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Spanair Shuts Down, Airline Industry Poised for Even Worse in 2012

The San Francisco Chronicle wants you to know that everything is alright with the airline industry. U.S.-based airlines are turning profits, and US Airways' President even says there's zero evidence of "macroeconomic weakness" to be found.

That will be news to Spanair,, which collapsed so fast on Friday that it left 20,000 travelers stranded with no return flights home (the good press they got from giving passengers Christmas presents failed to stem the tide of millions and millions in losses). Spanair's shuttering follows the closing of Spain's Air Comet, whose flight attendants subsequently had to do nude photo shoots just to draw attention to the €7 million in unpaid wages they were owed.

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A Heartwarming Viral Video: Spanair Surprises Its Christmas Eve Passengers with Gifts

What airline gets the award for having the biggest hearts this last holiday season? Spain's Spanair for sure, since they pulled off a heartwarming stunt for a planeful of their passengers and also managed to create a lovely, viral-worthy video to accompany it.

You see, there was a Spanair flight flying from Madrid to Las Palmas overnight on Christmas Eve, and the airline thought they'd be cute and gift each and every of the plane's 190 passengers with their own Christmas present at baggage claim, complete with their names written right on the gift-wrapped boxes. Watch the video this way...

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Dangerous Travel: Spanair Crash Kills at Least 45 in Madrid

A Spanair MD-82 bound for the Canary Islands skidded off a runway and caught fire at Madrid's Barajas Airport, leading to reports that only 25 of the 173 people on board survived.

Flight 5022 (also listed as Lufthansa 255) reportedly suffered an engine fire around 5 pm local time while attempting an emergency landing on Runway 6, immediately after takeoff. Despite the efforts of 11 emergency vehicles, on the scene reports are putting the death toll at around 150--though only 45 fatalities have been confirmed as of now.

It's the worst fatal airplane crash in Spain since a 1985 incident in Bilbao. Prime minister Jose Luis Zapatero has been called to the scene from his vacation in Doñana National Park in Andalusia.

Related Stories:
· At Least 45 Dead in Madrid Plane Crash [AP]
· Dozens of Dead Following Crash upon Takeoff at Barajas [El Pais, in Spanish]

[Photo of a Spanair MD-82: thomasbecker]