TRAVEL NEWS RECAP WEEK OF AUGUST 15
Blogger Flies to 8 California Airports in One Day - The Cranky Flier aviation blog celebrated its 10-year anniversary, so founder Brett Snyder decided to participate in a Southwest Airlines promotion in which he could get a free companion pass if he took 10 one-way flights within California before October 31. He already had 2 flights planned, so he booked 8 one-way flights in one day, costing him a total of about $500. Snyder flew out of Long Beach to Oakland, then traveled to Ontario, Sacramento, Santa Ana, San Jose, Burbank, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. He did not ask for any discounts, but Southwest decided to give him freebies, such as food, baseball caps, notebooks, bags, champagne, and tickets to Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Studio, as well as a free night at a Marriott hotel. When Snyder arrived at LAX, there was a makeshift finish line for him to cross.
United States Air Marshals Aboard Cuba Flights - Select commercial flights between the United States and Cuba will have US air marshals on board. The flights with air marshals on board will not be revealed publicly by TSA for security reasons. The marshals will be on board in accordance with an aviation security agreement between the United States and Cuba. The first regularly scheduled commercial flight between the United States and Cuba will launch on August 31 via JetBlue.
Jakarta Airport Opens New Terminal – There’s a new terminal open in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta. Construction of Terminal 3 is a project of over $550 million, and will be fully complete in early 2017. Initially, the new terminal will accommodate domestic flights from Garuda Indonesia, the country’s national airline. Upon full completion next year, Terminal 3 will then serve Garuda Indonesia’s international flights, and eventually add international flights from other airlines. With a capacity of 25 million passengers annually, the new terminal increases the airport’s total yearly capacity to 70 million passengers.
United Airlines Flight Attendants Approve New Contract - United Airlines flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), approved a new contract regarding 25,000 flight attendants. The 5-year agreement includes double digit pay raises, enhanced job security requirements, healthcare improvements, retirement protection, and increased flexibility. All United flight attendants will now be joined by one contract, which unites them behind the carrier’s goal of building the world’s best airline.
American Airlines to Offer Free In-Flight Entertainment - American Airlines will start offering all of its movies, television shows, music, and games for free. Entertainment availability depends on the aircraft and type of Wi-Fi, but passengers will have access to popular shows and recently released movies via the seatback entertainment system or personal devices. This announcement from American Airlines comes just 2 months after Delta Air Lines made its in-flight entertainment free.
Passenger Brought Monkey Onto Plane – At John Glenn International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, a passenger brought a monkey onto a Frontier Airlines flight bound for Las Vegas. A surveillance video shows the monkey and its owner at a TSA checkpoint prior to boarding the plane. The passenger uses the monkey as an emotional support animal. However, the passenger violated Frontier Airlines’ policy by not telling the airline that he was bringing a service animal onboard. He also refused to present documents with the monkey’s certification. Frontier Airlines allows service monkeys, but must be notified in advance. At McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, law enforcement officials determined that the monkey was a certified service animal. The monkey was sneakily brought onboard in a duffel bag, but never got loose during the flight. Criminal charges were not filed.
Missed last week’s news recap? Catch up now with Travel News Recap Week of August 8.
