United pilots strike!

Delta, Continental, Lufthansa (strike reciprocity), Mesa & Colgan air joined them last week in Chicago.
About 200 people are protesting the outsourcing of jobs.
No flight disruptions are planned at this point.
I speculate the airline unions will have may many more strikes this year and it will affect flights & travelers.

British Airways strike continues

Cabin crew want higher wages and more rest times.

In the mean time, BA has cancelled more than 1,000 of its 1,950 scheduled flights over the past three days. It insists, however, that more than 60 per cent of passengers will be able to fly today.

BA gave warning of further delays and cancellations this week as there was no sign of resolution in the cabin crew dispute.

It said that it was losing around £7 million on each day of strike action, at which rate the airline will have lost about £50 million by the end of next weekend’s planned strike.

Thailand protests (again)

All is going without any disruptions this time.
The Kingdom of Thailand is a democracy and protesters have the right to do so, but in the past, their protests have seriously & significantly negatively impacted tourism..... once closing the international airport or days.
This time, the protesters seem to be in agreement that hurting the country/economy is not constructive to their political protests. The Kingdom has worked hard to strike the balance of the protesters rights to peaceably protest and keeping tourism safe.
As in the past, no tourists have been harmed or at risk.
Foreign Nationals are cautioned not to participate in the protest areas.

travel warning to Mexico

For many months now, the soldiers, sailors & Marines in San Diego have not been allowed to cross the border in Tijuana, which has been a traditional R&R location for them.
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of State issued a travel warning to Mexico due to increased violence in the northern part of the country.
Reported incidents range from Americans being followed and harassed, to being mugged and even killed.
The violence in northern Mexico has reached dangerous levels.
As a result, Americans are told to avoid the states of Durango, Coahuila, and Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Baja California.
In daylight, there have been public shootouts in the cities of Juarez, Tijuana and Nogales.
Several US consulate employees and their families have been killed in Juarez.... on the same street as the Police Station!
I am personally aware of some young tourists being killed in Tijuana.
Mexico has been trying to get a handle on this for a few years now, but recently the violence has escalated.

large wave hit cruise ship in Med

Louis Cruises reported two passengers died when the Louis Majesty was struck by "abnormal waves" while sailing in the Mediterranean on Wednesday.

Louis Cruises identified the passengers only as a German and an Italian national. Another 14 passengers suffered minor injuries.

"Louis Cruises regrets to announce that its ... Louis Majesty while sailing from Barcelona to Genoa [Italy] was hit by abnormal waves," the cruise line said. "As a result, the windows in a public area on Deck 5 on the forward part of the vessel smashed, resulting to the fatal injury of two passengers."

According to an Associated Press report, Greek and Cypriot officials said the ship was hit by 26-foot waves.


The 40,876-gross-ton ship, the former Norwegian Majesty, was carrying 1,350 passengers and 580 crew. The ship was headed back to Barcelona following the incident.

The ship was on a 12-day cruise and was due to return to Genoa on March 4.


This is a very unfortunate incident. Having been in the Navy, I can atest to the fact that the Med is NOT calm seas all the time. In 2000 a cruise ship from Civitecchia (Rome) to Barcelona encountered a storm with about 15 foot waves on teh second to last evening. Around Midnight the ship was broadsided by a "Rouge wave" that was estimated to be around 70 feet high. There were 10 cabins windows broken, 8 on deck 5on 2 on deck 6. There was no loss of life, however 30 passengers that received non-life threatening medical treatment.

can more airline fees even be possible? YES

so far we have seen baggage fees start with second bag, go to first bag and then increase again in cost, we talked about toilet cost, we pay for blanket, pillows, water, food, preferential seats. Now there are 2 new fees on the horizon coming soon to an airline near you
1. carry on bag fee
2. over sized person fee

So, lets discuss.
People are carrying on more to avoid checked bag fees. So, airlines now are enforcing the carry on size limit and if they check it at gate, they will extort you for the 3rd bag fee right there, which could be as much as $100. (assuming of course you have checked two already), otherwise it will be $35 for first checked bag. For those that try to get a garment bag or mdium roller board on, I agree. There are and always have been size limits but what if overhead and under seats are full and your proper sized bag doesn't fit. Do you have to pay? The UK & Canada tried to solve this by limiting 1 carry on per person, then none carry on's allowed. I think that will be next or airline to ensure they get ALL their baggage revenue.
Over sized person fee; it has been in the news about how airline deal with "fat" people... demanding they pay for an extra seat but that is not fair, is it? The cost of ticket x2? Europe charges the equivalent of extra leg room fee for over sized people and I suggest that is a more reasonable strategy. But lets get more basic..... airline seats are 17" wide and vary by 3". 60% of the populations exceeds a 34" waste. Do people not realize the human race is just growing; think of average size civil war or revolutionary war soldier; 6" shorter than our average size today. Let's talk physics; airline manufacturer's have to design planes that simply have wider seats. Also in this discussion, lets recognize the very tall people. Are they oversize too and need two seats for their knees/legs. If so, will they pay just like "fat" people? You would argue that a tall person cant help being tall but a fat person can loose weight, however that is not always a winning argument. It is not that simple. Our body sizes are/have changed, even in the last 50 years. Airlines are trying to make money, I get it..... but we need prolicies, procedures, rules & regulations that are sensative & realistic.

Airline passenger rights (tarmac delay) legislation

Now that this legislation is in place from the Department of Transportation.... the airlines response is clear! You wanted it, you got it. Be careful what you ask for.....
The airlines have cancelled hundreds of flights due to weather and storms in fear of big fines (about $4.4 million for a fully loaded flight). They fear pushing back, getting in line to clear a take off, maybe the arrival airports have reduced arrivals and spaced more.... and then not being cleared in the time frame allowed before a fine. So, not to take the chance and to save labor, they just cancel the flight! This practice will only increase.
The passenger rights bill was intended to limit delays without being allowed to disembark, provide water and restrooms. It's realized function will frustration to accommodate cancelled and waiting days (maybe) to get to your destination.