If you know anything about Venice, you know that it is a city built on water, so it's quite fitting that the perfect location for plane spotting is onboard a boat. But not just any boat, we're talking about the water taxis between Venice's Marco Polo Airport and Venice proper. The airport sits on marsh land right on the coast, while the tourist-filled portion is out in the middle of the lagoon.

Going between the airport and the city of Venice therefore means taking either a private boat or the Alilaguna Waterbus right underneath the paths of arriving and departing flights. While you rock on the waves of other speeding water taxis passing by, you can look up at airplanes from carriers like Alitalia and other major carriers. Smaller LCC airlines like Jaunted personal favorite Germanwings sadly won't be found here, but at Treviso Airport. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-10-08T17:45:28-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/1/20/165842/501

· Remember when President Barack Obama first flew on Air Force One (elect) and ate a cheeseburger? Well, The National Geographic Channel has a clip of that and will be showing it in their "On Board Air Force One" special which airs on Sunday, January 25 at 8pm EST/PST. [National Geographic Channel]

· Virgin America Has New Food Menu: More munchies, more wraps and salads and don't forget the made-to-order shaken Margaritas, Cosmos or Mojitos await you on Virgin America [Official Site]

· Spank Your Children on Plane, Get Arrested Under Patriot Act: Are airlines abusing the Patriot Act? This woman spanked her misbehaving children, then hurled profanities at a flight attendant as well as a glass of tomato juice. Now she's pissed she got arrested for a terrorist act. Bad children? Yes. Mother with a nasty temper? Yes. Terrorist? Hmmm....[LA Times]

· Alitalia Still Striking: Despite being privatized, Alitalia workers can't seem to give up their penchant for striking. This latest batch only caused moderate impact on flights and flight delays. [Forbes] ]]> juliana 2009-01-20T17:07:47-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/1/15/42140/1341

Our favorite on-again, off-again airline Alitalia might be selling cheap airfares this week, but they're obviously still trying hard to scrape together a few more euros to keep fuel in the tank.

The latest news out of the Alitalia camp is that they're holding an auction to sell off 163 paintings that used to hang in their aircraft, apparently so that passengers would have "beautiful things" to look at.

Nobody's sure how much cash the paintings will bring in but some of them are from well-known modern Italian artists and are thought to be valuable. (Sounds like Alitalia's decadent spending starting way back in the 1960s.) We're less worried about Alitalia's obvious money problems than the fact that no other airline we know ever made such an effort to pretty up the cabin for us. Are we missing out on something beautiful?

Related Stories:
· Alitalia-Owned Artwork to Go Under the Hammer [Reuters]
· Our Top Five International Airfare Sales of the Moment [Jaunted]
· Alitalia Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: courgettelawn] ]]> amandak 2009-01-15T09:03:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/1/14/25349/8220

Since winter is only half over, we've decided that what everyone needs right now is a hardcore international escape. If your desire for the tropics has been replaced with a desperation to just get far, far away, then have we got the deals for you.

Taking a cue from some of our stories in the last few days, we've rounded up our Five Favorite Airfare Sales with a focus on globetrotting. There will be no mentions of commuter flights to Ypsilanti or Sulfur Springs this week, so sit back and book a serious sojourn already. Any tips on what you want to see more of or less of? Let us know.]]> JetSetCD 2009-01-14T09:15:48-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/13/152553/33

Short answer: Probably not. While the European Union said Wednesday that a group of new investors could take over the money-hemorrhaging airline, Alitalia will also have to pay back a €300 million ($377 million) rescue loan it received from the Italian government. No one's quite sure where that money's going to come from.

Meanwhile, some staff are organizing impromptu (i.e. wildcat) strikes at airports, delaying departures and forcing flight cancellations. Italian newspaper La Repubblica says even the corpse of a woman headed to Albania can't get where its going, languishing instead at Fiumicino. While Italy's labor minister has suggested the strikes are illegal, that's of little consolation to stranded fliers.

The new Alitalia is supposed to debut on December 1. Will it be ready to fly by then? And will Ryanair's allegation that this takeover is against EU rules further stall the much-needed makeover? We're not planning to find out.

Related Stories:
· EU Backs Proposed Alitalia Takeover [AP, via Google]
· Alitalia Protests Continue, Government Eyes Options [Reuters]
· Ryanair to Appeal EU's "Corrupt" Support [AFP, via Google]
· Fiumicino: Even a Corpse, Delayed for Days [La Repubblica, in Italian]

[Photo: Alessio85]]]> pbb 2008-11-13T15:30:12-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/14/73453/636

As we mentioned less than a month ago, Alitalia is still holding on--and somehow has found enough money to fill the fuel tanks. Though the airline is still flying, not many reviews have been trickling in. But on ReviewCentre, one user doesn't have anything nice to say:

We flew Alitalia from AMS-MIL-AMS. It was one of the worst airlines I've ever flown and I will avoid Alitalia from now on. The service was terrible, the plane was ancient. Never again. I don't understand how KLM can partner with such a terrible company!

Maybe we were a little early with this lolspeak macro for Alitalia?

After weeks of financial dealings that make the congressional bailout package look like third grade math, the carrier announced a deal with unions to keep it alive. Now that flight attendants have signed off on the rescue plan, it's time to (attempt to) sell Alitalia off piece-by-piece to investors.

At the very least, the airline has earned a re-up for its license by bringing all its unions on board: Alitalia has permission to fly until at least March 2009--as long as it can come up with the cash to buy fuel.

Related Stories:
· ENAC Confirms Provisional License [AGI]
· Alitalia Investor Board Meeting Thursday [Reuters]
· Unions Clear Way for Relaunch [Guardian]
· Alitalia Rescue Hits Next Stage [FT]
· Flight Attendants Sign Rescue Plan [CNN]]]> pbb 2008-09-30T17:00:36-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/