Commentary

Now It’s the FAA’s FSDOs That Are Out of Control! Last summer, AVweb interviewed two of the FAA’s top lawyers at their offices in Washington. That meeting was occasioned, in part, by news stories AVweb had written that were highly critical of the FAA’s attorneys and their uneven interpretations of Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs). The […]

As the story goes, a disgruntled passenger complains toan airline representative, “Your flights are always delayed so much! Why doyou bother publishing a schedule?” “But sir,” the quick-witted employee responds, “if we didn’tpublish a schedule, how would you know how late our flights were?” Most of us would agree that this joke used to be […]

My least favorite time of year is when I have to do my Japan Civil Aviation Board (JCAB) physical. As fate would have it, my flight engineer license expires in early January of each year. The scheduler – whom I’m sure is somehow telepathically connected with my ex-wife (otherwise why would he be so determined […]

Well … I’ve reached the halfway mark. I am now 50. Lord, 50! Where the heck did all those years go? Why it seems like only yesterday that I left school and…. Oh no! I’m starting to channel my father! The scary thing is, he keeps looking at me from the bathroom mirror. How’d he […]

The recently proposed purchase of US Airways by United Airlines (UAL) opens many interesting questions for the airlines’ consumers, shareholders and employees. First and foremost, United and US Airways management will tell the world and the financial community how much synergistic benefit this merger will bring to the combined company. You will hear how revenues […]

I arrived at the United Airlines gates at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) an hour before my flight’s scheduled departure to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) only to find that it had been canceled. I sighed. “Not again!” I thought. At the departure gate, I waited my turn at the check-in counter while other passengers […]

A couple of years ago one of my clients flew throughoutAustralia on something called the GOANA air safari andhas been raving about it ever since. So in April of the year 2000 when I got theopportunity to go on the same trip, I jumped at the chance. When I mentioned that I was goingto do […]

First, a Bit of Explanation This article has its roots in AVweb‘s news coverage of the last decade’s seemingly innumerable and interminable attempts to circumnavigate the globe in balloons, err, lighter-than-air craft. After watching countless attempts come a-cropper at various stages, AVweb‘s staff grew tired of all the attention being paid to the attempts. Our […]

The weeks after my first report seemed to blend into a mixture of rumor, hope, and picket duty. The controversy regarding our medical coverage was soon sorted out; the COBRA program would ensure continuation with no break. The weather stayed somewhat fair; while showers moved through during my picket shifts, more often than not the […]

Full Employment Is Only a Few New Fees Away December 28 1430 Z 9,500 msl V23, midway between Veracruz and Villahermosa VORs, Mexico Suddenly, it’s right there before of me and, ay, carumba, does it seem simple. Planemakers, our alphabet soup-group gurus and we pilots have it all wrong. We’ve mistakenly spent years of effort […]