Economy Class & Beyond

UK Paranoia hits a new high – Terror alert increased.

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Well the UK has decided paranoia must rule again, and the Home Secretary - Alan Johnson has said  the UK terror threat level is being raised from "substantial" to "severe", Whilst no specific threat has been given in relation to the threat increase, The decision to raise the threat level was made by the UK's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC). Mr Johnson … [Read more...]

BA and Unite – BA starts to play *real* hardball – Removal of Travel Benefits for Strikers

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British Airways seems to have ratcheted up its position, by issuing a threat that ID90's (used for standby travel which gives an industry discount of 90%) are to go for striking workers, and in addition, the quality of crew hotels are now up for review. Unite describe the move as "shocking", "another act of provocation" and "petty'. It should be noted that the ID90's and … [Read more...]

Once again… one bad TSA staff member gives the entire lot a bad name (TSA Incident at PHL)

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Once again, one apple spoils the entire TSA Crop - this time with a fake drugs incident at Philadelphia International. A TSA agent decided to play a joke on a passenger on a Rebecca Solomon as she was travelling back to college After pulling her laptop out, through the scanning machines, and walking through a detector, she went to collect her things and a TSA agent … [Read more...]

Air France… new seats… and bad news if you’re a POS*

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* POS = Passenger of Size In two steps, Air France seems to be trying to make money. First up is the introduction of silmline seats. Slimline seats are the current modern marvel that reduces the weight of the seat, yet allows more passengers to be packed in a plane at the same time. Nifty. Image - Air France These seats are being introduced on the Short-Haul … [Read more...]

The fallout of NW253 – UK Goverment reactions

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It seems that the UK government has completed a report after the NW253 incident, and I'm afraid if you're a traveller, here's a hint - it's going to get worse. A No Fly list is to be set up (well we're only a few years behind eh?), including deep screening, and no entry into the United Kingdom at departure countries New Intelligence teams to identify individuals who could … [Read more...]

The BA/Unite Strike: Is Unite trying to buy Sympathy this time?

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Ok, I've skipped the announcement that Unite is once again going to ballot it's Cabin Crew workers, and that BA are going to try to break the strike by wetleasing aircraft and crew, and it is actually opening up cabin crew training up to other qualified staff to the point where Unite has made one hell of a concession That it will NOT strike over the Easter period Quote … [Read more...]

Strike Day: IAA Goes on strike.

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It seems it's time for another strike, this time with Irish ATC walking out over modernisation and working practices after 15 controllers were suspended for failing to cooperate with the new technology implemented. Shannon, Cork and Dublin are affected by this action which starts from 14:00 to 18:00 (20/01). Aer Lingus has cancelled 64 flights, RyanAir cancelling 48  … [Read more...]

And so it came to pass – JAL files for Bankruptcy protection

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It's done. Japan Airlines (JAL) has filed for bankruptcy protection. A turnaround organisation says it plans to inject about 300bn yen into JAL, with a 600bn-yen credit line and get 730bn yen in debt waivers.  With stock at an all time low, it will be de-listed from the Japanese Stock Exchange on Wednesday 20th. In practical terms:  flights will continue as … [Read more...]

The Fallout of the changes at BMI…

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Well it's been a good few hours since BMI has announced its latest method of death spiral. Lets take a closer look to see how this is going to happen - step by step (I've excluded the end of Manchester Long Haul for this exercise). Wet-Lease to Lufthansa Italia/Lufthansa Mainline - A sign on the beginning when an A319 were shifted away from BMI Mainline duties to help … [Read more...]

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