Airlines in the Gulf Region have witnessed massive growth over the past decade. Carriers expanding from regional networks that were largely ignored by American, European and Asian airlines expanded into massive global networks that seemingly overnight overtook the established global powerhouses … and in some cases these airlines came literally out of no where. …
As a kid my Dad watched 60 Minutes on CBS each week, and I remember always waiting for the Andy Rooney segment of the news program. Maybe my interest in Andy Rooney’s segment each week is why I write a blog that often picks apart corporations and large government bureaucracies … who knows. What I…
Airline alliances are made up of autonomous member carriers, frequently airline websites will have some legal wording that separates what an airline has on its website from its alliance, and its fellow alliance members. Egyptair, having never been a member of an airline alliance before entering Star Alliance, came into Star Alliance as the…
It has been almost four years since I wrote about airline and airport terminology … so today is as good a day as any to revisit this topic. Airline and airport jargon questions show up all the time on my Twitterstream and in my email box, so clearly people are interested knowing what they are…
A few days ago I wrote about the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams, addressing the effectiveness and legal questionability of the TSA VIPR Program, in this post TSA VIPR Teams – Increase A Legally Questionable Failing Program. This morning I received an email from a Department of Homeland…
Baggage questions, will they ever stop? No, probably not. Each week Flying With Fish probably receives more email regarding baggage issues than anything else. Checked baggage, carry on baggage, carry-on sizes, checked baggage weight … and frequently readers want to know who to complain to. Those seeking to complain to “the authorities” generally are…
In the spring of 2004, following the commuter rail bombings in Madrid, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began devising a plan to “protect the Nation’s transportation systems and ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce,” for the railroads and mass transit systems in the United States. The result of the TSA’s efforts to increase…
Fifty-three years ago today, on the evening of October 26th 1958, crowds gathered to witness history, the first Boeing 707-121 commercial passenger flight. Pan Am’s “Clipper America” (N709PA) flew from Pan Am’s Wordport, at New York’s Idlewild Airport to Paris’ Le Bourget Airport with 11 crewmembers and 111 passengers for eight-and-a-half hours. The Boeing 707’s…
The Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Transportation Security Officers (TSO) have the difficult job of searching for contraband items passengers may pass through security with. Along with TSA TSOs searching for prohibited items, the agency’s Behavior Detection Officers (BDO) watch and interact with passengers to determine passengers that they determine to be a threat to aviation…
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is a neutral worldwide airline trade association, founded in 1945, representing more than 90% of the world’s scheduled international airlines flying from nearly 150 countries. Historically IATA has stayed out of politics as its members include airlines from every conceivable political background, including North Korea’s Air Koryo and Syria’s…
