FAA

“No warnings”: FAA getting tough with passengers who are unruly or won’t wear masks

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Citing “a disturbing increase in incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Wednesday it will ratchet up its legal enforcement policies.

“These incidents have stemmed both from passengers’ refusals to wear masks and from recent violence at the U.S. Capitol, ” the FAA said in a statement.

The FAA says up to now it has been addressing unruly passenger incidents with warnings, counseling, and civil penalties. (Counseling?)

But effective immediately and through at least March 30, 2021, “the agency will pursue legal enforcement action against any passenger who assaults, threatens, intimidates, or interferes with airline crew members.”

That legal enforcement may include fines of up to $35,000 and imprisonment.

There have been some scary incidents onboard planes recently. Including on Friday, January 8, two days after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building, when an American Airlines pilot threatened to put the plane down “in the middle of Kansas” in response to chanting, unruly passengers.

The most important flights for Santa and his team

Holidays, , ,

While we’re all staying home, it’s good to know Santa and his team are going to be flying around the world.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is helping out.

The FAA says that on Christmas Eve Santa Claus and his reindeer-powered sleigh will have special operating authority to conduct interstate air-cargo-delivery services directly to rooftops throughout the United States.

The FAA is also giving Santa a special commercial space license. This clears Santa for a crewed mission to the International Space Station. He’ll travel there in his StarSleigh-1 space capsule powered by the Rudolph Rocket.

“We are pleased to help Santa safely navigate through the National Airspace System to bring his unique and universal brand of goodwill and joy to children and adults of all ages. Even to those orbiting the Earth,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson.  “Let’s face it, 2020 was a difficult year and we all could use some special holiday cheer that only Santa can deliver.”  

Getting toys under trees is Santa’s traditional goal on Christmas Eve. But the FAA said that this year Santa will give priority to flights carrying COVID-19 vaccines and other critical cargo.

But don’t fret.

The FAA says that with the aid of a flight plan taking advantage of simplified air routes and NextGen satellite navigation, Santa will still deliver all his gifts by Christmas morning.  

Want to follow Santa on his journey? (Or impress a small child that you have that power?) NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command has a nifty NORAD Tracks Santa site that follows Santa around the world in real-time.

How a 747 design change proposal spurred the ’60-foot rule’

747, Aviation history, Flight attendants, Safety, , ,

United Airlines’ final charter flight to say goodbye to the airline’s fleet of 747 airccraft, was quite a party and you can see my story and photos on the event on the Runway Girl Network.

But during all the hoopla, a representative of the flight attendant’s union mentioned to me that debate over a change in the 747 design back in the mid-1980s spurred an important safety rule – the FAA’s 60-foot rule – that applies to just about all airplanes today.

The short version of the story is that in 1984 Boeing proposed taking out a set of exit doors on the 747 jumbo jet to make more room for seats. Flight attendants and pilots – and their unions – raised concerns over the ability to get everyone off the plane in an emergency without those doors and pushed back.

The Federal Aviation Administration ruled on the side of safety.

Read my full story on how this came about in my Runway Girl Network story here.

Photo courtesy Boeing Company

DOT, FAA ban air transport of fire-prone Samsung Galaxy Note7 devices

Legislation,

Kelowna firefighter

Fire alert!

 

Travelers with those fire-prone Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphones have been being urged not to put them in checked baggage or turn them on or charge them when on planes. But on Friday the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) issued an emergency order banning the Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphones from being carried on planes altogether – not in checked baggage, not in carry-ons, not in cargo.

Here’s the notice:

“The U.S. Department of Transportation, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), announced today it is issuing an emergency order to ban all Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphone devices from air transportation in the United States.  Individuals who own or possess a Samsung Galaxy Note7 device may not transport the device on their person, in carry-on baggage, or in checked baggage on flights to, from, or within the United States.  This prohibition includes all Samsung Galaxy Note7 devices.  The phones also cannot be shipped as air cargo.  The ban will be effective on Saturday, October 15, 2016, atnoon ET (9 a.m. PT).”

 

Travel Tidbits: FAA vs. Southwest +Air New Zealand at LAX

Lounges, Safety, , , , ,

southwest

After failing to come to a settlement, the Federal Aviation Administration has filed a $12 million suit again Southwest Airlines over allegations that repairs made to 44 airplanes by a contractor did not meet safety standards.

 

Air New Zealand Hobbit plane2

Starting December 3, 2014, AIR New Zealand will switch terminals at Los Angeles International Airport from T2 to the lovely Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT). That, of course, means ANZ passengers will be able to enjoy all the new art and amenities in the revitalized terminal. But it also means that qualified ANZ passengers will able to use the swanky Star Alliance lounge in that terminal, which is operated in partnership with Air New Zealand.

LAX TBIT STAR ALLIANCE LOUNGE OUTDOOR TERRACE - BASKAS