There are plenty of offensive things one can wear on a plane--a too-short skirt, for example, or a political message for the President. Add Optimus Prime to that list: A British IT consultant was not allowed to board his British Airways flight because of his "Transformers" T-shirt.
Brad Jayakody has a cool enough job that on a business trip to Dusseldorf, he was allowed to dress down for the plane. But after one of his colleagues was searched, he was pulled aside and told his shirt was inappropriate.
So a silk-screened gun is the same as a real gun now? We've just got to be more careful with our T-shirt selection. But the real person in danger? Shia LaBeouf. After all, he's a known associate of Mr. Prime.
She's now been officially charged in London with assaulting a policeman, disorderly conduct and "using threatening behavior and abusive words to cabin crew." Her trial starts June 20, and she's facing a maximum sentence of six months in jail plus a five-figure fee if convicted on all counts.
Let this be a lesson to you, frustrated fliers: No matter how bad Terminal 5 may suck, it's probably better than a half-year "holiday" in a British prison.
British Airways boss Willie Walsh must be smiling this week because he's going around telling anyone who'll listen that the disaster that was the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow is now "working well."
So well, in fact, that BA is now finally going to move the rest of their flights over there--yep, the flights they were going to move back in April. On June 5, eight destinations from Terminal 4 will move to T5, including flights to New York's JFK. The rest will be moved over in the next couple of months.
Willie probably wasn't smiling when the news came out over the weekend that "a small number" of incoming foreign passengers in the early days of T5 were dropped off at the wrong doors and let into Britain without showing their passports. They probably just turned around and flew home in disgust after their their luggage never showed up.
We've always thought that the fares from central London out to Heathrow were a bit steep, and apparently we're not alone. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair also didn't bother buying a ticket when he was heading to Heathrow to catch a flight to the US this week.
The usual fare for a first class train ticket to Heathrow is £24.50 ($49), but neither Blair nor his aide bought one before the trip. When inspectors discovered them, one of the policemen protecting Blair offered to pay for a ticket, but the inspector just told them to forget it.
So if you think the Heathrow Express prices are too high, there is a simple way to avoid them--just rule the country for a few years and nobody will make you pay. Apparently if you earn something like $4 million a year, nobody expects you have to have such a "cheap" train ticket.
They made an online game about our suffering in Heathrow's problematic Terminal 5, so it was just a matter of time before the song came out too.
This video from Roguetune whines about Terminal 5 in a way that a whole lot of travelers can understand, except for special people like Kate Moss, that is. The chorus goes on with endless variations of a line like this:
I went down to get my bags, but I'm in Greece and my bags are still in Terminal 5.
As well as funny lyrics, you'll get a nice tour the trendy new Terminal 5 building, inside and out, and an entertaining cast of extra characters. Unfortunately, although this song might make you laugh, it won't change much for those still wondering which Italian warehouse their carefully packed bags have ended up in.
Naomi Campbell certainly chose an, uh, original response to her arrest at London Heathrow after allegedly hitting and kicking flight attendants: She wants a boycott of British Airways, the airline she was flying at the time of her arrest.
One might think a boycott would be unnecessary after an act that supposedly got her banned from BA, but Campbell wants the world to know "There was a complete disrespect for the passengers" on her scheduled flight to Rio de Janeiro.
The airline would not confirm or deny the ban, but the supermodel claimed BA officials later begged her to fly with them again--but she haughtily refused. Plausible pissed-off passenger or crazy concocted crap? You decide.
We held a minute's silence recently for anyone affected by London Heathrow's Terminal 5baggage hell and we'll spare another thought for the thousands of travelers whose luggage is still lying around somewhere. A warehouse in Italy seems to be the common (if illogical) answer to "Where's my bag?" Some might be so lost that they'll end up incinerated rather than reunited with with their owners.
Ouch. Some of the luckier (but still very unhappy) British Airways passengers got pre-paid credit cards credited with their compensation payment of, for example, £175 for three bags. But other travelers--let's take supermodel Kate Moss as an example--are getting £10,000 pounds in compensation for ten bags which were delayed, but have now reached her.
Moral of the story? Don't fly unless you're famous. If you find that a touch unrealistic, then we can ease that a bit: go carry-on only with British Airways.
Supermodel Naomi Campbell was arrested yesterday for throwing a temper tantrum at Heathrow Airport. Allegedly, Campbell, who once beat an assistant with a telephone and supposedly threw a jewel-encrusted Blackberry at her assistant, flew into a rage while boarding the plane and started yelling at the gate staff. When security showed up, she spit at them and may have even punched them.
The outburst was supposedly brought on by Campbell's discovery that one of her three bags did not make it on the plane. Yup, she fell prey to the madness of Terminal 5. Jaunted doesn't recommend dealing with lost luggage in this manner, even if you are a supermodel.
