Grumpy Airline Passengers Complaining More Than Ever
Pirates Attack; France Avoids Bloodshed
Stewart “International” Airport to Serve Flights from London’s Stansted?
British Pilots Join Laughter Over Heathrow’s T5
Pilfering Tourists Strip Ancient Roman Artifacts
GRUMPY AIRLINE PASSENGERS COMPLAINING MORE THAN EVER - MSNBC
According to the annual Airline Quality Rating, passenger complaints are on the rise, as are airfares, late flights, and the amount of bumped passengers. Consumer complaints are up 60 percent, overall, and the rate more than doubled at US Airways and Comair. Lost, stolen, or damaged baggage jumped last year, and on-time arrivals dropped for the fifth straight year. “The trend is bad and it doesn’t look like it gets any better,” said Dean Headley, an associate professor at Wichita State University and co-author of the study. Of all airlines studied, Southwest had the best on-time arrival mark at 80.1 percent.
Link: MSNBC
PIRATES ATTACK; FRANCE AVOIDS BLOODSHED – Agence France-Presse
Following a pirate attack that hijacked a luxury French cruise yacht off the coast of Somalia, France’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner conceded that the pirate calamity “could last a long time.” Though France has made contact with the cruise yacht—with 22 French nationals and around 10 Ukrainians aboard and under “well-armed” pirate control—officials are doing “everything to avoid bloodshed.” A French military source, under the condition of anonymity, verified that the yacht, the Ponant, had lain anchor off the northeastern Somali region of Puntland, while a Somali official said it was seized last Friday. So far, the Ponant’s crew remains unharmed. French Defense Minister Herve Morin has said that military action cannot be taken “unless there is certainty that this will happen in secure conditions that preserve the integrity of the crew.”
Link: Agence France-Presse
STEWART “INTERNATIONAL” AIRPORT TO SERVE FLIGHTS FROM ABROAD – The New York Times
Passengers traveling internationally from the New York area for years had to depart from JFK, LaGuardia or Newark, but soon they may be able to travel from Stewart International Airport to Stansted in London. Hoping to boost flights at Stewart, airport planners seek to legitimize the airport’s name by adding real international flights (currently, it only occasionally handles charter flights from abroad). In recent months, airport officials have been recruiting international airlines. Airline traffic at the airport has tripled in the last year, with more than 900,000 passengers. Even though Stewart is devoid of customs and immigration inspection facilities, passengers arriving in the U.S. soon will be able to pass through customs before they cross the pond.
Link: The New York Times
BRITISH PILOTS JOIN LAUGHTER OVER T5 - The Guardian (UK)
The British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) is joining the chorus of public laughter over the Terminal 5 catastrophe, as snowstorms over the weekend caused British Airways to cancel more than 140 flights while denying claims that it had run out of de-icer. Willie Walsh, BA’s chief executive said the T5 debacle could cost the company nearly $100 million. Jim McAuslan, Balpa’s general secretary, wrote in an open letter, “Banks, institutional investors and analysts need to wake up to the fact that there is something very wrong at the heart of this company that is making our once great brand a laughing stock. … The airline can and should make Britain proud but a fundamental change of attitude is required from the very highest levels of BA management.”
Link: The Guardian (UK)
PILFERING TOURISTS STRIP ANCIENT ROMAN MONUMENTS – The Times (UK)
As much as you may admire Indiana Jones, don’t pilfer from ancient Roman structures. Due to poor security, ancient monuments are being striped bare. Though archaeologists complain about the lack of security, Roman authorities contend that the city’s “open-air museum” design makes it difficult to control looting. “You have to bear in mind that we cannot cover every angle, especially since restoration work is going on,” said Eugenio La Rocca, of the cultural heritage authority. Once peppered with pottery shards and fragments of marble statues, Trajan’s Forum is now largely unoccupied by artifacts, according to excavators. “I blame Indiana Jones,” says Sebastian Urguado, a Peruvian tour guide. “Once, the idea of stealing from sacred Inca sites would have been abhorrent to visitors. Nowadays, some of my clients seem to see it as a challenge.”
Link: The Times (UK)
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