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Tag: Airline Hell View All Tags

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SkyEurope LCC Folds, Strands Thousands of Passengers Around Europe

September 1, 2009 at 9:35 AM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

There will be no more SkyEurope in the sky...um, over Europe, as the low-cost airline based out of Slovakia ceased operations this morning thanks to bankruptcy. As a result, its five planes (down from 15 in the past) had their flights cancelled, stranding passengers at airports like Bratislava, Prague, and Paris-Orly.

Not only has the deep-sixed airline left their customers in the lurch, but they've also pulled a jerk move in refusing to refund any of the tickets. Instead, they posted a statement to their website encouraging would-be SkyEurope passengers to dispute the ticket charge with their credit cards and then book a flight home on another airline, at additional expense. Them's fighting words!

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The Latest in Airline Atrociousness: US Airways Hikes Baggage Fees Again

August 26, 2009 at 5:34 PM | by Omri | 2 Comments

US Airways just announced that they're hiking up their baggage fee again. Why, and a Happy Hump Day to you too US Airways! Grrr....

The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline said Wednesday it will charge $20 for the first checked bag and $30 for the second, when bags are checked online. Passengers will pay an extra $5 per bag when checking in at the airport.

They're also adding a $50 second checked bag fee for trans-Atlantic flights. Because for business travelers spending significant time overseas, a second bag is an indulgence that it's reasonable to harshly penalize.

This hike is actually good news for us. We were a little nervous that our indifference toward US Air's last fee hike would make people think that we were losing our edge. Now we get a whole new opportunity to complain about the ticky-tacky nickle-and-dime opaque fees that they've taken to indulging in.

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Put Your Hands Together For 'United Breaks Guitars' Part Two

August 18, 2009 at 1:03 PM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

The saga of the PR nightmare for United Airlines continues with the second installment of the 3-part music video series from a United passenger who had his guitar smashed by baggage handlers.

The music group, Sons of Maxwell, were headed on a week-long tour when they flew United through Chicago, and glimpsed their checked guitar cases being roughly handled on the tarmac. Sure enough, the lead singer's guitar was broken and required $1,200 in repairs. United refused to pony up any dough in retribution, and so Sons of Maxwell vowed revenge in the form of musical shame.

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1.8 Million Bags Were Lost In 2008; Where Did They All Go?

August 14, 2009 at 11:39 AM | by JetSetCD | 1 Comment

Do you swear that the airlines have it out for you and so manage to lose your bags 9 times out of ten? Well, you aren't all that special since lost baggage is still very much an epidemic, and Andrew Price, the head of the International Air Transport Association's Baggage Improvement Program, can attest to this. He not only has his own bags lost or delayed much of the time, but it's actually his job to see that this doesn't happen.

Poor Mr. Price; he just admitted this embarrassing fact to the Wall Street Journal and they've used it as a jumping-off point to take a deeper look at the barely-turning cogs behind international airline luggage movement:

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The JetAmerica Failure Fallout Continues

July 20, 2009 at 11:09 AM | by JetSetCD | 1 Comment

Well, we've survived the weekend after hearing—last minute on Friday, of course—that beleaguered LCC start-up JetAmericahad crashed without ever getting off the ground. Although we've always preached caution in believing that they would ever hit the skies, it's still difficult to watch a potential airline fail, especially one touting such low fares.

In response to JA's pulling out of their operations and Toledo airport, Toledo Port Authority board member Jerry Stabler told the Blade that their calling it quits doesn't surprise him: "It's the other shoe dropping, there's no question about it. The fact that [John] Weikle was involved with SkyBus should have been a heads-up for us." Chabler actually echoed our sentiments back when JetAmerica canceled their first bunch of flights; we're betting he didn't book a flight like we did, though.

Which brings us to our next point: refunds and a possible JetAmerica rebound. We're still waiting on our refund, but many other would-be JetAmerica passengers are worrying about more than this; they now have to replace their JA plans with expensive tickets on legacy carriers, and travel through Detroit versus Toledo. The Lansing's WLNS spoke with a woman who had purchased $700 in non-refundable Broadway tickets because she had saved so much on airfare. The dilemma is now to book flights that cost the same amount and double the vacation budget, or stay home and sacrifice the tickets.

Knowing the ups and downs of JetAmerica, and its final fatal denouement, would you consider flying on them in the future, if they regroup and relaunch? Do you think John Weikle, founder of both failed SkyBus and failed JetAmerica, should maybe find a new career? More importantly, for those booked on JetAmerica, have you received your refund yet? Let us know in the comments!

Related Stories:
· JetAmerica Will Not Be Jetting Anywhere Ever [Jaunted]
· Customers complain about flight cancellations [WLNS]
· JetAmerica cancels entire route network; Toledo flights grounded [Toledo Blade]
· All JetAmerica Coverage [Jaunted]

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JetAmerica Will Not Be Jetting Anywhere Ever

July 17, 2009 at 6:01 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

What we all suspected would happen has finally happened today: JetAmerica has officially folded. From the AP:

JetAmerica, a fledgling discount airline that garnered attention with $9 promotional fares, has folded without ever getting off the ground.

The Clearwater, Fla.-based company says it's suspending sales to all markets and will immediately begin to process refunds to customers.

CEO John Weikle says:

We are reluctantly suspending our public charter operations effective today,” said John Weikle, CEO, who has been with the company since April. “Finalizing the slots required to support our charter program at Newark has taken longer than expected and we have decided to suspend our flights in order to refocus on different markets.

And company spokesman Bryan Glazer added:

It is unfortunate that so many consumers' will be affected. This was unavoidable. I worked closely with the executives of JetAmerica for several months and know they did their very best to overcome the challenges that the slot situation posed. But in the end, the business plan never called for paying for more than a half million dollars for slots.

The problem? The airline couldn't secure landing slots at Newark Liberty International Airport. So once again, JetAmercia will need to reissue refunds for any of the passengers who had booked flights after the inaugural July 13 flight was delayed. As we were writing this, the JetAmerica website was still loading and advertising fares. However, booking a flight was not possible.

Still, this really stinks. Yes, we were mad at JetAmerica for not taking off as initially planned on Monday but we were still looking forward to flying one of their $9 fares. Oh well, we'll just wait for the next reincarnation to surface.

In the meantime, if you are part of the $900,000 pie that needs refunds, here is what Mr. Glazer says:

All customers will receive automatic refunds within 7-14 business days. Any customer not receiving a full refund in 14 days should call 727-451-3970.

Related Stories:
· JetAmerica coverage [Jaunted]
· Discount air carrier JetAmerica folds [AP]
· Minister, Hopeful Lawyer and Others Forced to Pay More Thanks to JetAmerica [Jaunted]

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All Together Now: 'United Breaks Guitars'

July 7, 2009 at 2:49 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

We were tipped off to this funny video by Chris Elliott's Twitter about a band called Sons of Maxwell who were headed to Nebraska on a week-long tour. But at the airport in Chicago they actually witnessed the baggage handlers at United Airlines tossing the lead singer's Taylor $3,500 guitar which sure enough, arrived broken.

Frustrated by United's crappy customer service and refusal to do anything about the damage, Sons of Maxwell created a YouTube music video slamming United for their indifference.

The video sort of reminds us of the FreeCreditReport.com videos and at four minutes long, it's a tad lengthy for us busy internet readers but it's nice to see someone putting United in their place in a different way than just writing off a nasty letter. Oh and Sons of Maxwell are promising two more videos about this incident as well. United: We're awaiting your answer. Make it a video one too!

Related Stories:
· United Breaks Guitars [YouTube]
· United Airlines coverage [Jaunted

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From China to Ryanair: The Menace of Standing-Only Flights Spreads

July 7, 2009 at 9:34 AM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

It was a crazy idea floated around by Airbus back in 2003, and it's rearing its ugly head again, but this time as an actual desire of airlines; it's standing-room only seating, and will we ever hear the last of it?

Perhaps most anxious to inconvenience us further is the Chinese Spring Airlines, which has such an influx of passengers that instead of adding more flights by buying more planes, they've instead turned to Airbus to develop a way to pack those extra passengers on existing planes. The plan so far is even more of a cattle-call than trying to board a Southwest flight:

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Minister, Hopeful Lawyer and Others Forced to Pay More Thanks to JetAmerica

July 6, 2009 at 1:01 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

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....

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Air Jamaica Now Charging $25 For a 2nd Bag That You Can Pick Up A Week Later

Where: Jamaica
May 18, 2009 at 5:07 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

We've regularly noted, and with something less than full satisfaction, the trend toward less airline customer service. Separately, we've had to do literal full-scale investigations to untangle increased airline baggage fees. But rarely have we gotten to do a story where an airline so shamelessly and simultaneously combined both of those:

On Monday, Air Jamaica started charging passengers $25 for the second checked bag on flights from New York to Grenada and Barbados, but the second checked bag won't be on their flight. Air Jamaica will transport the first checked bag on passengers' flights, at no charge. All other bags will be transported within seven days and must be picked up at the airport, Air Jamaica said... Passengers ticketed on or before May 10 for travel after May 11 will be allowed two free checked bags in economy and three in executive class.

On the plus side they're implementing a system to track your bag until its ready for you to personally pick up. Sure it took companies like UPS and FedEx decades of work and billions of dollars to implement setups like that. And yes even major carriers still can't tell you much more than "your luggage isn't at this airport yet" when it gets misplaced. But the good folks at Air Jamiaca are very confident that their system will work.

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Joel Madden Forced to Cover Up Tattoos on British Airways

April 27, 2009 at 4:56 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

We known that some airlines are a stickler for dress codes but we were rather surprised to hear that British Airways gave Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden some grief for his tattoos. Fortunately for us, Madden--flying first class--Twittered the entire drama as he attempted to board his flight from Chicago O'Hare to Heathrow.

· Was just told by a british air person I can't get on the plane till I cover my tatts. Should I fight the power?
· I really actually am in shock he won't let me on the plane till I put long sleeves on and other BA rep is disagreeing
· I still can't believe Brit Air discriminated me for tatts. Unheard of. the guy was literally disgusted by me. I'm gonna write a letter!!

Good luck with that Joel! Although it looks like you've already Twittered them. He did end up covering the tatts because he was afraid of missing his flight. But was that necessary?

We did a cursory sweep of the BA.com website and we couldn't find anything about tattoos. Even in the sections Rules of Carriage and Unacceptable Behaviour there's nothing about tattoos. It sounds like somebody at the gate was just having a bad day.

Ever been discriminated at the airport for your tattoos? "Fight the power" here.

Related Stories:
· British Airways [Official Site]
· Joel Madden [Twitter]

[Photo: Hollyscoop]

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The Cheese Toastie on BMI Will Not Satisfy You

April 15, 2009 at 5:56 PM | by juliana | 2 Comments

We know not to expect the best from airline food but this cheese toastie from BMI Airlines is a little too much to take. According to Flickr member kh1234567890:

This delicacy - a cheese 'toastie' was served on the BMI transatlantic ORD-MAN flight. Accompanied by a couple of pieces of mouldy pineapple and some two days old coffee. Yummy.

Why can't airlines just serve cereal or granola? Provided the milk isn't mouldy, it can't be too hard to screw up can it?

Related Stories
· How do you survive long flights? [Jaunted]
· Virgin Atlantic and Others Serving Moldy Food [Jaunted]