Airline news may leave you gasping, screaming, crying, or laughing out loud—but it’ll never bore you.
This week is a case in point.
Whether by coincidence or design, a perfect storm of wacky airline antics have transpired in the last few days, which moved us to bring you this roundup.
There were two from the “crazy” files this week: A drunken 28-year-old man, er, “relieved himself” on a Continental Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu last month.Though it’s unclear why the man chose to urinate on the woman sitting next to him instead of the toilet, he was sentenced Tuesday to three weeks in jail for assault.
Overweight and obese flyers got a double-dose of bad news this week, as United Airlines announced that it will force those who cannot comfortably fit in a single seat to buy a second ticket. This move was apparently prompted by an increase in complaints from skinnier travelers who were annoyed that their personal space was being infringed upon by those of more ample proportions.
And to add insult to injury, the ever-provocative Ryanair is apparently toying with the idea of adding a “fat tax” to its long list of à la carte fees, which include charging passengers to use a debit card or check in with a live human being. The results of a poll conducted by the Irish low-budget carrier show that nearly half the voters favor the tax, while the rest probably think that the publicity-seeking airline is full of hot air.
The overweight might not be feeling a lot of love from the industry, but pets could soon get their very own airline if the startup Pet Airways ever gets off the ground. In a press release issued yesterday the company promises that its pet-only flights will commence in mid-July and will ferry dogs, cats and even chickens between the East and West coasts for about $150 each way.
People aren’t allowed on board, but the pets will fly in the passenger cabin (instead of the feared cargo hold) with an attendant watching over them at all times. The airline has announced before that the service was “coming,” but it has not seen the light of day yet, so we’ll just have to believe it when we see it.
And those who have a hard time understand heavily-accented call center agents may be pleased to know that Delta is caving in to customer complaints and will stop outsourcing reservations calls to India. Some calls will still be routed to centers in Jamaica and South Africa, but the airline said that those locations will be gradually phased out and eventually all calls will be answered in the United States.
Unfortunately, tragedy has also made headlines this week. On Friday a Cessna 421 crashed into a house in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, killing the pilot, and a Pilatus Porter went down in a remote area of eastern Indonesia, killing at least 11 people.And in a case of crazy-meets-tragedy, a 20-year-old man yanked open the door of a small passenger plane Wednesday night, and jumped 23,000 feet to his death.
The plane, which was flying over a remote area of northern Canada, was forced to make an emergency landing with the door ajar. It is not known why the man jumped.
By Karen Elowitt for PeterGreenberg.com.
Related links: Washington Post, USA Today, MSNBC, United Press International, USA Today, MSNBC, Los Angeles Times
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