Air Travel

Rendition of Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' Diverts LAX Flight (VIDEO)

If you sang Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" on a shrill, nonstop loop during a flight from LAX to New York we'd beg for an emergency landing and then dial up the nearest SWAT team. Fortunately for this crooner, the weekend flight was merely diverted to Kansas City, where the woman in que ... More >>

LAX Offers One Of The Most Scenic Landings In The World

Despite our potholes and celebrity a-holes, we still think L.A. is the greatest city on earth. Some folks out there agree. For example, you're flying into LAX from the east and you see this great metropolis as it rises from the desert and lights up for miles and miles. One of the greatest approach ... More >>

TSA Jokes About 'Cupcakegate' Confiscation in Vegas on Its Super Hip Blog

OK, who out there knew about the Transportation Security Administration's frighteningly hip news blog, and didn't tell us about it? Or have we just crossed over into some creepy parallel universe, where the TSA is not in fact the ultimate symbol of privacy-infringing evil in post-9/11 America, but ... More >>

Alec Baldwin Kicked Off American Airlines Flight at LAX For Playing Nerd Game Words With Friends on Smartphone, he Indicates

Schweddy.​Updated at the bottom with Baldwin saying he was singled out by a flight attendant for using his phone. First posted at 4:01 p.m. Monday. Alec Baldwin tweeted today that he was pulled off an American Airlines flight at LAX for playing the uber-nerdy smartphone game Words With Friend ... More >>

Leisha Hailey Issues Statement Regarding Her Controversial Airplane Kiss

​Leisha Hailey, who formerly starred in The L Word and is currently a member of Los Angeles indie pop duo Uh Huh Her, has issued a statement regarding being asked to leave a Southwest Airlines flight. Yesterday, the singer/actress wrote a series of Tweets about the incident. She said that sh ... More >>

R.I.P. Continental Airlines: 800 Employees Say Goodnight to Iconic Airline at LAX 'Memorial'

The Continental crew, circa 1970s.​Like a baseball team or a Hollywood studio, an airline, in America, holds incredible cultural weight. It's a corporation, sure, but only in the way that Coca-Cola is a corporation -- ads don't feel like ads. More like cozy pop art. What little girl, at one p ... More >>

Three in an Airplane Bathroom Spark Suspicion on Flight From L.A. to NYC; Bomb Threat in Koreatown

jeff_emtGround Zero on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.​The 10th anniversary of 9/11 went smoothly, with solemn tributes in New York. But the day wasn't without its clowns and news-makers, some of whom seemed to have originated from right here in L.A. Kicking off the weekend was a 62-year-old ... More >>

L.A. Council Threatens To Boycott Delta Airlines Over Non-Existent "No Jew" Policy

​The L.A. City Council is contemplating another boycott -- this time against Delta Airlines.Councilman Paul Koretz has introduced a resolution to boycott the airline over its controversial "no Jew" policy.Wait. What?

Southwest Pilot Calls Flight Attendants 'Gays, Grannies and Grandes' on Plane to SoCal, Forgets to Turn off Mic (AUDIO)

Hard out there for a horndog​They just don't make flight attendants like they used to, complained an unidentified Texan pilot on a March 15 flight from Austin to San Diego, in a recording revealed by a local Houston station on Tuesday. The Southwest employee, who totally reinforces every bad s ... More >>

A Father's Day Event That's Free (Parking: $150)

Southwest 737 Makes Emergency Landing at LAX After Similar Aircraft Blew its Roof

SouthwestA Southwest Airlines 737.​Turns out we know how Southwest Airlines keeps it ticket prices so low: Old, beater airplanes. We kid. But seriously, problems continued to dog the discounter over the weekend after a Southwest flight from Oakland to San Diego had to make an emergency landin ... More >>

Japan: If You Fly From LAX to Tokyo, Will You be Exposed to Radiation in the Jet Stream?

Japan Airlines​If you fly to Japan, will you be exposed to radiation, possibly in the not-so-friendly skies? It's a possibility. But you won't hear that from U.S. officials. At least not yet. The U.S. State Department issued an alert last weekend telling Americans to avoid travel to the earth ... More >>

LAX Flight 241: Orthodox Jewish Prayer Triggers TSA 'Security Threat,' Lockdown Aboard Plane From Mexico City

newvoices.orgMini Torrah pouches: terrorist threat?​It's good to see a religious group besides Muslims profiled for suspicious behavior by a paranoid American airline -- but still, this is a little silly. The LA Daily News reported yesterday that a traditional prayer conducted by three orthod ... More >>

Bed Bugs Attack: L.A. Woman Says She Was Swarmed, Bitten Bloody by Bed Bugs on British Airways Flights (Photos)

Zane Selkirk bit back.​British Airways often markets itself as a classier alternative for transatlantic flight. There's a hint of royalty as British accents in its television adverts proclaim excellence. One commercial even beckons travels with the slogan, "Experience a softer world." Footage ... More >>

Kobe Bryant to Celebrate Controversial Turkish Airlines Endorsement at Paramount Studios Next Month

Kobe has an Armenian problem.​L.A.'s sizable Armenian American community hasn't been too happy with Kobe Bryant's endorsement of Turkish Airlines. Something about the Armenian Genocide and not turning off one of the most influential ethnic demographics in town. Well, if they have a bone to pi ... More >>

(UPDATE From Snowed-In Newark International Airport) For Travelers Stuck At LAX, Weather Continues To Make Life Suck

PHOTO BY PATRICK RANGE MCDONALDContinental passengers delayed by a New Jersey blizzard last night were left in the dark through the wee hours​Twitter via spanishNYTimes Square is buried under at least one foot of snow​Updated after the jump: The Weekly's Patrick Range McDonald live-blogs ... More >>

Despite National Backlash, L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa Supports Airport Body Scanners

reason.comL.A.'s mayor wants to scan your body.​Update: Villaraigosa stepped through a scanner this morning afternoon to express his solidarity with unwarranted x-ray vision. The scan is said to have revealed free Lakers tickets in his pocket. See a correction regarding Gloria Allred after the ... More >>

FAA Halts All Private Los Angeles Air Traffic To Make Space For Obama: Dude, Who Do You Think You Are?

Associated PressTake your time, it's no big deal​Los Angeles drivers aren't the only ones being screwed over by President Obama this Friday afternoon. The president's journey to the USC campus will also be cushioned by a blockade of air traffic within eight miles of LAX and downtown Los Ange ... More >>

Should Musicians Be Allowed to Carry Their Instruments on Planes?

Dave Carroll sings "United Breaks Guitars"​Every day, somebody's got to fly somewhere and entertain the people of the world. When it comes to getting instruments on an airplane, musicians get nervous and sweaty, expecting the worst. "It sucks for the most part," says L.A. rapper Busdriver. Ge ... More >>

Mexicana Airlines Cancels Nearly One-Third Of LAX Flights As It Files For Bankruptcy

​Mexicana airlines has canceled nearly one-third of its flights out of LAX as it filed for bankruptcy amid labor troubles this week. The Daily Breeze reported that four of its 15 daily flights out of LAX, including two to Guadalajara, one to Mexico City and one to Puerto Vallarta have been ni ... More >>

Airplane Food Is Grosser Than You Thought

Flickr/Mr. MysteryDoes this meal have an unsavory history?​ While airlines debate whether or not to serve peanuts to potentially allergic passengers, they apparently haven't been paying attention to what's being served up from their caterers. USA Today reports that many meals served by major a ... More >>

Abby Sunderland's Rescue Could Cost As Much As $300,000

​The mother of 16-year-old sailor Abby Sunderland said the girl's family could not afford to pay for her rescue, which could cost as much as $300,000. Australian authorities flew a Qantas-branded Airbus passenger jet over the Indian Ocean to spot the girl and her disabled sailboat; they ultima ... More >>

Airplane Happy Meals: Cocaine Hidden in In-Flight Food

Airplane food has always needed a little something to make it edible, even when it was free. Your average person might pack a sandwich and maybe drink a few more of those tiny bottles of gin to make it all palatable. Now Dutch police have detained 20 people for smuggling cocaine in those in-flight m ... More >>

LAX Approves Settlement Worth $118 Million

​As the city grapples with a $222 million deficit, the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners Monday approved a settlement of a lawsuit brought by a few airlines that would be worth about $118 million if the deal is approved by the City Council and the plaintiffs. The settlement would end ... More >>

Thanks, Eyjafjallajokull! Iron Man Premiere Moved to LA

​Even Iron Man can't fly through volcanic ash. With air travel over Europe still suspended due to the massive fallout from the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull, Paramount has announced that they're moving the Iron Man 2 premiere and press junket, previously scheduled to take plac ... More >>

Radioactive Material Detected At Burbank Airport

FoxMilhouse's 'Radioactive Man' from 'The Simpsons.'​File this one under spooky: Radioactive material was detected at a Southwest Airlines gate at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank Friday, prompting its closure. Bob Hope Airport spokesman Victor Gill said the detection happened about 1 p.m. at the ... More >>

Are Scheduled Flight Times In And Out Of LAX Getting Longer? (Yes)

​The Wall Street Journal on Thursday takes a look at ever-expanding flight times on airlines' schedules and notes that one Delta Air Lines trip from New York to L.A. that used to be advertised at six hours is now slated for seven. What's happening, are airline schedules consuming too many carb ... More >>

Security Breach At LAX Briefly Shuts Down Terminal Over Weekend

American Airlines​A security breach at LAX shut down Terminal 4 for nearly an hour over the weekend as agents and airport police tried to locate a woman who got through a checkpoint without having been "wanded" for weapons. The breach happened about 10 p.m. Saturday as the woman came through ... More >>

LAX Security Workers Fired For Drug Use, According To Report

​A number of LAX security workers were fired in December after they were allegedly discovered to have been using drugs, CBS 2's David Goldstein reported Tuesday night. On a day when Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was calling the airport's security "ahead of the curve" in the wake of the attempted ... More >>

Airport Police Union TSA Pronouncement

​The organization representing Los Angeles airport police says the attempted attack on an airliner over Detroit Christmas day highlights the need for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to get a new permanent leader. Marshall McClain, president of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Off ... More >>

Feds Removed From LAX A Bomb Detection Device That Could Have Thwarted Detroit Attempt

​Federal officials removed a bomb detection device from LAX, a U.S. Transportation Security Administration official tells the Weekly, one that at least some observers think could have alerted authorities to the the kind of plane-bombing plot attempted on Christmas above Detroit. In 2006 LAX in ... More >>

1100 to Havana: Direct Flights from L.A. to Cuba Resume

What a difference a president makes. Only one year ago Angelenos who wished to travel to Cuba, but who did not have family there, or were not journalists, had their work and time cut out for them. First, they had to take a bus from downtown L.A. to Tijuana, scramble off and back on through a hasty c ... More >>

Pet Airways: The World's First Airline for Cats, Dogs, or Whatever Domestic Animal You Call Your Best Friend

The time has come: when pigs--or cats or dogs--fly. Do you love your pet more than is healthy? Pet Airways could be for you. It is a pet-only flight service. Pet Airways flies to New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles. The plane is a 19-passenger Beech 1900 turbo-prop. All the h ... More >>

Election '08: Antonio Makes It to Denver With K-9 Unit

The Las Vegas – Denver leg of my flight wasn’t so eventful. The guy across the aisle sneezed and coughed on me for an hour and a half . . . oh, and two ladies sat in my row. One was a Denver native who told me most businesses have told workers not to bother coming to work on Thursday, ... More >>

Jet Blues

Chronicle of an airport refugee

The Mouse Who Whored

Where was George Mitchell while Disney sold out 9/11?

The Gambler’s Index

Lines in the Sand

Strikes threaten two local industries

The Unruly Commissioner

Ted Stein’s turbulent flight comes to an end — for now

As Luck Would Have It . . .

A 9/11 victim testifies that the carnage could have been averted

I’m Linda, Fly Me

The real reason Tom Daschle didn’t run for president

Born on the Fourth of July

Boarding Games

People-watching at LAX security checkpoints

Flights of Reason

Next Time, They Might Be Women

The Man in the Santa Claus Suit

The Day the Sky Fell

This time, it was impersonal

Failed Promise

The Concorde crash mummifies the ghost of supersonic air travel’s once-bright future