Free Talk Live

A model for todays markets?

BBC points out in an article about the late pioneer of low cost air travel, founder of Jet Blue and free market economist Alfred E Kahn that airline ticket costs were reduced dramatically when government was taken out of the process.

ATLANTA – Six Democratic senators want to hit U.S. airlines with a tax if they charge passengers for their carryon bags.

The senators said Wednesday that this would keep more airlines from following Spirit Airlines' lead. The small Florida airline said last week that starting Aug. 1 it will charge its customers as much as $45 to bring a bag aboard its aircraft and put it in an overhead bin.

American Airlines allegedly did not permit a teenaged boy with Down Syndrome board a flight from Newark, New Jersey to Los Angeles this weekend, and his parents believe it was because of discrimination.

16-year-old Bede Vanderhorst was booked with a first-class ticket on flight with his family Sunday to LAX, but the airline labeled the teen a "flight risk" at the gate, claiming his behavior was erratic, according to KTLA.

Daily News @ http://RevolutionNews.US — SACRAMENTO, CA - An airline pilot is being disciplined by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for posting video on YouTube pointing out what he believes are serious flaws in airport security.

The 50-year-old pilot, who lives outside Sacramento, asked that neither he nor his airline be identified. He has worked for the airline for more than a decade and was deputized by the TSA to carry a gun in the cockpit.

This new bill would require all co-pilots (first officers) to obtain Airline Transport Licenses in order to fly for an airline. An ATP requires 1,500 hours of flight time, which is a very costly and time consuming accomplishment if you aren't flying commercially. This bill will make it even harder for up-and-coming young pilots to get into the airline industry.

To protect the nation's air travelers, federal air marshals deployed after the 2001 terrorist attacks try to travel incognito, often in pairs, and choose flights identified with the potential to fall under threat. And they almost always fly first class—something some airlines would like to change. With cockpit doors fortified and a history of attackers choosing coach seats, some airline executives and security experts question whether the first-class practice is really necessary—or even a good idea.

It looks like the TSA finally caught on to how much Americans enjoy having their genitals fondled: the US Transportation and Security Administration wants to start charging airline passengers double on screening fees.

Move puts burden of paying for sewage system upgrades on District residents. So now the residents of DC, most of whom, believe it or not, are poor and middle class, must pay for the upgrades to the DC sewage system. These upgrades are required by...the federal government. Various government agencies are calling the fees "an impermissible tax of the federal government."

A man who refused to stop smoking an electronic cigarette forced a Continental Airlines flight to return to Portland Tuesday afternoon. he was held overnight on a federal detainer and formal charges are expected today. The Department of Transportation is considering banning the devices, which are currently legal. However, Continental has a policy banning the use of e-smokes.