Jaunted

Tags: Airport Delays / Tarmacs / Airlines / Airports / Airline Travel / Travel Hell / → All Tags

Meet Tarmac: the Travel Media's New Favorite Word

I don't know why, but I've always liked the word tarmac. Before I even knew what it meant, I knew it was something important, a place where powerful people went and big things happened. Maybe it was from snippets of the TV news I'd overhear about presidents being greeted on the tarmac, or my airline pilot father making conversation with his friends about a recent flight, but I was sure that a tarmac was far more exciting than my suburban backyard. When I finally figured out that tarmac referred to the runways, aprons, and ramp areas of airports, it lost none of its allure. Sure, the golden age of flight is over, but big things still happen in airports, journeys begin and end. And for some reason, the word tarmac perfectly describes the big, flat open space that serves as as a mini-purgatory for fliers, whether coming or going.

more ›

Tags: Celebs Who Twitter / Samantha Ronson / Twitter / United / Airport Delays / → All Tags

United Having Rough SM Year: First a Broken Guitar, Then a Stranded DJ

Ok, we're using the word "celebrity" loosely here when talking about Samantha Ronson but the DJ is often in the headlines thanks to her famous-for-being-a-wreck girlfriend, Lindsay Lohan. Still, despite what some folks think, Samantha is a rather in-demand DJ, always jetting off here and there to spin at some party, club or private event.

Last week, her work took her to Dallas where she played a party at the W Dallas. It should have been a quickie in and out but thanks to airport delays, her United flight got grounded. And apparently, even dating Lindsay Lohan will not get you special treatment when rescheduling your flight. Samantha tweeted:

yeah it really sucks- they told me they could get me there tomorrow- hmmm- f*ck you very much UNITED.

She then went on to tweet that she prefers American over United and that she learned her lesson a long time ago about checking musical instruments as an Italian airline once lost her guitar. Oh, if only she made a clever YouTube video about it she could have been reimbursed!

Join the travel twitter conversation, follow us here.

Related Stories:
· Twitter stories [Jaunted]

Tags: China Travel / Airplane Hell / Airport Delays / → All Tags

Chinese Airport Travel: New Solutions for Hydraulic Problems

Here's a Friday joke for you: How many Chinese airport workers does it take to push a 20-ton plane with 69 passengers and 7 crew? The answer: 30.

If you're not laughing yet, it's because it's not actually a joke, but a true story. This week in Zhengzhou a CRJ7 plane landed with a faulty front hydraulic system, which apparently meant it couldn't be attached to the tow truck. So airport officials sent out 30 staff to push the plane instead.

Two hours later, the 30 exhausted workers had pushed the plane less than half a mile but it was neatly out of the way and the passengers could disembark. And at least the airline didn't ask the passengers to get out and help push. Perhaps that's what they'd do on a low-cost carrier?

Related Stories:
· Airport Workers Get the Push [Ananova]
· China Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Ananova]

Tags: Travel Hell / Protests / Airport Delays / → All Tags

State of Emergency Travel: Tourist Troubles in Thailand

Usually unspoiled romantic trips to Thailand have been messed around this past week as anti-government protests close down airports and roads. Although the Phuket Airport has been reopened and thousands of stranded vacationers are now on their way home, it's far from being over--a State of Emergency has been announced.

People's Alliance for Democracy protesters are now threatening to blockade not just Phuket, but seven airports across Thailand unless the Prime Minister resigns. Tourist hotspots like Krabi, Samui and Phuket are among the seven.

There's a good way and a bad way to experience airport shutdowns like this. The good way is what hundreds of tourists on Phuket just experienced--four extra days on a tropical island at the airline's expense. That's what we're rooting for.

Related Stories:
· PAD Warns of More Airport Closures in the South [The Nation]
· Aussies Tell of Thai Airport Scramble [SMH]
· Thailand Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: adaptorplug]

Tags: Flight Delays / Airport Delays / Rule 240 / Peter Greenberg / → All Tags

Mythbusting: The Real Deal with Rule 240

Blame Peter Greenberg. About a week ago, the travel guru wrote an article hyping Rule 240, which used to govern interline agreements on airlines. Basically it said that airlines couldn't keep you captive in the terminal if they cancelled your flight; they had to put you on the next one out. But the rule no longer exists in that form, as Greenberg himself admits in his story.

That didn't stop the piece from getting picked up elsewhere, with people claiming that "invoking Rule 240" would solve all your canceled-flight woes regardless of the airline you're on. Wrong. Your trip on any given airline is always governed by a contract--called the contract of carriage--and if you act like a jerk, there's no way you'll get anything more than what that document mandates.

So what's a flyer to do? Know your stuff before you get to the airport.

MORE

more ›

Tags: Flight Delays / Airport Delays / London Gatwick / Airport Hell / → All Tags

British Airports: London Gatwick's a Loser

If you're not sure which airport you should fly into the next time you head to Britain, check out the UK Flight Delays website. It tracks the average times for check-in, security and immigration at airports in the UK, according to information that website users plug in.

While the numbers are still based on a small sample, you can already see that London Gatwick is doing badly: each stage takes more than 30 minutes on average. Smaller airports like Cardiff and Birmingham are higher up on the league table. Travelers can also leave notes about their experiences, and the Travellers' Comments page reads like a soap opera of bad airport experiences. If you need to vent after experiencing some airport frustration--or you want to praise a good experience--this is your site.

Related Stories:
· Fresh Stats on the Summer of Flight Delays [Jaunted]
· Yotel Gatwick Airport Hotel [HotelChatter]

[Photo: bob the lomond]

Tags: Milan Airport / Airport Delays / → All Tags

More On Milan's Linate Airport Bunnies

As we told you earlier today, if you are flying into or out of Milan today, watch out for the bunnies with stars in their eyes. Linate airport runways have been stormed by hares who are interfering with radar. What are these rabbits doing? Mostly taking part in mating competitions that include chases and "boxing," in which females hit males to test their stamina (and readiness for fatherhood?)

Yesterday, some 57 hares were shooed off the runway. How do you say "Get a room!" in Italian?

Sunday's hare-speed-dating event caused a 3-hour delay and left the airport grounds littered with oyster-flavored carrots and Marvin Gaye albums.

[Photo: Alberto Pellaschiar/ Dave Windett]