Girl Shoots Video of Herself While Stuck in PIT Overnight!

Hello All BlkAv8tor2003 checking In!!!

See this is what I'm talking about! If your going to be stuck in an airport all night long then why not make it fun? This young lady in the video gets stuck in Pittsburghs International airport for the night. Must have been due to the previous weeks Eastcoast winter storms and she made the absolute best of it. She had the airport as props and also as a co-star.

All I can say is Bravo!!! Sometimes you can't change what has happened but you can make the best of it!

Remember to always Be Proactive Not Reactive and enjoy your flight!!!

BlkAv8tor2003

Making the best of being stuck in an airport overnight due to weather!

Pregnant Woman, Husband Kicked Off Spirit Airlines Flight For Asking For Water

Not just movie directors are getting kicked off planes for bizarre reasons.
A New York doctor claims that he was booted from a Spirit Airlines flight for asking for water for his pregnant wife on Sunday.

Mitchell Roslin, the Chief of Obesity Surgery at Manhattan's Lenox Hill Hospital, says that after being grounded at LaGuardia Airport for two hours in a hot plane his attempts to get water for his 7-month pregnant wife were repeatedly refused.

Roslin informed the New York Post that flight attendants told him that it was "against corporate policy" to give him water before the plane was in the air.
The doctor was asked to leave the plane after continuing to plead for water, and ultimately did so with his wife and family in tow.

Hello All, BlkAv8tor2003 Is Checking In!!!

WTH is going on when you can get kicked off for requesting a glass of water? Sounds like Spirit Airlines is stirring the pot with it's own publicity! Things are getting more sensitive and every little thing is setting people off everytime!

I only imagine what is next!!!

See Ya later!!!

Remember to Be Proactive And Not Reactive and enjoy your flight!

BlkAv8tor2003

Delta passengers receive luggage soaked in jet fuel

On Sunday, a group of friends were returning home from a vacation in Puerto Rico. Shortly after landing at Denver International Airport, they retrieved their bags to find out they had been drenched in jet fuel.
Delta Airlines Representatives had them fill out a complaint and sent them home with their bags smelling of fumes. They told them to wash everything they could and for everything else submit a reimbursement form within 24 hours.

"I'm not sure what to do with baggage that smells like jet fuel because to me that seems like a hazard and I should just dump it in my trash can. I don't really know how to handle it," Kathy Shoemaker, a Delta passenger, said.
9NEWS Aviation Expert, Greg Feith, says the contaminated luggage could be a serious fire hazard on the airplane, at the airport, and at the passengers' home.
A Delta representative told the passengers the soaking probably happened on the ground in Puerto Rico, meaning the bags flew with them all the way to Denver. That didn't sit well with Kathy.

"I don't think anyone wants luggage that's been soaked in fuel in the luggage compartment of their flight. I don't ever want to think that would ever happen again cause it seems to me there was enough luggage that was soaked that any kind of spark would have blown up our plane. "
Feith says the possibility of fuel leaking from an aircraft fuel tank into the cargo pit during flight is virtually impossible. But he says the airline should always try to find the source of any fuel contamination.

9NEWS tried to contact Delta representatives for comment but our messages weren't returned.

Man Allegedly Assaults Air Marshal on Houston-Bound Flight

HOUSTON - A 47-year-old Alabama man is in federal custody after he allegedly became belligerent and punched a federal air marshal on a Houston-bound flight.

Robert Wade Prince was arrested Saturday by federal officers at Bush Intercontinental Airport, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice. He faces charges of assault, interfering with flight crew members and attendant and assaulting an officer.

Prince was aboard a Continental Airlines flight heading to Houston from Amsterdam Saturday when he allegedly started becoming boisterous and yelling loudly, according to the statement. While crew members aboard the flight tried to calm him down, he allegedly grabbed the arm of a female attendant.

Then a woman sitting next to Prince accused him of inappropriately touching her and complained about his yelling, according to the statement.
That's when a flight attendant asked a federal air marshal aboard the flight to switch seats with the woman, according to the statement.

But as the air marshal tried to take his new seat, Prince allegedly blocked it, according to the statement.
After the air marshal identified himself as a federal officer, Prince allegedly punched him twice in the torso, according to the statement.
Prince was restrained and forced to sit in the crew's rest area, according to the statement.
During the rest of the flight, Prince allegedly kept verbally abusing the air marshal, according to the statement.

He was immediately arrested after the plane safely landed at Intercontinental Airport.
Prince is being held without bond until his detention hearing, which has been scheduled for Thursday.
A conviction on a charge of interfering with flight crew members and attendants carries a punishment range of up to 20 years, according to the statement.
A charge of assaulting an officer carries a maximum punishment of 8 years imprisonment upon conviction, according to the statement.

Both offenses are also punishable by fines of up to $250,000 each.
Assault carries a maximum punishment of six months incarceration and a $5,000 fine.

CSTPublished: Tuesday, 16 Feb 2010, 5:15 PM CSTM
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/100216-mid-air-assault

US Airways Does It Again: Would You Sit Separated From Your 2 and 5 Year Old?

by Sierra on February 15, 2010
Childwild

US Airways!!! Straighten Up And Fly Right!!!!

Hello all BlkAv8tor2003 Checking In!!!

Just when you thought the airlines could do no worse, US Airways comes down and drops the ball in a big way! This is an absolute mistake on the grandest scale and US Airways and the front-line employees failed to do the one thing that is paramount and their primary job function....CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!

How does some many employees who are involved with the boarding process and flight screw things up so bad? Here is the story in brief and I will post a link to the actual blog story of the passenger involved!

US Airways Hates Families and Kids
A mother traveling with her 2 children and another family member who also was traveling with a child were to fly on US Airways from Boston (KBOS) to Tucson (KTUS) with a stop or layover in Phoenix (KPHX) US Airways Corporate home. The skinny of it is all 5 of these passengers were seated separately. A 2 year old, 5 year old, the mom and the other family member with a lap child.

From her story she said that not one of the agents, flight attendants or other passengers would help her get her seats changed, ask for volunteers to change seats so that the children were not seated alone for 5 hours worth of flying and the mother was terrified that if she made a big stink out of it that she would be arrested! I can't count how many times when I flew as a flight attendant, worked as a gate agent or customer service supervisor/manager that I have asked for volunteers to change there seats to accommodate a family in part or full when it came to seat assignments.

This is lazy agents and flight crew not doing what they can to come up with a solution. Give a passengers a free drink or two, free headset or a free meal for making the change...the agents or flight attendants could have done something....If they really wanted too! There was a flight attendant that tried to offer assistance to this passenger in her moments of need but the story was a little sketchy regarding her.

The passenger didn't know if she worked for US Airways or not because she was flying in plain clothes but she did say she was a flight attendant. Sounds like she was commuting or deadheading (deadheading: flying to or from a trip in plain clothing; On duty but not working this particular flight) She offered some assistance but then retreated and all but alienated the passenger. this is one of the weirdest series of events I ever heard of and it was just plain wrong!

This is what you get when people get complacent or just don't care about what they are doing. Being a flight attendant, means a 24 hr smile and you MUST help everyone at anytime and if it's repetitive then you must do things over and over. This incident just shows that the flight crew can be a helpful entity or a hindrance when a passenger is in need. The crew may have been following their company policies about seat assignment changes and things they do on the plane but the last time I checked to a point the company policies are a guide and employees need to use good judgement to solve problems. The crew on board and the agents obviously didn't do anything more than they were suppose to. Again this is why the airlines as a whole have a black eye right now and at the rate they are going the are working on a broken nose too!

Now I don't know if the passenger did her part about making sure her seating was in order before getting to the actual departure gate but there were many things she could have done to lessen the chance of this happening. I sent her a reply to her blog but as of my writing she has not posted it or replied to me regarding it. When this happens I will update this. This is all over Twitter and starting to pick up the national headlines too, so I know this story is far from over. As I hear of updates I will post them too!

The link to her full story is here! Would you sit separated from your 2-year-old?

I have also posted Reservation Tricks When Flying I hope travelers can use them to their advantage to make their travels a little less stressful.

The airline is only going to do so much but it is the responsibility of the airline passenger to be prepared and planning ahead for anything that might be out of the ordinary. When passengers start doing this they will have less stressful trips and when things go well they enjoy their trip just a little bit more!

Remember to Be Proactive And Not Reactive when you fly and enjoy your flight!!!

BlkAv8tor2003

Milestone In Diversity Continental Airlines Names Jetliner After Trailblazing Pilot

It took Marlon Green more than six years to battle Continental Airlines to become the first black hired as a pilot for a U.S. passenger airline.

And it took Continental nearly 50 years to publicly acknowledge Green's contribution to its success.

On Tuesday, that delayed expression of gratitude came in a Houston hangar during a ceremony to introduce Continental's newest Boeing 737 — emblazoned with Green's name. (See photos from the ceremony.)

“The fact that we did this shows how regretful we are about our history, and we took the opportunity to honor Capt. Green because it's important to us,” Jeff Smisek, Continental's chairman, president and CEO, said in an interview.

Green's brother, Jim Green, flew from his home near Seattle to attend the ceremony. He said the honor would have pleased his brother, who died in July at age 80. 

“He's looking down from heaven and saying well done — a little bit late, but well done,” Jim Green said.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, called Tuesday a day of redemption for the Houston-based airline.

“If we do not remember our history, if we do not understand the pain, then we cannot enjoy the joy,” she said.
Marlon Green and his family suffered a great deal while waging the legal battle that led decades later to the honor Continental bestowed Tuesday at the suggestion of its black pilots.

And it took Continental nearly 50 years to publicly acknowledge Green's contribution to its success.
On Tuesday, that delayed expression of gratitude came in a Houston hangar during a ceremony to introduce Continental's newest Boeing 737 — emblazoned with Green's name. (See photos from the ceremony.)
“The fact that we did this shows how regretful we are about our history, and we took the opportunity to honor Capt. Green because it's important to us,” Jeff Smisek, Continental's chairman, president and CEO, said in an interview.

Green's brother, Jim Green, flew from his home near Seattle to attend the ceremony. He said the honor would have pleased his brother, who died in July at age 80. 

“He's looking down from heaven and saying well done — a little bit late, but well done,” Jim Green said.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, called Tuesday a day of redemption for the Houston-based airline.
“If we do not remember our history, if we do not understand the pain, then we cannot enjoy the joy,” she said.
Marlon Green and his family suffered a great deal while waging the legal battle that led decades later to the honor Continental bestowed Tuesday at the suggestion of its black pilots.

And it took Continental nearly 50 years to publicly acknowledge Green's contribution to its success.

On Tuesday, that delayed expression of gratitude came in a Houston hangar during a ceremony to introduce Continental's newest Boeing 737 — emblazoned with Green's name. (See photos from the ceremony.)

“The fact that we did this shows how regretful we are about our history, and we took the opportunity to honor Capt. Green because it's important to us,” Jeff Smisek, Continental's chairman, president and CEO, said in an interview.

Green's brother, Jim Green, flew from his home near Seattle to attend the ceremony. He said the honor would have pleased his brother, who died in July at age 80. 

“He's looking down from heaven and saying well done — a little bit late, but well done,” Jim Green said.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, called Tuesday a day of redemption for the Houston-based airline.

“If we do not remember our history, if we do not understand the pain, then we cannot enjoy the joy,” she said.

Marlon Green and his family suffered a great deal while waging the legal battle that led decades later to the honor Continental bestowed Tuesday at the suggestion of its black pilots.

Romney Attacked On Flight From Vancouver

Hello All BlkAv8tor2003 Checking In!!!

Will this little fiasco help Washington to change the rules regarding passengers actions on board todays airlines? Well if it needs any help from Washington powers I think they have a good shot at it now. The former Presidential Candidate was attacked while trying to return to Los Angeles after going to the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, BC over a reclining seat and a passenger who was very upset. He wasn't hurt and we are all lucky. Now maybe Washington lawmakers can make some changes to the way passengers act onboard the aircraft!!!! We will see if aything changes when something happens on many aircraft!

Have a good flight and remember to Be Proavctive and not Reactive!!!

BlkAv8tor2003

Mitt Romney's in the news this morning due to a disturbance on an airplane. No, he wasn't thrown off the plane for being too fat like film director Kevin Smith, but because an irate passenger took a swing at him. Former governor Mitt Romney was attacked by a passenger on an Air Canada flight Monday morning.

The former 2008 Republican presidential hopeful had been in Vancouver since Friday for the Winter Olympics. He was attacked as he was leaving Vancouver with his wife, Ann, according to Romney’s spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom.


Romney, 62, reportedly asked the passenger sitting in front of his wife to raise his seat before takeoff after the passenger had reclined his seat.





The man allegedly became violent and took a swing at the former 2008 presidential hopeful.
A Canadian newspaper, The Globe and Mail, first reported the story, saying that Romney was “physically threatened” by a passenger.





"Gov. Romney did not retaliate, but instead allowed the airline crew to respond to the incident," Fehrnstrom said in a statement to the Globe.



Romney was not injured. The pilot returned to the gate, and the suspect was removed from the plane by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and was arrested. The same plane took off a short time later and later landed safely in Los Angeles.

Romney was the head of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and was an honored guest at the 2010 games.

According to Canada's Globe and Mail, the request enraged the passenger and he became "physically violent."

The man was in the wrong for reacting the way he did. We can all agree on that. The passenger reclined his seat before take-off after the plane had left the gate. That's not allowed. Once the plane reaches the appropriate altitude, of course, reclining is OK -- although depending on leg-room and the size of the passenger behind you a reclining seat can make things miserable.
By the way, Romney was not flying first class. He was in row 15 of a Canadian Air Embraer ERJ-190. That's the economy section.

As for legroom the row provides 33 inches. That's not bad and very good for a regional jet.
Romney is 6'2" and the flight time from Vancouver to LA is just over 2 1/2 hours. So, assuming the passenger kept his seat reclined during the whole trip, it would have been a very uncomfortable flight for Romney. Not optimal, but bearable.

The First African-American Flight Attendant in the United States.

The First African-American Flight Attendant in the United States.

On February 11, 1958, (Actually December 1957) Ruth Carol Taylor was hired by Mohawk Airlines, becoming the first African-American flight attendant in the United States.[4] Only six months after breaking one historic barrier, Taylor's career ended due to another discriminatory barrier: the airline's marriage ban, a common practice among airlines of the day of dismissing flight attendants who became either married or pregnant.

Racial Desegregation in December 1957, Mohawk Airlines hired the first African-American stewardess in the United States, Ruth Carol Taylor. Within months, TWA announced that it would hire a black stewardess, making it the first large airline to break the color barrier in passenger service. Neither flight attendants nor their union representatives deserve credit for promoting the desegregation of cabin service.

Credit goes to the African-American applicants, overqualified except by their race, who finally broke down airline resistance and their allies in civil rights organizations and state anti-discrimination agencies, especially the New York State Committee Against Discrimination.



The breakthroughs of 1957-1958 were followed only by forced token integration on some other airlines in the early 1960s. Even after several airlines began to hire more African American women for stewardess positions by the mid-1960s, other forms of racial discrimination continued for several years.



Hello All BlkAv8tor2003 Checking In!!!

This is just a small tribute to the first African American Flight Attendant to fly for the airlines back in the late 50's till now!

Ruth Carol Taylor was that woman who broke the racial barrier and made it so many of us who are now flying and past flight attendants could enjoy what she loved and that was the desire to fly!

It's days of glamour and exotic destinations have changed a bit and now the flight attendant is a intricate part of the flight crew and flight attendants have come along way. From the days of being an unmarried, single, nurse qualified individual and being called a stewardess if you were female (or "Stew") to the flight attendants of today who are multi-talented crew members and even move on in the industry to become pilots and eventually fly the plane they once served drinks and meals on!

In the late 1920s, some airlines employed male crew members, known as aerial couriers, cabin boys, flight companions, airplane attendants, or stewards, on their flights. These men, who were usually teenagers or men of small stature, loaded luggage, reassured nervous passengers, and helped people get around the plane. Stout Airlines, which later became part of the United Air Lines group, is credited with hiring America's first male flight attendants in 1926 for its Ford Trimotors on the Detroit to Grand Rapids route.

So I tip my future Captain's hat to Ms. Ruth Carol Taylor for going through what she had to go through to make a way for the rest of us!!! Martin Luther King and now President Barack Obama I'm sure as well as all of the flight attendants that followed in your flying footsteps would be proud and we thank you!

Always Be Proactive and not Reactive When You Fly and Enjoy Your Flight!

BlkAv8tor2003

Kulula’s Livery is Green! Flying 101 Paint Job!!!

Hello All BlkAv8tor2003 Checking In!!!

I love it when an airline gets creative with their product or brand name! Air New Zealand does nude safety demos, Virgin all but has "Austin Powers" (Mike Myers) in their promos and aboard their flights.

Well here comes Kulula Airlines from South Africa! It has taken the basic questions that passengers always seem to ask or want to know and painted the answers on the outside of the aircraft! Genius idea and Bravo for Kulula Airlines which seems to be like the "Southwest Airlines" of South Africa!

If your going to copy a model why not copy one of the best airlines to make it through the most difficult times! If you look at their website it's no wonder they painted the plane the way they did! Kulula Airlines Website It's loaded with funny pictures, advertisements and ways to make navigating around their website a little easier and much more inviting!

Somebody down their is thinking ahead and taking chances with a more humorous side. Whatever works I say! If Southwest can have an aircraft marshaller on a unicycle to park one of their jets, why can't Kulula paint the FAQ's on the outside of the plane! Nobody said you couldn't do it, right? lol

My kind of airline and I hope this dispells some of the many questions that our flying passengers may have!

Remember to "Be Proactive Not reactive" and enjoy your flights!

BlkAv8tor2003

http://www.onelargeprawn.co.za/2010/02/01/flying-101-kululas-livery-is-factual-quite-funny/
By Prawn1

Local airline Kulula has always stood out from the crowd from their odd choice of colour, to their jetsetter ads, and the comical safety demos on the flights. This sense of humour has found its way onto livery that has been applied to their fleet of Boeing 737s

The airplanes are covered with “Flying 101″ livery that shows interesting details about the plane, such as the captain’s window which is marked as the big cheese, the fuel tanks (the go-go juice), to the loo (or mile-high club initiation chamber), and the black box (which is actually orange)

Have a look at some images after the jump.
Click the images to see them bigger – they may take some time to load.