I was perusing some of the “travel forums” on the Los Angeles Times, when I came across this video submitted earlier this year by someone named “unhappy traveler”.

Funny and sad: it notes how, years ago, the creator’s mother wrote a letter of complaint to Continental and was promptly invited to dinner at the CEO’s home!

The video points out that, times have changed. Indeed. Check it out here.

When it comes to fees, European airlines are way ahead of us here in the States.

Take baggage fees.

Our “pay-a-fee-to-check-a-second-bag” charge is nothing compared to Ryanair’s longtime policy of “pay-a-fee-to-check-ANY-bag”.

Anyway, an airline analyst says, European carriers typically enact new policies between 8 and 18 months ahead of their American counterparts.

So what’s ahead? Cell phone and internet use fees. Maybe.

Keep reading.

A friend of mine recently took a trip on Northwest, and she is now a firm believer that “courtesy counts”. Here’s her story:

“While making my reservations, I got to the seat selection phase, and, as usual, there were plenty of seats you could pay extra for, but no other seats were available (at that time). This confused me, since in the past, there were always at least a couple of “free seats” to choose from, and I was getting a little worried — would I have to pay for a seat?”

Keep reading — here comes the payoff…

UPDATE: More FEES Added!

Before I launch into this semi-rant, I want to make it very clear that I know the current price of fuel is killing the airlines — figuratively and literally. And believe me, I don’t want to start driving from Dallas to Los Angeles or New York any time soon.

That said, I don’t blame the airlines for trying to make a buck or trying to keep their head above water, but — I do have a bone to pick with some of their methods.

And, notice that much of my “crabbiness” stems not from airline fees, but from all the fees imposed by our local airports and the government!

Crabbiness Scale: from 1 Crab (minor grouchiness) to 4 Crabs (utterly outraged).

I now present to you — “Rick’s Crabby List”: click more to see it for yourself.

I think you’ll like this one: it’s all about those “extras” that used to be freebies. You know what I’m talking about:

Food, headsets, baggage check-in. What til you hear what it all adds up to!

And it’s getting worse. Click here to read all about it, in my latest weekly column for ABCNews.com.

This could happen — more aircraft groundings — according to an article in the latest issue of Time magazine. The writer quotes the man charged with protecting the FAA whistleblowers as saying, “There are additional revelations about oversight issues with regard to airline safety that are coming forward.”

An FAA spokesman says, there’s no way to predict future groundings.

However, my friends, the busy summer travel season is just ahead, so let’s be prepared: please check out these tips for travelers stranded in airports.

The most important tip? Plan ahead in case of trouble, so check out the tips NOW.

Question: When is a “fee” a “tip”? Answer: When you’re in Massachusetts.

Here’s the story, as reported by the Boston Herald: it involves that $2 per-bag curbside-handling fee that American Airlines began slapping on luggage awhile back, to bring in some extra revenue.

Well, a Boston jury has ruled (to the delight of a lot of skycaps) the $2 fee IS a tip, at least under Massachusetts law, and that all of that money should go to the curbside bag wranglers.

But what about the signs that say, “Fee Does Not Include Gratuity”? So is this right? Keep reading…

The newly released Airline Quality Rating study (covering the year 2007) shows something that really isn’t much of a surprise to most of us: complaints about the airlines are up — way up.

The respected, annual study (sponsored by the Aviation Institute at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and by Wichita State University)shows that airlines failed in the study’s 4-categories: on time performance, baggage handling, denied boarding, and customer service.

But again, the most glaring aspect of the report was the rate of complaints; they were up 60% overall. And, that rate more than doubled for US Airways and Comair. In fact complaints were up for all but one of the 16 airlines in the study (the exception was Mesa Airlines).

But that doesn’t mean Mesa came out on top in terms of customer satisfaction. Keep reading for for details.

Go figure.

According to the just released monthly statistics from the Department of Transportation (DOT) for February of this year, more flights were cancelled in February 2008 than in January 2008.

And, the airlines “on time” arrival rate was worse as well, at 68.6% compared with 72.4% for January. The best on time rate? Unfortunately, the prize went to the now defunct Aloha Airlines (ouch!).

Good news? Yes, there was some, and it has to do with our luggage. Keep reading for details.

There’s a new “application” on Facebook: American Airline’s “Travel Bag”.

Presumably, American wants to reach out to the youth market (of course, Facebook started out just for college kids, but is now open to anyone of any age — even me!).

So what does Travel Bag do? A number of things, including a “count-down” to upcoming events or flights. (”Oh, really?” said one of my more pessimistic acquaintances, “And will it count the hours I’ve been stuck on this plane, sitting out here on the tarmac?!”).

Now, now. I’ll tell you what else Travel Bag does, if you just keep reading…

A couple of weeks ago, I put up a post asking “how many lavatories are required on commercials jets?”

I did a lot of research but couldn’t find a definitive answer anywhere. I also contacted the FAA. I said I’d update you.

So today, I finally heard back — only to be told to contact the FAA’s “Aircraft Certification Service, Delegation and Airworthiness Programs” in Oklahoma City.

Okay, we did so. And lo and behold, a nice young man who took our call, had the answer. Click “more” and you’ll have the answer, too!

Are you one of those passengers whose knees are always smashed into the seat in front of you? Well starting next month, if you want more legroom on JetBlue, no problem!

Just fork over an extra $10 to $20.

And be one of the first in line: only about 6-rows will have this extra legroom, and JetBlue is betting they’ll all be snapped up.

Is it worth it? Keep reading…

Check out this post about “Airport Theme Songs” on our sister-blog, “Standard Upright Position”.

The things you learn about your airports!

And please–leave a comment.

The more over-the-top, the better.

What do you want from an airport? Planes that leave on time, of course! But what about concessions?

Well, if you find yourself at the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport (DFW), you are in the right place.

Especially if you like Irish pubs, impressive art, and strolling through a winery.

Yep, they have all that at DFW, and more (so keep reading…)

Meet the “Happy Traveler”: he’s Terry Buchen, a world-renowned expert on golf agronomy (in other words, Terry is the guy who keeps the greens green; one of his latest projects is the new Tiger Woods golf course in Dubai).

Needless to say, Terry gets around: he flies about 200,000 miles a year — and a lot of that’s in First Class.

But a good chunk of those miles are flown on Southwest. You heard right. As the New York Times first reported, Terry loves Southwest.

Why Southwest? Attitude, personality, peanuts and pilots and more…

What IS it with poor Southwest, that they keep attracting attention-seeking hotties?

We all remember Kyla Ebbert (if not, click here). Now there are two new young women (Nisreen Swedberg and Sarah Williams, aged 18) who say Southwest “discriminated” against them– but why?

“I think they were just discriminating against us because we were young decent-looking girls…[The flight attendants] were like older ladies. We were younger. Who knows, they could have been just jealous of us because we were younger.” — the “youthful” Sarah Williams

My goodness! What prompted all this? Keep reading (and see the video!).

From time to time, I’ve told you about lost/delayed baggage by U.S airlines. So how’s it going in Europe? Among the major European carriers?

Well, they’ve had their troubles over the past year.

The biggest loser (of luggage)? A bit of a surprise (hint: it’s not a British airline).

Keep reading for the winners and losers of 2007.

2007 wasn’t the best year for airline and airport performance. Anyone who took a vacation or a business trip probably picked up on it. There was a lot of waiting, a lot of lines, a lot of frustration, etc.

Well, now the DOT has made it official: 2007 was worse than 2006. It was worse for on-time percentages (worst ever, actually), worse for baggage handling, and worse for customer complaints.

Keep reading for the latest stats from the BTS (Bureau of Transportation Statistics)…

This is a myth I’ve busted again and again, but it keeps turning up in travel sites that ought to know better.

The latest reference is from a post explaining how never to get “screwed” (their word) by a cancelled flight again. How? By invoking “Rule 240″ because it means “your airline must book you on another airline’s flight if that is available and will get you to your destination quicker.”

Sigh. Chances are, it won’t work. Let me repeat: IT WON’T WORK.

And for a very good reason. Click “more” to find out what it is, and what your REAL rights are (hint: there aren’t many).

Airline stock guru’s are “modeling in” merger price bumps into their stock price forecasts for investors — not strangely enough “BUY” seems to be the widespread theme from these analysts.

Oh! of course there is the standard disclaimer about sky-rocketing fuel and the economy, but there appears to be a giddiness that spells trouble for those of us caught in the path of a merger — in a city where there was “once” compeitition.

Is what “is” good for investors & airline executives retirement plans — good for you?

Good news first: according to Joe Sharkey in the NYTimes, the number of bags that have been damaged, lost or mishandled dropped fairly significantly this past year. The airline with the best baggage record? JetBlue. Worst? American Eagle.

Bad news: Sharkey quotes FlightStats.com as saying about 28% of flights arrived late in the “top 28-domestic airports” last year, compared with about 23% for 2006.

Saw this story on Consumerist.com: the parents of a Canadian child are steaming mad at WestJet. It seems they paid the airline to watch over their little “solo flyer” and apparently WestJet dropped the ball (though the child did arrive safely).

Sadly, this isn’t exactly breaking-news: there are plenty of other examples.

But as a parent, one thing caught my eye: the child in question was just 5-years old. I am by no means defending WestJet, but, whatever happened to common sense?

I don’t know about you, but I would no more let a 5-year old fly alone, than I would allow them to play in the middle of a Los Angeles freeway.

If you disagree (or agree), let me know.

This goes back to Dec. 29, 2006, when a terrible storm hit Dallas. Two American Airlines flights heading there were diverted to Austin, where they sat on the tarmac.

Kate Hanni of Napa, California says her plane sat for more than 9-hours and during all this time, no one was allowed off.

Hanni called this “false imprisonment”, and says passengers suffered hunger, thirst and overflowing toilets. She and another passenger have now filed lawsuits against American.

If Hanni’s name sounds familiar, it’s because she heads the Airline Passengers’ Coalition for a Bill of Rights (here’s her website).

As for American Airlines, there was no immediate comment.

Maybe you’ve already seen my Top 10 “worst” list. Now for the good news: I actually found enough good things for a BEST list.

Think you’ll enjoy this. Just click “more” to see the entire list.

And if you think I’ve left anything out, please, tell me in the comments section.

I think I’m going to make this an annual tradition: say good-bye to the old year with a list of the best and worst in commercial aviation over the past 12-months.

You’ve heard of some of these incidents, but others are obscure or just downright funny.

I’ll give you my “worst” list now, since most of us say, “give me the bad news first.”

Click “more” for a fun read, and add your own ideas in the comments section.