Air Travel Archive
Another Black Day in Kenya
Visitors and citizens alike were horribly killed in Kenya yesterday reflecting a very strained society. As of this morning four tourists are reported dead with several others still in critical condition after a scheduled flight aboard of Mombasa Air Safari LET aircraft from the Maasai Mara to Mombasa crashed on take-off. Forty-eight Kenyans were killed [...]
Safety At Ground Level
Posted by jimheck in Air Travel, Safety on September 2, 2011
The airline you’re going to fly next week isn’t considered among the safest? Should you cancel? And what was that report out this week? There is enormous confusion over the report widely circulated in the media this week routinely labeled “The World’s Ten Safest Airlines.” The report is an annual one from the Geneva-based Transport [...]
Delta Force not Safe in Kenya
Posted by jimheck in Air Travel, Safety on September 16, 2010
The U.S. still doesn’t think Kenya is safe enough to fly a plane into. And it’s probably right if it’s an American plane. There was an enormous brouhaha in Kenya this week as Delta Airlines began service into its sixth African city, Monrovia (Liberia). Tempers are still flared from last year’s debacle when Delta canceled [...]
You got it Coming, but you can’t Go!
Posted by jimheck in Air Travel, Planning Travel on February 23, 2010
BA strike imminent If you’re planning to travel in the next few months, the chances are you’ll be effected by an airline strike. It’s your fault. There have never been so many major airlines in strike mode, and it reflects the recovery in only the way the travel industry can. Yesterday, the Lufthansa strike temporarily [...]
What a Deal!
Posted by jimheck in Air Travel, Planning Travel, Tourism Trends on January 4, 2010
At last East African tour companies are doing the right thing to try to get back on their feet, and there are incredible deals for new bookings. The New Year arrived with a plethora of tour deals, and they’re real. They include ridiculously cheap airline tickets, internationally and domestic, 3rd and 4th nights free, and [...]
Garlic Mustard Terrorism
Posted by jimheck in Air Travel, Politics, Safety on December 29, 2009
The new regulations announced in the last few days in response to the attempted bombing of Northwest #253 are pitifully stupid and counter-productive. I see the developed world’s response to terrorism identical to the developed science response to invasive species. Whether it is kudzu, the Asian beetle, or the arch devil garlic mustard, absolutely astounding [...]
New Airline Compensation if Delayed
Posted by jimheck in Air Travel on November 20, 2009
Passengers delayed by European airlines for 2 or more hours will now be compensated up to $850 per passenger! In an historic ruling by the European Court of Justice, yesterday, two Austrians and two Germans were awarded damages against Air France and Condor airlines for having been delayed. The justices then expanded the civil suit [...]
BA STRIKE?
Posted by jimheck in Air Travel on October 28, 2009
“Fears are mounting of chaos over the busy Christmas holiday period if BA staff choose to go on strike.” – Sky News, October 28, 2009 British Airways just announced doubling the service from London to Entebbe, adding already to its impressive schedule of 14 flights weekly between Heathrow and East Africa. All for nuts? The [...]
Cheap Flights
Posted by jimheck in Air Travel on August 27, 2009
Cheap flights should be a goal of every traveler, but we’re learning there are incredible hazards to knocking the price down too low. My safari with the Cleveland Zoo began by sorting through the many troubles various travelers had with their flights from the U.S. into Africa. Much of what happened to a number of [...]
BA BAD BA
Posted by jimheck in Air Travel on August 26, 2009
British Airways used to be one of the best airlines into Africa. It still is, except that you can’t get a seat in advance! I’m not sure if it was the subway bombing of 7-7 or if it was just a technological coincidence, but that was when British Airways began to deny preassigned seating. The [...]
As Goes KQ
Posted by jimheck in Air Travel, Economy on August 18, 2009
Kenya Airways’ labor turmoil is the latest in a series of devastating economic blows to Kenya. Everything’s back to normal at Jomo Kenyatta International airport after four days of hell. Kenya Airways’ employees struck the airline last Friday, grounding more than half the flights and sending the country’s tourist infrastructure into chaos. It was the [...]
PLANE CRASH
Posted by jimheck in Air Travel on August 4, 2009
The Wilson airport plane crash on Saturday is no indication tourist flying is dangerous. The pilot was killed and the three passengers were seriously injured last Saturday when a small plane of the sort which ferries tourists about Kenya crashed into an apartment building near Wilson airport. The indications from Nairobi are that the crash [...]
Airline Woes
Posted by jimheck in Air Travel on January 12, 2009
Changing a name of your airline ticket is not easy. In my long list of travel absurdities, changing airline tickets ranks right up there at the top. It’s difficult to do even when you have a fully refundable ticket. The volumes of rules confuse even the most senior of airline employees, and above all, it [...]