TRANSPORT/ (Un)Social Airlines

Airlines are more and more using social media to enhance passengers' travel experience. The relatively new social seating programs integrate social media into the airlines' booking system that allows passengers to choose the persons they want to sit next to in a flight. According to the pioneers of social seating in the airline industry, the programs are popular with many of their passengers. Malaysia Airlines, for instance, reported having more than 30,000 passengers using its MHbuddy social s...

Recently Keith Pape, the ad agency executive from Los Angeles, found himself in a bad mood as gate agents of American Airlines coldly stopped him. He wanted to leave Austin, Texas, on a fast flight and reported early in order to fly standby on an earlier flight. He was told that the ticket purchased by him does not entitle him to be included in the standby list for the Dallas-Fort Worth. He was asked to wait but he, just as many other travelers do these days when waiting for flights, logged into...

The Empty Seat Option is a program launched a year ago by AirAsia X which allows passengers to purchase the seats next to them so that they can have a more comfortable flight. The option requires a small fee so that passengers can book the empty seats next to them. The airline targeted low cost, long haul flights where passengers often want a bigger legroom and perhaps a place to fully recline. Having the empty seats right next to theirs available for their use will give long-haul passengers ...

A recent decision by Samoa Air has surprised many in the aviation industry. They are the first airline to determine how much to charge people based on how much they weigh. This happened at about the same time a major European newspaper endorsed the idea of charging people based on what they weigh. Samoa Air's decision only impacts people using this airline which flies in remote areas of the Pacific. However, it has caused some people to wonder if this was done as a way to generate publicity f...