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August 27, 2015: Hats off to our friends at Delta this week for running full page ads “boasting” their record breaking summer and moving more than 600,000 passengers in one day!

If you read the copy closely, the boast was for their domestic service where they claim that 97.7% of their flights took off — but they don’t connect that with them taking off on time?

The add continues “Our employees hard work is evidence of the strength of Delta’s culture etc. etc etc” Basically patting themselves on the backside for doing what they are supposed to be doing
for the high prices we pay these days for cramped, over crowded and unfriendly air travel. Why don’t they put some of that boastful advertising money into improving their service — both on the ground and in the air — and getting back to some of the basics that made air travel enjoyable?

Maybe I should shake hands today the bag person at my local supermarket and thank him too!!!

August 19, 2015: A “glitch” (fancy non-meaningful “we’re not responsible” government comment) in an automated flight routing system on the east coast resulted in lengthy delays and flight cancelations throughout the country over the weekend — one of the busier end of summer times for flying. The FAA did identify the culprit as a flight routing system in Virginia that “glitched” and resulted in hundreds of flights not leaving on time, some not leaving at all and the ripple effect throughout the US that left thousands stranded from coast to coast. Looks like most flying was back to normal on Monday. Hopefully this just adds to the concern of how outdated the US air traffic control system is and brings forward the extensive delays in upgrading equipment around the country — taxes we all pay on each and every ticket go to help the government upgrade the system — well, maybe are intended that way anyway?

August 16, 2015: Once again, we charge for everything but being late, America’s least favorite air carrier, Spirit Airlines, has the distinction of being at the top of the list (or bottom depending on your reference point) as the country’s least on time passenger carrier—less than 50% of all their flights arrive anywhere they serve on time!! This accomplishment from Spirit was for the month of June— and was the worst overall rating for any U.S. Air carrier in nearly 40 years. Even on their worst days, Southwest and Fudrucker Air do a better job. Now some of you must remember legendary Fudrucker?

August 7, 2015: Pack yourself or another adult (leave the kids at home if you own any) — and head off to fun and challenging camp vacation.

At the Skipper Academy (skipperacademy.com) for about a $1000 a day enjoy sailing lessons and fun in either Croatia or the British Virgin Islands. The lessons not only include sailing but crew management and social skills — along with docking your craft to pick up supplies.

August 5, 2015: Finally seeing their way to join the publicity out cry and bandwagon, the 3 major US carriers have finally banned transport of dead African wildlife on their planes — by the way, most foreign carriers did this years ago!

Lead by Delta, United and American, these carriers will no longer transport “shot for fun and trophy” wildlife — including lions, leopard, rhino, buffalo, elephant — this won’t stop wildlife hunters from hunting but maybe slow them down some?

August 3, 2015: Yes — with all those add on fees (like checked luggage, seat assignments, printing a boarding pass, etc.) — with the 10 top carriers bringing in over $38 Billion in add on fees!

Here’s the top 10 fee culprits:

July 30, 2015: Check out what is now the “worlds largest swimming pool” on the west coast of Chile.

The filtered salt water pool is nearly 6/10th of a mile long and holds over 66 million galloons of water — thats enough water to fill over 600 backyard pools.

July 29, 2015: Never to be at a loss for words or descriptives, US Vice President Joe Biden has described New York’s La Guardia as “third world”! Well he certainly got that right!

LGA, also honored as one of the worst airports in America, is a mish-mash of terminals, confusing entry and exit for both passengers and ground traffic, and operational nightmare with its extremely short over water and neighborhood runways.