Here's are some past airline news ~

Lone Survivor in Libya Air Crash is an 8-year old boy

Lufthansa to Fly to Baghdad, Iraq

United to Fly Seasonal Routes to Alaska

Delta, Continental Raise Bag Fees

What's up with this Airbus 330? Isn't it the same type of aircraft involved in the crash of AF 441 from Brazil? Afriqiyah Airways said 58 Dutch passengers, six South Africans, two Britons, two Libyans, two Austrians, one German, one French national and one Zimbabwean were on board. They still have to confirm the nationalities of about 19 other passengers but the whole crew are Libyans.

I am planning a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina this Summer. Last Winter, the Argentine government announced that it will impose up to $131.00 in immigration entry fees to travelers who are citizens of U.S., Australia and Canada. Read more....

It has been 3 weeks and I have not flown any where. Something must be wrong with me. I think though that the plants are doing it. Well, as you know, last month was not a good one for sprouting seeds due to the cold spell that we had. So, now I am very actively sowing, planting, cleaning, weeding at my plot at the community garden. Next Wednesday will be my turn in making sure that the barrels are filled with water for the gardeners. I was going to join my sister in Las Vegas the other day but I decided against it. The reason, again, is the plants.....

I told you about my last trip to Asia. From Minneapolis to Narita, Tokyo,the flight was fine, on a 747-400. However, from Tokyo to Hongkong was so bumpy for 4 hours. ....I had the opportunity to take a Cathay Pacific flight from Hongkong to Manila on a 777. Nice smooth flight. Cathay had no problem feeding me (Philippine Airlines did not offer any food to a non-rev from Hongkong to Manila the last time I flew them). I did have some problems dealing with the Hongkong agents at Cathay Pacific. I found them very rude and lacked the knowledge of Immigration requirements. My passport clearly shows that I was born in the Philippines and there were "Balikbayan" stamped all over, which means that I am exempt from the requirement of showing a round-trip ticket back to Hongkong (well - I was not coming back to Hongkong - I was going back to the U.S. ), but they seemed to be deaf. The guy, someone with a disheveled hair even screamed at me and told me to leave after I asked him to please call his manager so that his manager could talk to my manager and explain the requirements. And in spite of repeated requests by DL agents for the agents to call DL, they refused. I had to go back and forth at least 7 times. I finally took off my shoes and wore my bathroom slippers at the airport. How sophisticated, I tell you...Well, I don't know what it is, but I heard stories about contract Hongkong agents' lack of knowledge of the policies and procedures and immigration matters. After I left the Cathay Counter, I went to the Philippine Airlines counter (located at Terminal 2), to check their load. One of the agents rudely told me that DL does not have any agreement with PR. I knew that was wrong so I asked her to call her supervisor. The supervisor told me the same thing...now two of them were wrong. I told them that I know that were wrong but I do not have time to argue with them. Before I left I told them that I would be sending a letter to their CEO in Manila. Something needs to be changed. At DL, we are told not to argue whenever there's a problem at the airport, and just wait until after the flight is over. But what happens when you know that there are really seats available, and you know that you followed all the rules, and all the contract agents are telling you something different. Add that to the fact that you really do not want spend your heard-earned money to stay in a hotel in a foreign land. But anyway, when the PAL contract agents heard that, they both acknowledged they were wrong and apologized. Too bad, though, I was not in the mood to give them my money. I waited until the rude Cathay agents are gone. There was another Cathay flight at 10pm and I went back to the Cathay counter. Unfortunately, the male rude agent was still there. When he saw me, he went to the agent that was helping me and whispered something to another male agent who checked me in, very nicely. I have not written a letter to Cathay customer service but I am thinking I will. There was no reason to be rude. I heard stories about these agents treating non-revs and revenues very rudely..... Thousands of flights were again canceled in Europe due to the volcano eruption....The non-revs are suffering because of this. It was reported that there were more than 100 seats on flights from Cairo/Amsterdam and other places in Europe but non-revs - even employees were not allowed to board. The airlines are really optimizing their revenues ("Revenue Optimization"). Well, looks like it works. Airlines were reported to be profiting lately, compared to last financial airline results.... Flights could not land at Dallas Fort Worth International airport due to gusty winds. Some flights were diverted to Houston (IAH) airport.Yesterday, the temperature hit 84 degrees in Minneapolis. Warm weather is always welcome here! for latest weather update, go to Weather.com .

"Irregular Operations" in Airline Travel.

"Irregular Operations" in airlines pertain to any disruption in airline flight due to weather, mechanical delays, or other reasons that causes delays in normal and regular flight operations. This month we saw several irregular operations; weather in the East Coast, snowstorm in the Midwest. Airlines, and airline employees are very adaptable, and always ready to deal with this kind of operations.

Airlines are very ready and prepared for the "irregular operations" that any kind of weather brings. In the Midwest, Northwest/Delta Airlines are allowing passengers to change their flights before and/or after the storm without penalty. That is something good to remember. So, folks, if you are traveling and you hear the forecasted weather, call the airlines. The earlier you call, the better, because there are thousands of other callers will be asking the same thing from the airlines. Usually, the airlines will book you on any of their flights to keep the revenues within the airline. In some occasions, though, when there are no more flights available in that same airline, they would call the other airlines with the same destinations and they would put you on the other airlines' flights, using what they call in the airline lingo, "Rule 240.40". Airlines have agreement with others that they can put passengers on their flights for a set percentage of fare. Most airlines are very good at this. I was disappointed, however, when last night, Christmas Eve, I was told that whenever other airlines would use American Airlines' available flight as showing on their schedule, American Airlines' system would deny the request. When AA representative was called, the other airline was told they do not want to reconfirm "too many sales" due to "irregular operations".

Back to my mission tripa to Asia. The first time I went there the end of last year, as usual, was not for "R and R", but because of a mission. The mission was to bring the fiancee of my nephew from the Philippines to the U.S. before her Fiancee Visa was going to expire. She waited a long time before she came here and her visa would have expired December 16, 2009. Well, I got her here on December 6, 2009, and they immediately got married. Congratulations to Dinah Joan Ilagan Alcanse and Albert Laurel-Gomez! I am proud to have Dinah to be part of the Laurel-Gomez family. The marriage was made possible by airline travel! This recent trip was to attend the Gift and Fashion Accessories Expo held at Hongkong Expo Center. That was such a very organized event, attended by business people all over the world.

Mayon Volcano in the Philippines is showing some signs of an eruption. Molten lava has been spewing out of her mouth. If you remember, Mayon Volcano erupted years ago and buried the farms and everything on it under ashes. Rumblings can be heard all over town and residents are fearing that the Warning Level 4 will rise to Warning Level 5 (when it is already erupting). When that happens, 45,000 people will be forced to leave their homes. Right now, evacuation centers were set up to accommodate evacuees but most people prefer to stay at their homes to tend to their farm and their livestock. When Mayon Volcano erupted in 1984 and 1993, lives were lost, and the result of the eruption was said to have been causing the global warming. To see more news on this Click here

Here are some tips for airline travelers: Ten Tips to Ease the Hassles of Holiday Travel -- WARNING: Travel to Southern Part of the Philippines. Emergency declared by the Philippine government in the aftermath of political killings Political Warfare in the Philippines

In the news several months ago were the 2 Northwest Airlines pilots whose license were revoked by FAA. Personally, I think that is a very stiff punishment, but, because of my association, I am not allowed to comment about the 2 Northwest pilots. Because this, I will give you some news links here at my editorial page. Here they are. The only thing I can hope for is those 2 pilots get their license back soon. There are other more serious incidents that happen day by day. Don't you agree? But anyway, here are the latest links: Northwest Flight 188

Here is the flight track: Flight track of NW Flt 188">Flight Track of NW Flight 188

Last October, we bid goodbye to the Boeing wide-body 747-200. I am back from Seattle where I attended its retirement celebration. What a celebration! Northwest Airline Flight 9987 left the Lindbergh (MSP) terminal on October 2, 2009 at 5:00pm. What an energy inside the aircraft! You seldom see this kind when you are on one of our flights! Truly magnificent! The aircraft arrived exactly at 631pm at Boeing Field in Seattle. There was an all-day celebration at the Museum of Flight. Joe Sutter, the designer of 747 was there and he signed some of the guests' reception tickets. The Museum was open for all festivities and shows. At 600pm there was a photo shoot in front of the 747-200. The door to the reception opened immediately after that. And, what a reception. There Northwest and Boeing people know how to party. I did my part to help out: I was the lady in blue dress checking out your tickets, you guys. What a bunch of nice people! Pilots and their families; Northwest employees, guests and families; Delta employees and their guests and families. Beautiful people, beautiful music, excellent! Food tables were spread out all over. Wine bar all over. Thanks to the volunteers who made this happen. Carol Thompson volunteered her time, so were the other agents, supervisors, flight attendants who staffed the reception and guest check-in and the flight attendants who were by the aircraft door. On the return trip, the guests were checked in at a small terminal of Boeing Air Field. Everyone walked towards the aircraft. Pictures were taken. That day, I bet that is the most photographed aircraft in the world. Before the flight took off, the captain announced that he was requested by the people watching the flight to wave the wings for all the spectators. He warned us -- those of us who are not familiar with the sensation crated when an airplane waves its wings. So, we waited, an it happened! Normally that would have scared me, but because of the forewarn, and the people cheering when it happened -- it became so celebratory. The passengers were cheering the captain. Then, the captain also announced that we were going to fly close to Mt. Rainier. And he did! When he did that, it was so amazing. The view was so amazing! Unbelievable. The plane went very close to the mountain. You could almost touch the mountain! So beautiful. What a treat! Unfortunately, my camera did not work at that special moment, but I am pretty sure that everyone's camera worked. Amazingly Beautiful! I have lots of pictures to post here; visit me in the next few days. Wonderful! wonderful! wonderful! What a celebratory goodbye to one of the greatest airplanes to fly people worldwide. This particular Boeing 747-299 rolled out of Boeing factory in 1979 and retired last Sunday, October 4, 2009. It landed at MSP's Lindbergh terminal at 324pm at Gate F10. More information coming on this wonderful wonderful event that honored this great aircraft.

The host of this site, SBI, had a get-together with some of its, should I call, "members", at the Library Hotel in New York City. I missed this one, although I had planned to attend. I will make sure not to miss the next local get together. The SBI Barcelona conference is in full swing as we speak. Good meeting and pictures from New York get-together, SBIr's. Thanks Ken Evoy!