You're a genius.
• Robin Hood Airport (England) passenger Paul Chambers apparently missed the memo that even “joking” terror threats are taken seriously these days. After a delayed flight and posting on his Twitter “You’ve got a week and a bit to get your s*** together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high,” he was surprised to see cops at his door. This man is clearly missing a few blades on his turbofan. [WebUser]
• Air Traffic Controllers in Spain have been laughing all the way to the bank, as it was announced that some are making $1 million a year! With a base salary of about $280,000, their overtime can let them rack up more than triple that. [Times Online]
• Syyyyyke! Erroll Southers, the Asst Chief of Homeland Security in Los Angeles, pulled his nomination to head the Transportation Security Administration after Republicans said they would put up quite a fight if the nomination moved forward. [Washington Post]
It's great to see ATA is still flying! Well, until their engines give out. But still. (PNC)
• One of the former ATA 757-300s now owned by Continental Airlines diverted to Guam after an engine failure. Video coverage of the event discusses the event with great detail, and though they got a factoid or two wrong, they get an “A” for effort. What was it doing near Guam? CO was looking to paint the aircraft in Hong Kong of course! Why were they choosing to paint it all the way over there? We don’t know either, but it’s nice to see ATA colors still in the air. [Pacific News Center, YouTube]
• The Air Transport Association of America (ATA) reported that 2009 felt the worst drop in passenger revenue ever. The 18% drop was the largest recorded, but they are expecting an upward trend to begin in 2010. [ATA]
• The FAA said that an Alitalia 767-300 departing JFK on January 15th did not strike its tail, as opposed to what the tattle-tale Delta 737 called in to the tower from an adjacent taxiway. As a precaution, the aircraft dumped fuel and returned to the airport for inspection. [Flight Global]
Cloud surfing while on approach to Amsterdam (wow!)…
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