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An Update On The Northwest Airlines Pilots Who Flew Too Far

It seems like just yesterday that a couple of pilots flew a Northwest Airlines plane a little too far while they were distracted. We probably won’t ever know what they were actually doing, but with the punishment that was handed down, they won’t be doing it again anytime soon—kinda.

The pilots who missed the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport by that much have decided not to put up a fight about losing their licenses. However, they could eventually get back behind the controls. In an agreement with the FAA they can both reapply for their licenses this August, but there’s no guarantee that their paperwork will get the official government stamps. They even worked out some language into their agreement that makes it seem like they didn’t do anything wrong.

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Bad Pilots / Northwest / Delta / Bad Landings / Airplane Hell / → All Tags

Cockpit Transcripts Released For The Northwest Pilots That Flew Too Far

We’ve got some new information regarding those laptop-using pilots that overshot the airport last month. Unfortunately, the released transcripts do not seem to indicate that the pilots were trying to figure out the new face of Facebook. In fact, the new updates continue to just make us scratch our heads.

No juicy details are revealed, nor is any other information that could allow investigators and the public to learn what was going on. The air traffic controllers repeatedly asked the pilots what happened up there, but the pilots simply stated that “cockpit distractions” were the issue. The pilots were pressed for more details, but again they just didn’t elaborate on what was happening.

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Bad Pilots / Northwest / Delta / Bad Landings / Airplane Hell / → All Tags

Were The Northwest Pilots Just Perplexed By The New Facebook?

Note: These are not real pilots. Or are they?

By now, we've all heard about the Northwest Plane That Flew Too Far. But we haven't quite heard the full story on what caused these two fools pilots to stop paying attention during the landing. Until today.

Initially, the pilots said they were distracted by a "heated discussion over airline policy and lost track of their location." But it turns out that the pilots were not even handling the right controls.

The FAA has recently suspended the pilots--First Officer Richard Cole and Captain Timothy Cheney--because they copped to being on their laptops during the crucial moment. They still maintain they were discussing new crew schedules. But yes, their laptops. Laptops in the cockpit. Pilots diddling about on their computers while they were supposed to be landing a plane. Why not pull out your Blackberry and start playing Brickbreaker, for crissakes?

Not surprisingly, there will probably be a crackdown of laptops use by pilots in the future. Peter Greenberg even surmised that this sort of tomfoolery in the cockpit could lead to a flat-out ban of electronics for pilots.

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First Class Travel / Delta / Northwest / First-Person Flight Reviews / Hawaii Travel / → All Tags

Sip Pre-Flight Mai Tais Upstairs In Delta's Newish 747 To Hawaii

It’s been a long time since you’ve been able to fly a 747 domestically. However, thanks to the merger between Delta and Northwest, planes have been shuffled around, and the combined airline has decided to start flying one of these big birds between Atlanta and Honolulu. Obviously flying to Hawaii from Georgia aboard a 747 is a little different than a traditional domestic run from Altoona to Ypsilanti—but we still think it’s neat.

The online frequent flier community has been waiting to see what the first class service would be like aboard this big guy. All the former Northwest 747s have World Business Class seating—although they don’t exactly market tickets for these seats as such. You're getting an international business class seat, but your meal service and amenities will be a little more like domestic first class—even though the nine hour trip to the islands is farther than most flights from the east coast to Europe. That means a big goose egg when it comes to in-flight pajamas.

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787 / Boeing / Delta / Northwest / Dreamliners / → All Tags

Delta Dumps Dreamliner Because It's Sick Of Waiting

We’ve been following the saga of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, and if everything went according to schedule it’d be above our heads—at least testing—by now. That’s not the case, and some companies are getting a little fed up with the waiting game. We’d like our planes are safe, so we’re willing to wait a bit longer 'til they get this sorted out.

However, Delta does care about the schedule, and that’s why they’re looking to cancel its order of 18 of these planes that were initially part of an order placed by Northwest Airlines.

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Airport Lounges / Delta Airlines / Northwest / Delta Sky Clubs / → All Tags

Delta Changes The Name Of Its Lounge And That's Pretty Much It

Delta Airlines has been pretty quiet as far as their merger with Northwest Airlines is concerned. Things have been moving forward, although the airlines are still technically operating as two separate entities for the foreseeable future. Of course, there have been some schedule changes, plane swaps, and a shifting in flight frequency among the many hubs that Delta has to now oversee.

However one big change was announced yesterday, one that will specifically affect business travelers and really fancy frequent fliers. The airline is changing the names of both their Crown Room Clubs and Northwest’s World Clubs.

Starting next month, Delta will begin to change over the airport lounges to Delta Sky Clubs.

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Travel Weather / Delta / Northwest / MSP / Flight Delays / Change Fees / → All Tags

Delta Waiving Change Fees for The Minneapolis-Bound

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]