Results tagged “americanairlines”

After a photo emerged yesterday of an overweight man on an American Airlines flight, flooding the aisle with flab, Federal aviation authorities investigated the image. Apparently before being airborne, flight attendants gave the man two extra seats, which is in line with safety rules, according to the NY Post. This was accomplished by offering another passenger a ticket for a later flight, so the overweight man could have an entire aisle to himself.

There's been much debate about how to handle overweight passengers on flights. While some airlines may charge for an extra seat, not all do — and now a flight attendant allegedly snapped a photo on an American Airlines flight (destination and take-off point unknown), which of course has been leaked to the press.

American Airlines has added a creature comfort outside its terminal at JFK International Airport. According to the press release, the new "Pet Relief Area at the terminal's departure level" is for "passengers with pets [to] give their canine or feline friends a final chance to relieve themselves before packing them away in their kennels for the flight." American's Facilities Maintenance Manager at JFK, Joseph Daly, explained, "American Airlines is sensitive to the needs of passengers who travel with their pets. Pets that travel have comfort needs, too, so we wanted to provide a way for them to be comfortable before boarding their flight, just like the rest of us." Here's AA's traveling with pets policy.

There were no opportunities for aerial derring-do during yesterday's bird strike at LaGuardia airport, and no panic among the passengers aboard American Airlines Flight 1256, which hit a bird during its final approach at 10:54 a.m. The plane, en route from Miami, was at 900 feet when it hit the bird, and FAA spokesman Jim Peters tells Newsday, "The plane landed without incident, under power." Unlike the spectacular double-engine bird strike that brought down Flight 1549 in January, yesterday's bird was apparently not ingested by the engines. Passengers were unaware of the incident, and were told after the landing, when the plane had to be towed to the gate. According to the Daily News, there were 96 bird strikes at LaGuardia last year alone, and the tabloid gets some expert analysis from one Kalya Brizo, a 22-year-old "frustrated flier" from Bayside. Informed about the incident, she declares, "Again? I think the whole bird thing is a big problem. They really should do something about it." Beyond killing all birds on sight, anyone have any other suggestions?

We're getting preliminary reports about an "aircraft emergency" this morning at LaGuardia airport, where an incoming American Airlines flight was hit by a bird strike when coming in for a landing. No injuries are being reported, but paramedics were called to meet the plane at gate 10, apparently as a precaution. The pilot also reported a "hydraulic leak in the nose gear." The incident comes as the city moves to euthanize 2,000 geese within 5 miles of airports during their molting season, in an effort to prevent another crash like the one that befell Flight 1549.

As it faces criticism over engine maintenance, American Airlines says the engine of a Chicago-bound plane that failed because of an object that was sucked in. However, in this post-Flight 1549 world, American doesn't think it was a bird; "early speculation" is that the object may be from an earlier flight (the engine was sent to Tulsa for inspection). The flight had taken off from Laguardia on Tuesday morning and, about 20 minutes in, something caused dozens, if not hundreds, of pieces of sharp metal to fall over a warehouse in College Point, Queens. The flight made an emergency landing at JFK and no one was hurt from the plane or on the ground. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the plane had a recent history of engine issues and was overdue for inspection; American disputed that and said, "There was nothing in our previous maintenance checks to indicate any issue that could be related or connected to the failure of this engine."

Yesterday morning, a Chicago-bound American Airlines flight took off from LaGuardia Airport, only to make an emergency landing at JFK Airport after one of its engines (engine #2) failed. Dozens of pieces of metal from the engine fell over a warehouse in College Point, Queens, alarming people in the area who heard a loud noise that wasn't the usual whirring of airplanes in the air. And it's suggested the engine was overdue for its required maintenance.

Might as well check your trenchcoat with the Skycap, fellas; American Airlines has reversed course and decided to filter pornographic content on its in-flight Internet service. You'll recall that flight attendants had been pressuring the airline to block porn because they didn't want to police pervs who can't go a couple hours without pleasuring themselves to Edward Penishands or Sex Trek: The Next Penetration. Wired reports that Girls Against Porn has also been lobbying American to install filters, citing a lawsuit against American over a particularly nauseating masturbatory incident that, incidentally, occurred without pornographic inspiration. Of course privacy rights advocates are alarmed that once airlines take away the pornos, they'll start blocking other sites like maybe all the ones trashing American Airlines.

Since equipping its aircraft with in-flight WiFi, American Airlines has gotten "a lot of complaints" about passengers using the Internets to enjoy adult entertainment, presumably joining the Mile High Club with a little help from Rosy Palmer and Handjela . Ah, but ain't that American? The airline started offering the service in August for $12.95, but unlike Jet Blue, didn't install Internet filters to block porn. And despite pressure from flight attendants, they have no plans to do so. An American spokesman tells the Post: "Customers viewing inappropriate material on board a flight is not a new scenario for our crews, who have always managed this issue with great success." Besides, passengers who can't bear to be separated from their precious porno for the duration of a flight have always been allowed to bring adult magazines and DVDs on board, so why deprive them now?

After Miguel Olaya's wife lost her battle to pelvic cancer on March 28th, he made arrangements with a Bay Ridge funeral home to send the remains to their native Ecuador. Then he went ahead to make the funeral arrangements, but when he arrived at the airport in the city of Guayaquil, he was told that his wife's remains were, uh, lost. Care to guess which airline? Good old American, which has been in the news recently for its baggage issues.

Yesterday's glitch with American Airlines' baggage system that delayed flights and kept checked bags from traveling with their owners is now, as of 6 a.m., fixed, but some prior flights were canceled. An AA spokesman told the AP baggage was sorted by hand yesterday and they are "marked and ready to go to their destinations." It's still unclear what caused the system to fail (it's only a year old). And while most of the affected checked bags were for international flights and therefore not subject to the check bag fees, domestic travelers with less than three checked bags had the fees waived.

UPDATE: The American Airlines situation at JFK still seems to be a mess, with about 25 flights delayed due to a computer "glitch" in the software that controls the baggage sorting conveyor belt. As of 1 p.m., delays were ranging from an hour to an hour and a half, according to Reuters. In the meantime, one Gothamist reader took the time to vent with the image above.

An American Airlines flight from Miami to LaGuardia Sunday night was canceled due to the passengers' collective rudeness. Fox 5 has it that a flight crew was so late getting to the plane that upon arrival they were greeted with raucous booing from the impatient passengers. So the crew decided to teach the rabble a lesson in manners and refused to work the flight for the “hostile mob.”

American Airlines is cutting five American and 37 American Eagle flights from LaGuardia airport starting in September, as part of the airline's attempt to control costs in the wake of rising fuel prices. American will also be cutting dozens of American and American Eagle flights at its hubs in Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth. Among the cutbacks is the termination of American Eagle operations in Albany, prompting Governor David Paterson to ask the airline to "take into account more than profit when they evaluate routes. For many, these airlines are a critical lifeline to family and business obligations."

Yesterday, American Airlines started charging customers $15 for the first checked bag, a controversial but necessary move given rising oil prices (American, like many other airline carriers, also charges $25 for the second checked bag). Though full fare, gold/platinum frequent fliers, first and business class customers, are exempt from the fee, American expects 25% of its customers to be affected by the charge. And those fliers were not happy.

With oil prices rising higher and higher (they rose above $135/barrel yesterday), American Airlines says, starting June 15, it will charge passengers $15 for the first checked bag. A few months ago, American and other airlines followed United in charging $25 for a second checked bag and since these fees are one-way only, if you're bringing two checked bags, that's another $80 you'll have to add to your airline ticket.

American Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights today, causing more chaos for its would-be passengers. NY1 reported lines looked less messy today, suggesting people called ahead. But yesterday, it was a terrible mess. From NY1:

"It's a little irritating that they are offering coffee to everybody, in exchange I'm missing a whole day of meetings in Texas," said one traveler. "I don't think I would [fly American again].

Continue reading "Third Day of Canceled American Airlines Flights"

American Airlines canceled 500 flights in order to inspect its MD-80 planes. Two weeks ago, American had canceled hundreds of flights for inspections for this issue, but on Monday, the FAA found issues, which American says are "related to detailed, technical compliance issues and not safety-of-flight issues."

American Airlines refuted a family's claims that a Brooklyn woman died because of faulty equipment and attention. The airline's spokesman said, "American Airlines, after investigation, has determined that oxygen was administered on the aircraft, and it was working."

On Friday, a woman traveling from Haiti to New York City died on the American Airlines flight. Her cousin say the crew initially refused to give her oxygen and that when they did, the oxygen tanks were empty and the defibrillator wasn't working.

Workers are almost done dismantling the 317 feet long, 23 feet wide stained-glass exterior to the American Airlines’ vacant Terminal 8 building. The red, blue and white wall, comprised of 900 panes of glass, was designed by artist Robert Sowers and was completed in 1960; at the time it was the world’s largest stained-glass window and the first to heavily incorporate stained glass in a secular building, an aesthetic that soon became fashionable.

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 black and white spy thriller The 39 Steps has been given a vividly colorful stage adaptation by a troupe of four British actors who’ve brought their madcap show to Broadway after an award-winning run on the West End. Adapted from a 1915 novel by John Buchan, the movie concerns the dashing but vague Richard Hannay, who gets ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse after shots ring out at a London music hall. In the ensuing stampede, a woman bluntly asks to go home with him and, once there, reveals that she’s a spy trying to stop a plot to smuggle British military secrets out of the country.

The Dept. of Homeland Security is funding the installation of a number of anti-missile defense systems on commercial jets flying in and out of JFK Airport. The tests are the third stage of testing of a system that is already used by military aircraft. The defense system consists of equipment affixed to the bottom of the aircraft that electronically jams the heat-seeking component of shoulder filed missiles. The latter are referred to as man portable air defense systems, or MANPADs. The current test of the anti-MANPAD systems on jets is to see how the equipment holds up on the real world operating conditions of a commercial jet.

Yesterday, people gathered for the sixth anniversary of the fatal American Airlines Flight 587 crash in Belle Harbor, Queens. It was the second deadlist aviation crash in U.S. history, with 265 victims. Mayor Bloomberg led the ceremony, saying, "Once again, we have come together to remember all of them, and to share the sorrow that all of us feel." On November 12, 2001, the Dominican Republic-bound plane had taken off from JFK Airport; turbulent air...

Queens prosecutors announced yesterday that a teenager acting as a drug mule was arrested at JFK airport on Tuesday. Anthony Cruz, 16, was stopped by customs officials as he arrived on an American Airlines flight from Santiago in the Dominican Republic. X-rays of his body revealed 80 balloons of heroin with a total weight of 988 grams (nearly 1 kilo and more than 2 pounds). According to officials, the heroin was worth $500,000.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: two pedestrians struck at 71st St. and Northern Blvd. in Queens, a shooting at St. John's Pl. in Brooklyn, and a collapse at 52nd St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan.
• Someone stole the "diamond dress" that Carol Channing wore during her stage run in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," from an unattended luggage cart. The $150,000 dress was about to be donated to the Smithsonian Museum.
• Annheuser Busch is moving a distribution plant from Long Island City in Queens to Hunts Point in the Bronx. Beer is seen as a vital fluid essence and economic stimulant to the revitalization of the downtrodden neighborhood.
• The Ground Zero remains of American Airlines Flight 11 passenger Laura Lee Morabito were identified recently through the use of advanced DNA testing techniques.
• Recording artists 50 Cent, L'il Kim and their two record companies are being sued for non-payment of royalties to a songwriter.
• A Nigerian immigrant New Yorker fashioned a bust of Mayor Bloomberg from the tickets he received from the Dept. of Sanitation.
• The Gowanus Lounge reports that Red Hook car owners and other Brooklyn neighborhood residents are pleased that street cleaning will be halved in the near future. Alternate side of the street parking switches will only occur once a week rather than two.
• A salvage team is looking for almost $10 million in silver bars that were never recovered from a 1903 incident when cargo belonging to the Guggenheim family fell overboard into the Arthur Kill on its way to South Amboy, NJ.

There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and several smiles as well as lots of cash were raised by some plucky urban ironing. London is apparently full of lies and whales: one of these things is true. We leave that up to you to figure out.

Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a new campaign, Just Ask The Locals, "the City's first-ever five-borough marketing and advertising campaign to make visitors feel more welcome, thank them for visiting, and help them navigate New York City." The Mayor made the announcement at the new American Airlines terminal at JFK and said, "New Yorkers have always been welcoming and friendly, but not enough people around the world know it. So now we're going the extra mile to make visitors feel even more at home by offering a helpful piece of advice, an insider's tip, or just a friendly smile as they explore and enjoy all the wonderful attractions here in our City."

A bizarre story: A cleaning crew found a loaded ammo clip in a seat-back pocket aboard an American Airlines jet at JFK Airport last month. Yes, a clip with 26 bullets, apparently for a Glock, was found, and investigators don't think it's from a sky marshal. Which means someone managed to get a clip aboard a plane when ammunition is not allowed. And we were worried about saline solution and lip balm a couple months ago?