corsair2: I wasn't insinuating that you would be standing around "tapping your toes and waiting for him/them to get his/their sh*t together". I'm just stating what may be a realistic result that might be different from what you expect, whether or not option b) is only one of several options. Besides, he may be quicker to react than you expect.

(Written on 01/13/2018)(Permalink)

You had better hope he isn't prepared. (Especially to be "b) sucker punched or tossed into into his seat.") You may end up tangling with the wrong guy.

(Written on 01/13/2018)(Permalink)

Why is it that reporters can't be specific on time frames? They stated that a 5-tonne engine was replaced "just hours" before takeoff. How many hours?? If it was 2 hours before takeoff, then say so in the HEADLINES. Furthermore, they stated that the engine was worth "millions of pounds". How many millions of pounds? This also applies to distances. In one "Air Disasters" documentary the narrator stated that a plane crashed "just miles" from the runway. How many miles? Every news outlet does this, and there's no reason for it.

(Written on 08/18/2017)(Permalink)

Superstitions don't phase me at all. Back in 1981 and 1982, I flew on 2 American DC-10s. On both flights the seat I was assigned was 13J. Moreover, the flight taken in 1982 was on July 13th. Both flights were excellent. (Remember the American DC-10 crash at O'Hare had occurred on May 25th, 1979.) What continues to amaze me even more is how gullible people are. Examples: Thinking that $999.99 is so much less than $1,000. Gas prices advertised to 0.9 of a cent. (Which has been done seemingly forever.) $1.99 9/10. Just make it $2.00 and be done with it.

(Written on 07/02/2017)(Permalink)

Why can't the media be specific on time frames? If they know the flight was delayed for 5 hours then state it in the headlines. If an American had pulled a stunt like this in the U.S. one could easily respond with this comment: "Throwing coins into an engine of an aircraft sure made a lot of 'cents'."

(Written on 07/02/2017)(Permalink)

Your "climate change" comment has prompted me to respond. First of all, the climate is always changing. Second, its very possible that many people are getting tired of hearing about it. As far as blaming climate change is concerned, the greatest comment I've ever heard, by far, came from Lou Holtz. When the subject of the ever increasing college football scores was brought up a few years ago, his reply was: "It's global warming." (Incidently, back in the 1970s & 1980s, the climate worry of most people was that we were headed for another Ice Age.)

(Written on 05/01/2017)(Permalink)

Mr. Leuci & Mr. Steitz: Your assessments are 1,000% correct. I've been inconvenienced several times, mainly by flights that were delayed that sometimes resulted in missed connections. Most of these instances occurred at O'Hare, yet I never, EVER, verbally abused airline staff. One must keep in mind that the airline staff aren't thrilled over the adverse circumstances that occurred, so don't make the situation even worse.

(Written on 04/22/2017)(Permalink)

One major solution that would decrease the chances of a flight being overbooked is for airlines to stop operating these dinky toy commuter jets & use aircraft that are at least the size of a 737-700. For this, I blame United. (Although they're by no means alone.) I place about 80% of the blame on the passenger. United offered him $800 plus free accommodations. He couldn't have handled the situation any worse. If he had just disembarked the way the other 3 passengers did then this incident would have never occurred.

(Written on 04/22/2017)(Permalink)

The first course of action would be for airlines to stop cramming more seats on any aircraft, using the seating configuration designed by the manufacturer. As I recall, this started with the DC-10 where the coach section had a 2-4-2 configuration. Well, some airlines decided to stick in a center seat to make it 2-5-2. I remember a Northwest advertisement showing that while other airlines added the 9th seat, NW retained the 2-4-2 configuration. I remember taking a World Airways DC-10 that used a 3-5-3 configuration. Geez Louise. I also remember the coach section in 747s (100 & 200 series) being 3-4-2. Now it's 3-5-3. It would've been great regulation to force airlines to reconfigure their coach sections, with safety & comfort obviously both being motivators.

(Written on 03/08/2017)(Permalink)