Petition demands air passenger protections

Sick of it all? Crammed seats, delays, fees and poor customer responses to problems? FlyersRights who claim to be the Largest Non-Profit Airline Consumer Organization, have launched a petition calling for the US government to draft public law to require: passenger protection from tarmac delays of three hours plus minimum seat pitch standards airline acceptance of FAA-certified child seats transparency of unbundled fees contingency plans for long delays including food stocks response to complaints within seven days and resolution within ten  Airlines For America responded saying “We…believe that government should not regulate airline seat sizes, but instead…

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Rainbow for September 11

Rainbow emerging from World Trade in lower Manhattan taken on 10th September 2015 by Queens resident Ben Sturner. Fourteen years later, I think of the day that changed so much of our world when almost 3000 people from over 60 countries were directly killed as a result of the hijacking of those four aircraft. I want to take a positive from the rainbow. I pray we can find a way to bring peace this year. My thoughts to you on this day.

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USA has most flight departures-still

Last year, there were almost ten million take offs of US registered airlines across the country (9,745,498 to be exact). This is just over a quarter of all of the takeoffs across the world. It is a staggering thought to think this averages to a takeoff every four seconds across the USA! The country has four of the top ten busiest airports in the world: Atlanta, LAX, and Chicago O’hare and Dallas-Fort Worth. This is a reduction of about half a million takeoffs from 2013, the fourth year the number of takeoffs has declined in the USA. There…

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Air NZ Men in Black Safety Video

Air New Zealand have released a new safety video which features members of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team rapping in a parody of “Men in Black”. Captain Richie McCaw and team member Dan Carter appear as “Men in Black” agents. Team mates Kieran Read, Keven Mealamu and Sam Whitelock can be spotted. Fullback Israel Dagg raps the in-flight briefing with Stan Walker,  winner of the 2009 Australian Idol. American actor Rip Torn is the Men in Black chief.  Other international rugby stars make appearances including former England Captain Martin Johnson as an alien with horns, David Campese of the Wallabies and…

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United’s Very handy US Airports App

If you travel through major US airports, United Airlines have unveiled a feature which makes their iphone app well worth downloading. Under the “Travel Tools” section on their app, the airline has added interactive maps for their seven mainland U.S. hubs airports: Chicago O’Hare Denver Houston Bush Intercontinental Los Angeles Newark Liberty San Francisco  Washington Dulles. The maps include all parts of those airports, however, not just the terminals and spaces used by United. They include searchable information about retail stores and available service options at each airport. eg restrooms, restaurant, Burger King etc etc. I discovered for…

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Longest Flight in the World

Move over Sydney to Dallas! You have been outdone! If you want to spend 17 hours and 35 minutes in a 777-200LR, Emirates will take you from Dubai to Panama, a distance of 13,821 km (8,588 mi ) from 1st February, 2016.  The Panama (PTY) to Dubai (DXB) return trip will be a mere 15 hours 45 minutes. The aforementioned Qantas‘ Dallas service  is a touch under 17 hours. The third longest flight in the world is Johannesburg to Atlanta at 16 hours and 40 minutes. My choice would be in Emirates Business Class for this distance! The…

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Skymark’s Rescuer is ANA

All Nippon Airlines (ANA)  has beaten Delta Air Lines in a race to turn around the fortunes of Japan’s third largest air carrier Skymark Airlines. Skymark have been  in bankruptcy since January, 2015. Skymark launched in 1996 after airline deregulation in Japan. The carrier grew rapidly but in recent years has been impacted by significant growth in the number of low cost carriers in Japan and by the falling Japanese currency.  Since 2010, Skymark had planned to become an A380 operator. Their aim was to charge fares between Japan and Europe/USA that were less than half of those of…

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Call Centre Bingo- tips for better outcomes

Moved house this week. This means lots of call centre experiences. How to have better ones… Investigate complaints boards, frequent flyer forums and Tripadvisor to see if other people have had the same issue. Sometimes, you can get a quick tip or have information for the operator on how to solve the problem or be told who the best contact is. If it is clear that no one else has had success using a particular route, then do not waste your time duplicating fruitless efforts Learn how that company works.     ContactHelp can GetHuman have…

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