flying

The Chance to Regulate Airline Seats Is Before Us

Hamilton Nolan · 02/17/16 12:30PM

The first elected official who is able to pass a law ensuring that airplane seats are large enough for human beings to sit in will be incredibly popular. At the moment, we are still moving in the opposite direction.

What Was "First Class?"

Hamilton Nolan · 08/27/14 11:04AM

Those who keep a close eye on the airline industry tell us that many airlines today are considering doing away with "First Class," in favor of, I suppose, either more ultraluxury seats, or more tiny hell seats. What was "First Class," anyhow?

How Are Airlines Making So Much Money?

Hamilton Nolan · 07/24/14 01:52PM

If you've taken a commercial airline flight recently, you could be forgiven for assuming that airlines are broke as hell, forced to penny-pinch and slash service to the bone. Not so! Several airlines reported record profits this week. But how?

Off-Duty Bomber Pilot Helps Land a United 737 After Captain Passes Out

Adam Weinstein · 06/02/14 04:35PM

United Flight 1637 was supposed to be a quick holiday jaunt for off-duty Air Force Captain Mike Gongol and his family. But when the 737's pilot suffered an apparent heart attack, Gongol ended up in the cockpit, helping guide the plane to an emergency landing that saved 160 souls.

How Is Air Travel Getting More Awful Today?

Hamilton Nolan · 03/05/14 04:18PM

Flying, once a quirky luxury, has not completed its transition into an unavoidable descent to hell. The experience of flying on commercial airlines grows more excruciatingly painful by the day.

Hamilton Nolan · 01/14/14 03:21PM

More domestic airline flights are running late these days—17%, as compared to 14% a year earlier—but fewer passengers are filing complaints about it to the government, probably because they have suffocated in their seats.

Lacey Donohue · 09/26/13 08:27PM

A Federal Aviation Administration committee recommended Thursday that passengers be allowed to use smartphones, iPads, Kindles, etc., during takeoffs and landings as long as they're switched to airplane mode. It's now up to FAA officials to accept—and it's largely expected they will—the committee's recommendations.

Hamilton Nolan · 09/16/13 08:05AM

In China, airport delays are so bad that frustrated passengers are regularly attacking airline employees. "One Hong Kong airline has started teaching its flight attendants kung fu."