- United Airlines released its planned international flying for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Leave it to FlyerTalk to have the details a mere hour or two after word was spread to internal employees. The actual domestic inaugural has yet to be announced.
- Sticking with United for a moment, a pilot accidentally deployed the emergency slide this morning at Sea-Tac airport. S(he) apparently forcibly tried to close the main cabin door causing the “malfunction.” Unfortunately, a NBC reporter was onboard to capture the whole thing.
- Staying at the San Francisco Airport Marriott? A family of totally adorable owls moved in to the concierge balcony. Named Hoot, Nanny, Al, Peter Townsend, Robert Plant, Hedwig and Archimedes by staff, Marriott apparently has no plans to charge them occupancy, or for Wi-Fi.
- Aviation enthusiasts unite! The iconic TWA Terminal at JFK will be open to the public this October. Specific details have yet to be announced, but I’m already checking fares for the weekend of October 8-9 to attend. You in?
- Southwest Airlines flight attendants will get to cast their vote on the airline’s plan to expand beyond the 48 contiguous states soon. I realize duty time and layover specifics are important – and flame me if you want to – but I don’t think an airline should be handcuffed to expand pending a work group’s decision.
- This one saddens me for two reasons. First is the mere fact that the inbound college class of 2016 was born in 1994 – the year I graduated college. The “forty-ness” I’ll be experiencing next month is truly becoming evident. Second, they’re reported to have never seen a paper airplane ticket. Everything has been e-ticket for them since they can remember.
- And finally, we have two “air traveling idiot(s) of the week” candidates today (do I need to award it daily?). One man rushed onto an American Eagle jet in Baton Rouge and locked himself in the cockpit for unknown reasons. Yes, he was later arrested. The other involved a woman on a Pakistan-Paris flight who slept through her arrival in Paris, going unnoticed by crew (also at fault), and ended up flying back to Pakistan with the plane.
Interesting to see that sUA will allegedly be serving the LAX-NRT route, even more odd that they won’t also be doing to LAX-PVG one.
I’m loving these daily “air travel idiot of the week” stories!!