We’ve seen our share of airline delays due to weather, mechanical delays, and even wacky passengers. However, there aren’t too many delays caused by furry critters. Well, that’s exactly what passengers of an Air India flight had to deal with as they were stuck to wait things out for about 11 hours.

Apparently a flight with over 200 passengers from Amritsar, India was supposed to head out to London over the weekend. Early on Saturday morning passengers spotted a rat on the plane, and then the rest of the day was spent searching for the little stowaway. After all, it definitely didn’t go through security. ]]> kjb 2009-09-29T08:58:58-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/9/11/73050/1376

We’ve all been there, and we certainly have done our share of complaining about them: the dreaded delayed airplane. For the most part it has just become one of the many fun features that are now part of the travel experience. However, there are some researchers trying to crack the code behind these inconveniences, and the smartypants scientists feel that a little math might help everyone out. If academics can help aircraft land on time and leave on schedule, we just might head back to school.

Computer scientists at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland have created a system to use runways efficiently to reduce delays and to conserve fuel use. Their plan uses the size of aircraft, fuel efficiency of the plane, and number of passengers aboard to figure out the most effective way to move the birds around the airport. Their new math also looks at the amount of suitcases on the planes to ensure baggage handling delays are kept to a minimum. Unfortunately, there’s no mention of preventing baggage loss—too bad. ]]> kjb 2009-09-11T09:18:51-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/7/21/205311/659

If Members of Congress have their way—and they often do—hellish multi-hour waits on the tarmac could become illegal.

The Senate commerce committee voted in favor of a bill this week that would make it illegal to keep passengers waiting on a grounded plane for more than three hours. The move comes in response to a string of ultra-long flight delays in recent years, including the infamous JetBlue flight that sat on the tarmac at JFK for 10 ½ hours with some very antsy passengers on board. If the proposed legislation passes, airlines would have to let passengers off for a break after the wait hits the three-hour mark.

The movement was spearheaded by FlyersRights.org, an activist group led by Kate Hanni, a flyer who found herself a new cause after spending nine grounded hours on an American Airlines flight three years ago. The legislation next moves on to the full Senate where, unsurprisingly, airline industry lobbyists are working feverishly to kill it.

Related Stories:
· Senate Panel Votes to Let Passengers Off Stuck Planes [Bloomberg]
· FlyersRights.org [Official Site]
· Airline Storm Report: JFK Flight Delay Spotlight on JetBlue and Delta [Jaunted]

[Photo: sparkrtography] ]]> BS 2009-07-22T08:59:22-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/7/6/123719/9606

UPDATE: More new "grievances" have been filed below.

Last week when we broke the news that JetAmerica would be canceling its flights, less than 11 days before they were scheduled to take off, we asked readers who had booked a JetAmerica flight how this delay would affect them. And several of you wrote in to tell us just how inconvenient this all was.

We'll be posting some of the letters after the jump, but before we get into that we are thinking that JetAmerica's refund of the passengers' flights is not enough. Because flights typically tend to be more expensive when you book under 14 days before your desired departure date, we think JetAmerica should refund the passengers' difference in price for the new flight as well.

For example, if you paid...oh let's say...$89 for a flight on JetAmerica but because of the cancellation, you had to pay about $250 on another airline, JetAmerica should pay the $89 and the difference which would be $161. Just something JA should think about. Now onto the stories....]]> juliana 2009-07-06T13:01:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/26/9419/07938

Heading to the Twin Cities tonight? Don't forget your mukluks: Minneapolis-St. Paul is expecting six-plus inches of snow today, with the storm starting this morning. And freezing rain and sleet for the side dishes!

Delta in its capacity as new owner of Northwest's major business at MSP is waiving all change fees if you had planned to fly in today. We recommend not being re-routed through Chicago (dense fog advisory!) or the Dakotas (same storm), but anywhere else should be fine. And hey, Delta, way to be proactive.

Related Stories:
· Valentine's Day Winter Storm Creating Travel Mess [Jaunted]
· Winter Storm Shutters Las Vegas Airport [Jaunted]
· Flight Delays coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: smohundro]]]> egw 2009-02-26T11:34:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/23/163555/28

Maybe it's because she's usually flying out of LAX, maybe it's because she's just lucky, but HotelChatter editrix Juliana Shallcross sees a lot of celebs on planes. Sunday, it was Liz Phair sitting business select on Southwest; today, she bumped into Russell Simmons.

The hip-hop icon and Juliana were both trying to get to New Orleans when a radar problem kept their Delta flight from taking off. Once the crippled jet made it back to the gate, it was straight to the El Cholo Cantina in Terminal 5 for Simmons while Juliana went to scour the nearby restaurants for grub.

Delta got the avionics fixed in about two hours, which should've given notoriously germaphobic Russell enough time to grab a bottle of hand sanitizer: While the radar is good to go, Delta didn't have time to fix the busted sinks in the plane's lavs.

Related Stories:
· Airport Photo Shoots coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-10-23T16:45:50-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/3/5/15355/59461

If you plan three trips this year, make sure you only want to go on two. One-third of domestic flights were delayed or canceled in January, worse than the 2007 average of 25 percent. It might be slightly better than December's average, but the reality is that you probably won't arrive on-time, anywhere, ever again.

If you must plan a trip for 2008, go to the islands. Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines had the best on-time arrival statistics in the country, with 94 and 93 percent of their flights cruising in when they're supposed to. (A distant third was US Airways with about four in five flights landing on-time.)

Just one more reason to enjoy that beautiful Hawaiian weather.

Related Stories:
· Airline Delays Worsened in January [AP, via Yahoo]
· Flight Delays coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: marctonysmith]
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