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--- transportation:airlines [2025/06/02 04:47] – [British Airways] timb
+++ transportation:airlines [2025/11/23 05:39] (current) – [Air India] timb
@@ Line 258: / Line 258: @@
 https://gizmodo.com/worst-airlines-for-customer-satisfaction-ranked-spirit-1851032385
+== Flight Connections ==
+FlightConnections.com provides an overview of all flight routes worldwide. Find scheduled flights from all airports in the world. Discover airline routes and flight schedules globally. Compare direct flights or connecting flights to find new possibilities. Wherever you want to travel, with our flight finder you will find your best flight route. Find airports, airlines and hotels. Plan your leisure or business trip here!
+https://www.flightconnections.com/
@@ Line 322: / Line 325: @@
 https://www.businessinsider.com/airport-travel-chaos-airline-pilot-worst-seen-in-30-years-2022-8
+===== Data / Data Privacy =====
+== Airlines Don't Want You to Know They Sold Your Flight Data to DHS ==
+Posted by msmash on Wednesday June 11, 2025 @11:25AM from the closer-look dept.
+An anonymous reader shares a report:
+<blockquote>
+A data broker owned by the country's major airlines, including Delta, American Airlines, and United, collected U.S. travellers' domestic flight records, sold access to them to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and then as part of the contract told CBP to not reveal where the data came from, according to internal CBP documents obtained by 404 Media. The data includes passenger names, their full flight itineraries, and financial details.
+CBP, a part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), says it needs this data to support state and local police to track people of interest's air travel across the country, in a purchase that has alarmed civil liberties experts. The documents reveal for the first time in detail why at least one part of DHS purchased such information, and comes after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detailed its own purchase of the data. The documents also show for the first time that the data broker, called the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), tells government agencies not to mention where it sourced the flight data from.
+"The big airlines -- through a shady data broker that they own called ARC -- are selling the government bulk access to Americans' sensitive information, revealing where they fly and the credit card they used," Senator Ron Wyden said in a statement. ARC is owned and operated by at least eight major U.S. airlines, other publicly released documents show. The company's board of directors include representatives from Delta, Southwest, United, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, and European airlines Lufthansa and Air France, and Canada's Air Canada. More than 240 airlines depend on ARC for ticket settlement services.
+</blockquote>
+https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/06/11/1825215/airlines-dont-want-you-to-know-they-sold-your-flight-data-to-dhs
@@ Line 535: / Line 559: @@
+===== Loyalty =====
+== $30,000 In Loyalty, Still Stuck In Coach—Airlines Now Sell First Class To Once-A-Year Flyers For $40 ==
+Gary Leff - September 20, 2025
+Frequent flyer loyalty is a promise that if you stick with one airline, they’re going to treat you better on your future flights. You ‘build up’ status, and benefit most elite flyers cherish is the upgrade. In the U.S., if the airline doesn’t sell first class seats they say they’ll hand those out to passengers in the order of their status… starting several days prior to departure.
+For years this was a consistent benefit that flyers could count on, and it kept them loyal – buying less convenient flight schedules, connections instead of non-stops, and paying more for tickets to stick with their preferred airline. But the upgrade benefit has become a mirage.
+Here’s one American Airlines passenger complaining that their status only gets them upgrades “5-10%” of the time, and they’re frustrated because there are of open first class seats for a flight they’re about to board – more empty first class seats than there are elite flyers hoping to upgrade, even – and the airline hasn’t awarded any yet.
+https://viewfromthewing.com/30000-in-loyalty-still-stuck-in-coach-airlines-now-sell-first-class-to-once-a-year-flyers-for-40/
@@ Line 715: / Line 755: @@
 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/airtag-leads-arrest-airline-worker-accused-stealing-least-15000-items-rcna43547
-==== East Timor’s Aero Dili ====
-==== Company ====
-== Airline Takes Revenge After Bad Review, Posts Passenger’s Passport Online ==
-Gary Leff - February 17, 2024
-YouTuber Josh Cahill, who has nearly 700,000 subscribers, reviews flights and courts drama, it seems. Just a couple of months ago he was banned by Qatar Airways over a negative review.
-Now he’s taken on East Timor’s Aero Dili. He flew the carrier from Bali to Dili Airport in East Timor, posted a negative review of his trip on the airline’s only jet, and claimed to have gotten food poisoning on board.
-In response, the airline took to Facebook to accuse Cahill of trying to extort them, demanding the following for a positive review:
-    a free flight
-    hotel accommodations
-    per diem to cover food
-    $50,000 cash
-They didn’t post messages to support this demand. Instead, the airline posted a photo of his… passport?
-https://viewfromthewing.com/airline-takes-revenge-after-bad-review-posts-passengers-passport-online/
@@ Line 823: / Line 838: @@
 https://www.blogto.com/travel/2023/01/ontario-couple-tracking-lost-baggage-shocked-air-canada-gave-it-charity/
+== Air Canada returned her missing suitcase, but it came back with a knife, toiletries and ticket scanner inside ==
+Linda Royle says airline initially wouldn't compensate because she can't prove ownership of missing items
+Elizabeth Whitten - Jul 25, 2025 1:30 AM PDT / Updated July 25, 2025
+When Linda Royle opened up her returned carry-on suitcase, she was disgusted to find not only her personal possessions missing, but several items — like two toiletry bags, a ticket scanner and a knife — were now in her bag.
+Royle said her suitcase had been waylaid during a stopover at Toronto Pearson International Airport in late March. When it was returned to her, she said she was initially pleased to have her belongings back.
+But her relief soon turned to frustration.
+"It was shocking, like, I flipped it open and I unzipped the side and I'm there like 'What?'… I couldn't believe it," Royle told CBC News.
+Air Canada initially refused to compensate the Newfoundland woman, but told CBC News in a statement Thursday that it had looked at her case again and would contact Royle to "finalize her claim."
+Royle says hundreds of dollars' worth of shoes, books, medication and clothing were missing, but in their stead were items she didn't own, like two old shaving kits, which included personal hygiene items like nail clippers, small scissors, shaving items, a comb, body wash, floss and toothpaste.
+Her carry-on luggage also now included a knife and a man's boarding pass dated April 2020, she said.
+There was also a scanner device, similar to the ones airports use to check boarding passes.
+"You feel violated," said Royle. "Somebody ... literally picked through all of my personal belongings to see what they wanted."
+She said finding those unwanted items in their place is "bizarre."
+https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/air-canada-mystery-baggage-1.7592756
@@ Line 903: / Line 946: @@
 https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/air-india-russia-diversion/
+== Air India Just Discovered a Missing Boeing 737, Forgot They Owned ==
+At the time, taxpayers were responsible for losses, and the outdated processes allowed this lapse to persist.
+Shweta Shukla - November 22, 2025
+GURUGRAM- Air India (AI) identified a missing Boeing 737 at Kolkata Airport (CCU), uncovering an aircraft that had been abandoned for 13 years and overlooked across successive administrative cycles.
+The jet, a 43-year-old Boeing 737-200, remained unnoticed until Kolkata Airport requested its removal.
+The discovery triggered an internal audit that revealed how the aircraft vanished from official records before privatization.
+The case reflects legacy gaps that once shaped the former state-run airline’s asset management practices.
+https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/2025/11/22/air-india-just-discovered-a-missing-boeing-737/
@@ Line 1089: / Line 1152: @@
 https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/18/alaska-airlines-does-away-with-check-in-kiosks/
+== Alaska Airlines grounded itself due to mysterious IT problem ==
+Now flying again, but not saying what went wrong
+Simon Sharwood - Mon 21 Jul 2025 06:29 UTC
+UPDATED US carrier Alaska Airlines has grounded its fleet due to an unspecified IT issue.
+At the time of writing, the airline’s website includes a banner that reads: “We are experiencing issues with our IT systems. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to resolve the issues.”
+The carrier is a little more verbose on social media, where it’s stated “Alaska Airlines is experiencing an IT outage affecting operations. A temporary ground stop is in place. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you're scheduled to fly tonight, please check your flight status before heading to the airport.”
+The airline lists 325 aircraft in its fleet. At the time of writing, plane-tracking site FlightAware reports just eleven Alaska Airlines flights in the air.
+The IT incident is clearly one reason for that number, but it’s also worth noting that late hour in the US markets the airline serves: At the time of writing it is 11:00PM on the West Coast, and 02:00 AM on the East Coast. Few customers want to fly late at night, or overnight, so airlines fly fewer domestic flights at those times.
+https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/21/alaska_airlines_it_incident_grounding/
+== Alaska Airlines Resumes Operations After System Glitch Grounds All Flights ==
+Posted by BeauHD on Monday July 21, 2025 04:40PM
+Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air grounded all flights Sunday night due to a major IT outage, prompting a system-wide FAA ground stop that lasted until early Monday. Although operations have since resumed, passengers are still facing delays and residual disruptions. Gizmodo reports:
+<blockquote>
+The airline requested a system-wide ground stop from federal aviation authorities at about 11 p.m. ET on Sunday night. That stop remained in effect until around 2 a.m. ET Monday, when the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed it had been lifted. But disruptions didn't end there. Alaska warned passengers to brace for likely delays throughout the day. [...] The FAA's website listed the stop as applying to all Alaska Airlines aircraft.
+</blockquote>
+Gizmodo notes that the incident comes nearly a year after the massive 2024 CrowdStrike crash, which has become known as the largest IT outage in history. "The July 2024 outage brought down an estimated 8.5 million Microsoft Windows systems running CrowdStrike's Falcon Sensor software, disrupting everything from hospitals and airports to broadcast networks."
+"There's no word yet from Alaska on whether the outage ties into a broader software problem, but the timing, almost exactly a year after the CrowdStrike crash, isn't going unnoticed on social media, with users wondering if the events are related."
+https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/07/21/2025255/alaska-airlines-resumes-operations-after-system-glitch-grounds-all-flights
+== Alaska Airlines’ statement on IT outage ==
+Alaska Airlines - Oct 23, 2025
+Friday, Oct. 24 – 6 a.m. Pacific Time
+Alaska Airlines is working to restore operations to normal as quickly and safely as possible after a significant IT outage led to a systemwide ground stop for Alaska and Horizon Air flights. The ground stop was lifted at 11:30 p.m. Pacific on Thursday, Oct. 23; the issue began earlier that day at approximately 3:30 p.m. when a failure occurred at our primary data center.
+Throughout Thursday and into Friday morning, we have canceled more than 360 flights on Alaska and Horizon. Additional flight disruptions are likely as we reposition aircraft and crews throughout our network. Hawaiian Airlines flights are not impacted. The IT outage is not a cybersecurity incident.
+We sincerely apologize to our guests whose travel plans have been disrupted. We’re working to get them to their destinations as quickly as we can. Before heading to the airport, we encourage flyers to check their flight status.  A flexible travel policy is in place to support guests as operations return to normal following the IT outage.
+https://news.alaskaair.com/on-the-record/alaska-statement-on-it-outage/
+== Alaska Airlines grounded by mystery IT meltdown ==
+Failure at primary datacenter leaves planes parked and passengers angry, second incident since July
+Richard Speed - Fri 24 Oct 2025 11:58 UTC
+**Updated** Timing is everything – except when it isn't. US carrier Alaska Airlines has grounded its fleet once again due to a mystery IT issue.
+The problem began at 3:30 pm Pacific Time on October 23 with a "failure" at the company's primary datacenter. Alaska Airlines insisted it wasn't a cybersecurity event or related to "any other events."
+The result? A system-wide ground stop of Alaska and Horizon Air flights, though Hawaiian Airlines (which joined Alaska in 2024) was apparently unaffected.
+"The IT outage has impacted several of our key systems that enable us to run various operations, necessitating the implementation of the ground stop to keep our aircraft in position," Alaska Airlines said. "The safety of our flights was never compromised."
+The ground stop wasn't lifted until 11:30 pm Pacific Time, by which point more than 229 flights had been canceled. The company didn't confirm delay numbers but warned that "additional flight disruptions are likely as we reposition aircraft and crews throughout our network."
+Customers took to social media to express their dissatisfaction with both the airline and its customer service. Some reported being on hold for hours as they attempted to contact the airline to find the fate of their flight, while others found themselves stranded.
+https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/24/alaska_airlines_calls_a_ground/
@@ Line 1461: / Line 1587: @@
 https://simpleflying.com/american-airlines-50-seat-air-wisconsin-details/
+== American Airlines Flew Passengers On The Wrong Plane For 8 Hours—Too Big To Land, Diverted To Rome ==
+Gary Leff - June 6, 2025
+On Monday, June 2 2025, American Airlines flight 780 took off from Philadelphia for Naples, Italy. They sent the wrong plane – and passengers wound up having to land 124 miles away in Rome.
+Normally this flight is operated by a Boeing 787-8 aircraft. However, on Monday American used a larger Boeing 787-9 – which isn’t permitted at the Naples airport.
+So while the flight took off at 7:42 p.m. with a full load of summer travelers headed to this leisure destination, crew were told on descent that they weren’t cleared to land and would be touching down in Rome instead.
+https://viewfromthewing.com/american-airlines-flew-passengers-on-the-wrong-plane-for-8-hours-too-big-to-land-diverted-to-rome/
+== American Flying Empty Airbus A321neo Across The Atlantic 20 Times ==
+Ben Schlappig - 6 September 2025
+Well here’s something you don’t see that often, as flagged by JonNYC. This month, American Airlines is intentionally operating 20 roundtrip flights across the Atlantic without any passengers or cargo. What’s the logic for this? Well, there’s an interesting explanation, as you’d expect…
+American’s empty Philadelphia to Edinburgh flights
+American operates a daily seasonal flight between Philadelphia (PHL) and Edinburgh (EDI), using a Boeing 787, which is currently scheduled for several more weeks. Separate from that, between September 4 and September 24, 2025, American is operating daily flights in the market using a standard domestic configured Airbus A321neo. The flight has no passengers or cargo, and operates daily with the following schedule:
+AA9805 Philadelphia to Edinburgh departing 8:40PM arriving 8:30AM (+1 day)
+AA9806 Edinburgh to Philadelphia departing 9:30AM arriving 12:00PM
+The flight is even expected to be operated by the same exact aircraft every day — a brand new A321neo with the registration code N471AN. Why would American operate 20 empty roundtrip transatlantic flights? Well, it’s about training check airman.
+https://onemileatatime.com/news/american-flying-empty-airbus-a321neo-across-atlantic/
@@ Line 2253: / Line 2407: @@
 https://www.dailydot.com/news/american-airlines-strands-passengers-in-bahamas-no-passports/
+== American Airlines First Class Passenger Shows Up On-Time, Gets Kicked Off Flight When Agent Vanishes For Donuts ==
+Gary Leff - August 27, 2025
+A passenger flying American Airlines out of Orlando Melbourne International Airport says he was effectively removed from his flight thanks to understaffed and unresponsive employees. “Rules are rules.”
+* He arrived at the airport roughly 50 minutes before departure—within American’s published 45-minute cutoff for checked bags at most airports.
+* There was no one at the check-in counter. Eventually, an employee emerged from the back – he says that she was eating food as she came out.
+* After handing over his ID, she told him he had missed the baggage cutoff by two minutes and could not check his golf clubs.
+Thinking quickly, the customer handed his golf club bag to his friend that had taken him to the airport to ship them separately and headed to TSA. But his mobile boarding pass had been deactivated. His electronic check-in was canceled.
+He rushed back to the check-in counter, but once again there was nobody there. A TSA screener tried to help, taking his ID to the gate to try to get his boarding pass reinstated so he could clear security and fly – but he says the agent there refused. (Sidenote: screen shot your mobile boarding passes.)
+https://viewfromthewing.com/american-airlines-first-class-passenger-shows-up-on-time-gets-kicked-off-flight-when-agent-vanishes-for-donuts/
@@ Line 2269: / Line 2437: @@
 American Airlines has agreed to purchase 20 supersonic Overture planes from Boom Supersonic, the companies announced Tuesday. From a report:
 <blockquote>The deal is the second firm order in the last two years for Boom, still years from building its first commercial airplane. United Airlines made a commitment last year to buy 15 Overture jets. "Passengers want flights that are faster, more convenient, more sustainable and that's what Overture delivers," Boom CEO Blake Scholl told CNBC. "Flight times can be as little as half as what we have today, and that works great in networks like American where we can fly Miami to London in less than five hours." Boom says the Overture jet will fly as fast as Mach 1.7, or 1,304 mph, dramatically cutting trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific flight times. For example, a flight from Seattle to Tokyo, which typically takes just over 10 hours, could be completed in six hours in an Overture, according to Boom.</blockquote>
@@ Line 2571: / Line 2740: @@
 https://loyaltylobby.com/2024/06/16/reader-email-delta-award-ticket-on-klm-cancelled-passengers-not-informed/
+== Delta First-Class Disaster: US Flight’s Meltdown ==
+Jhansi - Updated 17:20 June 01, 2025
+A passenger traveling first-class on a US domestic flight from Delta Air Lines claims to have faced a total breakdown at every step of his journey.
+The person took to social media to share that their flight from Jacksonville to Seattle with a layover in Atlanta, was delayed by two hours due to “staffing issues.” There was no further explanation and no crew was present.
+But passengers were still told not to worry as the connecting Seattle flight would wait. Both gate agents and flight attendants gave that assurance, which soon turned out to be a white lie.
+When the plane finally landed in Atlanta, 12 passengers sprinted to catch the Seattle flight, just 90 seconds late. What they faced was a rude gate agent munching Doritos, laughing, and refusing to let them board.
+At customer service, the staff appeared completely zoned out. The “help” they received was two $12 meal vouchers that had to be literally printed to be redeemed.
+They took the next flight and after some pushing, they were at least seated together. The only positive moment in a 19-hour journey was that the flight attendants on that flight were great.
+Read more at: https://www.m9.news/usa-news/delta-first-class-disaster-us-flights-meltdown/
@@ Line 2803: / Line 2990: @@
 https://simpleflying.com/continental-airlines-flight-1883-taxiway-landing-story/
+===== East Timor’s Aero Dili =====
+==== Company ====
+== Airline Takes Revenge After Bad Review, Posts Passenger’s Passport Online ==
+Gary Leff - February 17, 2024
+YouTuber Josh Cahill, who has nearly 700,000 subscribers, reviews flights and courts drama, it seems. Just a couple of months ago he was banned by Qatar Airways over a negative review.
+Now he’s taken on East Timor’s Aero Dili. He flew the carrier from Bali to Dili Airport in East Timor, posted a negative review of his trip on the airline’s only jet, and claimed to have gotten food poisoning on board.
+In response, the airline took to Facebook to accuse Cahill of trying to extort them, demanding the following for a positive review:
+    a free flight
+    hotel accommodations
+    per diem to cover food
+    $50,000 cash
+They didn’t post messages to support this demand. Instead, the airline posted a photo of his… passport?
+https://viewfromthewing.com/airline-takes-revenge-after-bad-review-posts-passengers-passport-online/