BlkAv8tor Returns to The Blogging World After A Lengthy Hiatus

Hello All Blkav8tor Checking In!!!

Hello all, I am back from a bloggers break since work and family come first! So I think I have a little bit of time here and there to share some of the news events and my knowledge as things take place with the world.

So I figured I would jump in feet first with a few things that happened recently in the aviation world close to home and also a far.

My first story happened in my neck of the woods right here in Phoenix with the death of a US Airways flight attendant. For those of you that may not know what happened click here and I also want to pay my condolences to a fellow flight attendant that I never new or flew with. His friends and family here in Phoenix and throughout the world have commented on a monumental loss to the airline world and aviation community!

His name was Nick Aaronson, I feel a loss for a fellow flier and I would have been honored to have made his acquaintance! Nick enjoy you final flight, you touched so many and you will be missed by all!!!

Nick Aaronson

Here is a brief video of the send off from his fellow employees at US Airways from 

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport!

9 Passengers Fall Sick Due To Foul Odor On US Airways Flight To Jamaica

Flight from Charlotte, N.C., to Jamaica forced to return to gate

9 people on board a US Airways flight from Charlotte, North Carolina (KCLT) to Montego Bay Jamaica were taken to the hospital Tuesday after they became sick due to a "foul odor" on the plane, officials said.
The passengers were complaining of symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic fumes, the NBC-affiliated WCNC news channel reported, citing medics. One of the patients was a US Airways employee.

Flight 985 was scheduled to depart Charlotte Douglas Airport (KCLT) at 9:35 a.m. and was due to go to Montego Bay (MBJ/MKJS) on the Caribbean island.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that there were reports of a bad smell shortly after the Boeing 767 left the gate.

The plane pushed back from the gate and taxied out on to the ramp when several passengers on board complained of a foul-smelling odor. The flight attendants notified the pilots of the problem and the aircraft returned to the gate and those persons were checked out by medics.

The plane did not get airborne so declaring an in-flight emergency never happened. The pilots checked-in with ground control to taxi and then advised them of the problem and emergency services on the field were notified. Mecklenburg County ambulance spokesman Jeff Keith said nine people were taken to Carolinas Medical Center, but added their conditions did not appear to be life-threatening.

This is not the first time this has happened with US Airways. In January, 15 people were treated after complaining of sickness associated with a foul odor on a US Airways Boeing 767 flight, WCNC reported. It's possible that this was the same exact airplane. I haven't been able to confirm this as of yet but reports indicate that maintenance logs obtained by local WCNC showed that plane experienced a similar problem on Dec. 28 and Dec. 30 on flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

US Airways' Service Difficulty Report filed with the Federal Aviation Administration says "a very strong odor smelling like wet socks and/or dirty feet circulated through the passenger cabin and flight deck" during Flight 1568 on December 28 from Charlotte to San Juan, Puerto Rico and another flight on Dec 30 On Jan. 5, when it was cleared for flight everything seemed to operationg normally then it happened again.

After the January 16th incident, US Airways took its 767 out of service for maintenance work. When it returned to the air on January 21, US Airways reported to the FAA "a scorched odor...like a gym or locker room" filled the aircraft. Maintenance found no problems with the plane and it was cleared for flight.

On Jan. 16, Flight 1041 from St. Thomas was the next incident flight. The crew of Flight 1041 fell victim to a "fume event," the third time in three weeks that the aircraft, a Boeing 767-2B7, tail number 251, suffered contamination of its cabin air. The flight was going from from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands (STT/TIST) where it was met by ambulances when it landed in Charlotte (KCLT) and passengers and crew members complained of headaches and nausea they attributed to a suspicious smell.

Crew members reported trouble breathing, itchy eyes and stomach cramps. Two days later on the same route a "foul odor" entered the cabin. "Passengers and flight attendants were feeling faint and nauseous," according to the Service Difficulty Report.
US Airways tells CNN hydraulic fluid was released into the ventilation system on the two December flights. That fluid – Skydrol – is a known irritant to the respiratory tract.

Eight passengers were treated on the scene. Seven crew members were taken to the hospital, where they were treated and released. One flight attendant has since returned to the air, while the other crew members remain out on disability.

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