A passenger aboard Northwest Airlines flight 253 approaching Detroit set off firecrackers on December 25, 2009, causing a commotion and some minor injuries.

The Airbus 330 aircraft with 278 passengers onboard, landed safely about 20 minutes overdue at 12:01 pm,.

The passenger boarded a KLM flight in Lagos, Nigeria, and changed planes in Amsterdam. He had strapped the firecrackers to his leg.

In the first half of 2009, 613 planes were delayed on tarmacs in the USA for more than 3 hours, while their passengers were kept on board. However, according to a new rule - effective from April 20, 2010 - US airlines operating domestic flights can no longer hold passengers hostage.

The US Department of Transport issued the new rule on December 21, 2009. It prohibits airlines from permitting an aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than 3 hours without deplaning passengers.

Kyle Franklin is a pilot with the skill to appear to fly very badly, but he has got incredible control. Watch this video.

Franklin is married to Amanda Younkin, who manages Franklin’s Flying Circus and Younkin Airshows. Kyle is the pilot, although Amanda can fly as well.

Their website features a dozen clips of the circus in action at Franklin’s Flying Circus Video Page. The videos are amazing. Enjoy watching them.

A Continental Express flight from Houston to Minneapolis operated by ExpressJet was diverted to Rochester on Aug. 8, 2009 due to bad weather in Minneapolis.

I am a Flying Blue Platinum Elite member for life. Therefore, my miles should remain valid indefinitely without having to meet any requirement.

However, if I click on “Miles expiration” I see the following announcement:

Global Entry is a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that expedites the customs and security process for trusted air travelers through biometric identification. It allows pre-approved members an automated alternative to regular passport processing lines.

This holiday season you can enjoy free Wi-Fi at 47 participating airports across the USA. Just bring a Wi-Fi enabled laptop or mobile device and stay connected for free while you travel through January 15, 2010.

The US Congress is considering a bill that would require all visitors traveling under the visa-waiver program to pay an initial fee of $10 (€6.70) starting sometime in 2010. Thus, the fee can go up in future. Countries participating in the visa-waiver program include 22 EU member states and 13 non-EU countries.

The USA is struggling with historically high twin deficits (budget and trade balance). So far, China supported the US economy by holding $1 trillion - half of its foreign reserves - in US-dollars. The USA now also callы on EU tourists and business travelers to come to the rescue.

Total international arrivals to the USA are fastly falling. No wonder that the USA aims at tourist promotion. However, only in Alice in Wonderland could a tax be seen as promoting the activity on which it is imposed, as the EU’s ambassador to the USA puts it.

The Russian economy is in a dire state and Russian airlines faced a considerable fall in the number of customers. In addition, Russia’s erratic economic policy and the enormous amount of corruption have hit Russian airlines such that several have gone bankrupt. Recent examples include:
* AIRUnion - the first Russian airline alliance established in 2005 -
   went bankrupt in 2008. The Russian government handed the assets
   of the AiRUnion alliance over to state-run Russian Technology
   Corporation. Whether this will lead to a viable airline is unclear.

Wi-Fi is penetrating airliners.Aircell ha s been authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to use cellular frequencies for inflight broadband communications.

The system only works at an altitude of 35,000 feet (10,700 meters) or higher. 

Usually, pilots fly an airplane. On October 21, 2009, however, Northwest Airlines flight 188 from San Diego to Minneapolis overflew its destination by 150 miles (240 km). The Airbus A320 became a NORDO (no radio communications) flight for an hour and 16 minutes. What were the pilots doing?

The crew was interviewed by the FBI and airport police. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) the crew stated they were in a heated discussion over airline policy and they lost situational awareness. However, it does not seem likely that pilots forget to land due to shop talk.

Competition in the airline industry is getting a bit dirty. SAS published a fare comparison for “for a return air ticket bought in the Netherlands for travel from Amsterdam on direct morning departure flights to Copenhagen, Stockholm or Oslo based upon travelling out on Monday, 19th October - back on Tuesday, 20th October, late afternoon/evening flights.”

Obviously, this advertisement campaign aims at competition with KLM. SAS uses the slogan “Always honest pricing at SAS”. However, Airline Passenger Guru checked the information SAS provides and concludes the fare comparison is far from honest:

Most travelers who need to change planes would like to through-check their bags. Airline Passenger Guru wrote this is not possible for travelers to the USA. They must pick up their bag and declare it at the point of entry. Thus, if they have a connecting flight they must check their bag again for that flight.
This article raised some comments.

We traveled on a 737 I think, between London and Bucharest (with Tarom) and booked window seats in row 7. But in row 7 there was no window, just cabin wall! At that point the gap between windows was wider and so just at that point we could not see out!
Can the Guru give advice on where NOT to book window seats if you want to see out of the plane and not be over the wing?

Simon Burke