Tagged: airlines

With Covid Still Uncontained, U.S. Extends Airline Mask Mandate

The United States' Transportation Security Administration has decided to extend its mask requirement for all passengers on airplanes, trains, buses, subways, ferries, and within…

Delta Air Lines Battles Call Wait Times by Easing Basic Economy Rules

If you've had to call an airline's customer service number in 2021, then you already know: Wait times are extreme. In fact, you might still be on hold right now. For a lot of messy…

Wait, a New Ranking Says the Best U.S. Airline Is . . . United?!

Lately, United Airlines has been experiencing something unusual for the Chicago-based company: good publicity. Just this week, United ranked higher than any other U.S. airline on the…

This Low-Cost French Airline’s Flights to Paris from NYC Are Très Cheap

The Paris-based low-cost airline French Bee, which debuted in 2016, has launched its first route to and from the East Coast of the United States—and the fares are incroyable. (Or, to…

Biden's Executive Order Will Make Flying Cheaper and Less Stressful

Fa la la la la! It's Christmas in July for American travelers.President Joe Biden's just-issued Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy is a massive document…

United Airlines Will Add Seatback Screens to All of Its Planes

Pretty soon, United Airlines will offer seatback entertainment at every seat on its planes. The Chicago-based carrier made the announcement while releasing the news of its order of…

TSA Is Training Fight Attendants to Take Down Unruly Passengers

Coffee, tea, or a clock-cleaning? That'll be the new menu aboard the major U.S. airlines soon. Following a spate of antisocial behavior by passengers, the Transportation Security…

What Travelers Need to Know About American Airlines' Service Meltdown

We've been warning for weeks that the return to travel this summer would be bumpy. But I don't think any of us could have predicted just how ugly things could get this week. Over the…

Newly Launched Breeze Airways Connects Smaller U.S. Cities for Low Fares

A new low-cost airline dedicated to serving small and "underserved" U.S. cities is set to take off this week. Breeze Airways, the fifth airline startup backed by JetBlue founder David…

Japanese Airline Installing Hands-Free Lavatory Doors

Touching an airplane bathroom's door has always been scary, whether there's a global pandemic raging or not. A clever solution has been devised in Japan, and, frankly, we'd like to…

New Flights—and Cheaper Airfares—from the U.S. to Italy Coming This Summer

In April 2013, the way Americans planned Italian vacations underwent a seismic shift. That was when the Emirates airline announced plans to start flying from New York City to Milan.…

Follow These Tips to Cut Down on Long Wait Times with Airline Phone Reps

Travel is returning, but the road back to normal will be a bumpy one. I have already told you about rental car shortages and airlines canceling flights that don't sell enough…

Masks Will Be Required on Planes, Trains, and Buses Into September

Masks aren't going away anytime soon, at least not on public transportation in the United States. The Transportation Security Administration has extended its mask mandate through…

New Airline Connects Los Angeles with Many Western Cities At Low, Low Airfares

Launching a new airline in 2021 takes chutzpah, cojones, and courage. But that's just what Avelo Airlines has done by debuting a small network of flights from a home base at Hollywood…

Airlines Bring Back Fees, But Not for Every Passenger

Strange as it may feel to find anything about 2020 that could possibly qualify as the Good Old Days, the global crisis did yield a few positives. When demand for commercial flights…

Are You Allowed to Drink Your Own Alcohol on a Plane?

It's perfectly legal to bring alcohol onto airplanes, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), as long as the liquor is kept in containers of 3.4 ounces or less…

Five Big Challenges Confronting Travelers During the Pandemic Recovery

Some of the ways Covid-19 has changed travel are obvious. When we plan almost any adventure now, first we take into account safety protocols like social distancing and masks. The…

Southwest Gives Up on Social Distancing During Boarding, Blaming Crowds

This post, originally published March 24, has been updated below with news of another operational change at Southwest Airlines. We were kind of hoping airlines would keep the…

The Airlines Are Blindsiding Customers by Switching Itineraries—But You Don't Have to Take It

Americans may not realize it, but the pandemic has made airline schedules far less stable than they were. Travelers now have a much higher chance of getting stuck with an itinerary…

Airlines Still Cashless Even Though Many Passengers Don’t Own Credit Cards

Delta Air Lines has announced that as of March 16, flight attendants will be equipped to accept contactless payments for in-flight purchases such as earbuds and food. Customers will be…

A New Nordic Airline Steps in to Launch Low-Cost Transatlantic Flights

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Anybody know how to translate that adage into Norwegian? It's only…

Steps the U.S. Government Should Take Right Now to Protect Air Travelers

What should be the top priorities for the U.S. Department of Transportation when it comes to air travel? Consumer Reports has a few ideas. The advocacy organization sent a list of…

Refund Woes Fueled a Record Number of Complaints from Air Travelers in 2020

The U.S. federal government received a record number of complaints from airline passengers in 2020. In all, 102,550 complaints were filed with the Department of Transportation,…

U.S. Airlines and CDC to Begin Contact-Tracing Passengers

Last week, the internet was abuzz with rumors that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) was about to introduce a testing requirement on domestic airline traffic. The scuttlebutt was…

JetBlue Forbids Free Carry-Ons for Basic Fares, Drops Change Fees Elsewhere

JetBlue is adding an irksome catch to its cheapest category of plane tickets. Any customer who books a basic economy fare—dubbed "Blue Basic" by JetBlue—for travel after July 20 will…