and women, as some attempted to de-escalate the violence. At one point, an individual was pulled by...

Down Under, the pace of life in the control tower looks entirely different. Shorter weeks, more predictable schedules, and a culture that prioritizes balance – it’s no surprise that it’s drawing attention from those feeling crushed by the system back home. Many of these professionals aren’t chasing bigger paychecks. Over 40% of controllers in the US regularly pull six-day weeks with 10-hour shifts. Many opt for patterns that promise a few days off but come at a steep cost to the body’s natural rhythms. You might finish an afternoon shift and then start a midnight one just hours later. It’s...

An Alaska Airlines customer exploded at staff after they refused to let her stash two cats under her plane seat. The passenger, who later identified herself as Alexandra Compton, from Portland, Oregon could be see lashing out at the workers Sunday as they calmly explained their pet policy. 'Show me the policy, then, before I booked the flight, that said that I had to have a certain weight of cat to go under the seat,' Compton, who lives in Las Vegas, fumed. She then accused airline staff of 'ruining Christmas' after they explained that the cats would not have a...

Forget, ‘no good deed goes unpunished’. More accurately, no corporate wokeness goes unpunished by those taking advantage of it. Affirmative action is one of the worst examples as companies set themselves up for lawsuits like this through their illegal and immoral pursuit of diversity. A group of 18 former student pilots sued Fort Worth-based American Airlines this week, alleging the company misled them and racially discriminated against them while they were enrolled in a flight training program. The federal lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a federal court in San Diego by a group of plaintiffs who identify as Black, Asian or...

Air travel has grown more chaotic in recent years, and one trend stands out for its brazenness: passengers requesting wheelchair assistance to board early, only to walk off the plane unaided at their destination. Social media has dubbed these “miracle flights,” with the sudden recoveries credited to a tongue-in-cheek figure called “Jetway Jesus.” The practice exploits a system meant to help those with genuine mobility needs, and it’s drawing sharp criticism from fellow travelers and industry observers. The issue gained fresh attention this Christmas season with reports of passengers faking mobility problems to skip security lines and claim priority boarding....

A former TSA agent speaks out about what she saw and what she calls an obvious connection to billions of dollars of fraud. A former Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent, Liz Jaksa, joined Liz Collin on her podcast. She who worked at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport from 2016 to 2021. She explained to Collin, “I’ve seen a lot of things, but the most shocking is exactly that. I saw suitcases filled with millions of dollars of cash, and the couriers were always Somali men traveling in pairs.” While flying with cash isn’t illegal and must be declared, it still...

This potty-mouthed passenger took a stand — and lost her seat. A United Airlines passenger’s meltdown went viral after the irate woman lobbed a few choice words at a poised flight attendant during a delay on the tarmac at Newark Liberty International Airport. A fellow traveler captured the woman’s entire tirade — which quickly garnered nearly 500,000 views on TikTok since it was posted on Nov. 10. Then, in a moment of karmic glory, the testy traveler realizes she’s being recorded and goes dead silent. She drags her gaze away from the phone and tries to play it cool. From...

Well, this could get interesting. On Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released an advisory stating pilots should exercise caution in and around Venezuelan airspace, citing an increase in military activity in the region as well as a "worsening security situation."The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned pivots (sic) to “exercise caution” when operating in the region around Venezuela because of the “worsening security situation and heightened military activity” in and near the South American nation as tensions with the United States simmer.The FAA’s advisory, issued on Friday, notes that “threats could post (sic) a potential risk to aircraft at...

A knife-wielding suspect was shot and killed Friday morning at St. Louis Lambert International Airport after refusing orders to drop his weapon, police said. The officer-involved shooting happened around 1:05 a.m. local time as "STL Airport Police officers were conducting routine security checks in Terminal 1" and "encountered an adult male with a knife," according to St. Louis County Police. "The suspect refused to drop the weapon and was tased by one police officer. The suspect continued to advance towards officers, and a second police officer fired his service weapon, striking the male suspect," police added. "He was pronounced deceased...

The FAA has long needed to hire 3,000 more air traffic controllers to fill vacant positions.The Federal Aviation Administration lifted mandatory flight limits on Monday at 6 a.m. They were put in place to reduce the workload on short-staffed air traffic controllers at 40 large airports during the federal government shutdown.The reductions affected passengers on thousands of flights and exposed a shortage of air traffic controllers that began more than a decade ago.There is a need for 3,000 more controllers to work in towers and regional air traffic centers all over the country.Controllers have been working mandatory overtime and six-day...

The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday will “effectively prohibit business aviation” at a dozen major U.S. airports, adding to flight restrictions for commercial airlines as air traffic controller shortages snarl travel in the government shutdown, a trade group said. Here are the airports included in the new restrictions, according to the NBAA: Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) Denver International Airport (DEN) General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport (BOS) George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)...

Airlines have canceled more than 1,000 flights to comply with a shutdown-related FAA directive to reduce traffic at 40 airports, including Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights Friday — the highest number since the government shutdown began — as they scrambled to comply with a Trump administration order to reduce air traffic amid growing concerns about potential staffing shortages. The administration announced Wednesday that it would direct U.S. carriers to trim their schedules by 10 percent at 40 U.S. airports — including major hubs in Atlanta, New York, Chicago and Dallas. “This isn’t about politics — it’s...

Aussies are one step closer to direct London and New York flights, with Qantas unveiling the first pictures of its new long-haul aircraft on Friday morning. Known as 'Project Sunrise', the service is named for the phenomenon where passengers on the London route see two sunrises during their flight. The first aircraft is now on the Airbus assembly line in France. Qantas will operate 12 specially configured aircraft, enabling the world's longest commercial flights and connecting Australia's east coast - both Melbourne and Sydney - non-stop to London and New York for the very first time.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters that the reduction will begin on Friday and is intended to alleviate pressure on air traffic controllers. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday announced that it would reduce flight capacity at the United States' top 40 high-traffic markets by 10% later this week amid the record-long federal government shutdown.The move comes because of a staffing shortage at airports nationwide because of the government shutdown, which began on Oct. 1. The Transportation Department has seen a high number of air traffic controllers call in sick amid the shutdown because they are required to...

Travel chaos has hit across the US on Wednesday evening as staffing shortages from the ongoing government shutdown have triggered major flight delays. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said at least 17 airports, from San Francisco to Chicago and New York City, could experience delays of up to seven hours lasting into early Thursday. The average wait time is expected to be around 2 hours and 20 minutes.The affected include Newark (EWR), JFK, LaGuardia (LGA), Los Angeles (LAX), Atlanta (ATL), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Miami (MIA), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Houston (IAH, HOU) and Washington DC area (DCA, IAD, BWI).San Francisco (SFO),...

Prince William's visit to Brazil for his Earthshot Prize climate change project drew criticism on social media over his carbon footprint. The Prince of Wales gives out £1 million [around $1.3 million] in funding to each of five innovative solutions to the climate crisis, holding each ceremony on a different continent. This year Earthshot has taken him to Rio de Janeiro, making the event a prelude to climate conference COP30, also in Brazil, but in Belém, from November 10 to 21. A post on X read: "Prince William jets 5,500 miles to Brazil for his £300k taxpayer-funded 'eco' trip preaching...

A Minnesota pilot found himself in a bizarre situation this month, as he was forced to make an emergency landing on a Native American reservation, only to learn that he was about to face an even more frustrating ordeal. The Daily Mail reported on the strange incident: Native American tribe snatches pilot's plane from him after he made emergency landing on their reservation https://t.co/FgD6LkQntk— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) October 31, 2025Darrin Smedsmo was flying over the Red Lake Indian Reservation when his single - engine Stinson airplane suddenly stopped working mid - air. With less than three minutes until disaster, the...