The Colorado media has, of course, been reporting extensively on the crash-and-burn of Continental Flight 1404, which had just taken off from Denver International Airport bound for Houston International. "DIA Crash Injures 38," the Sunday Denver Post page-one headline trumpeted. "Plane Mishap Hurts 38," wrote the kinder, gentler Boulder Camera. The Boeing 737 airliner accident was all over the airwaves all weekend long. The plane veered off the runway, shed an engine somewhere along the way, burst into flames and came to battered and bruised rest near an airport fire station.
It got me thinking about how cavalier many of us travelers tend to be about reading the safety in instruction card that shows where emergency exits are located, and whether or not we are the best passengers to wrestle with the emergency door, should the plane need to be evacuated. It also got me thinking about what a tough year 2008 has been for air travelers. Here are just a few of the incidents and accidents I've blogged about this year:
- With uncharacteristic snow and ice this week in the Pacific Northwest, service has just about come to a halt at Sea-Tac International Airport, with the most flight cancellations in 30 years, according to tonight's "ABC News." On the other side of the country, New York airports were reporting delays of up to five hours, as well as dozens of flight cancelations, as was Chicago's O'Hare, which is a chronic winter mess.
- Close to home, Denver International Airport became less international when United dropped its Denver-London nonstop just seven months after inaugurating it, and Lufthansa halted its Denver-Munich nonstop after 1 1/2 years of service.
- Elsewhere just this year, America's skies are no longer plied by TED (United's low-fare airline), Mesa Airlines (a Delta commuter partner), SkyBus (based in Ohio), Aloha Airlines (based in Hawaii) and ATA (based in Indiana). Denver-based Frontier is still flying, but under Chapter XI bankruptcy protection.
- As aviation fuel prices rose over the spring and summer and the recession of 2008 began taking hold, other airlines trimmed flights, mothballed aircraft. bumped more passengers than ever and began charging (or charging more) for checked luggage, curbside check-in, inflight food and even soft drinks, more desirable seats, flight changes and other formerly included services. Av-gas is down, but these add-on fees largely remain in place.
- The Transportation Security Agency has reportedly terminated 465 screeners for pilferage since May 2003. The TSA has demonstrated ineptitude, even wehen there is no malfeasance. you can read some terrible but true TSA tales here and here. The agency also introduced an intrusive full-body scanner at some US airports.
- Violent an anti-government protests in once peaceful Thailand resulted in the closure of airports in Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi and elsewhere for more than a week in late November and early December. Protestors belonging to a group called the People's Alliance for Democracy took over Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport , using the electricity and water and stranding more than 300,000 would-be air travelers, including 240,000 foreign tourists.
- Heathrow's highly anticipated Terminal 5 had such fatal computer problems that instead of a grand opening, it was a grand fiasco. At least 250 British Airways flights were canceled, stranding thousands of passengers and separating 15,000 or 20,000 pieces of luggage from their owners.
- XL Travel and its charter airline went out of business. XL had been a major player in Britain's tourism industry.
P.S. on December 24 - More Air Travel Woes
The Christmas Eve travel news on cnn.com's home page included:
- 18 passengers treated at scene after exposure to de-icing fluid, and fumes send seven Alaska Airlines crew members to the hospital [in Seattle]
- AirTran jetliner skids off runway in Moline, Illinois, TV station reports
- Weather delays Christmas Eve flights across country
P.S. II on December 26 - Still More Air Travel Woes
Now it was Southwest Airlines' turn to do an airport slide. Southwest Flight 688 leaving snowy Chicago's Midway Airport for snowfree Los Angeles slid off a slick taxiway today (Friday) and got stuck snow along the shoulder. Ninety-eight people were aboard, and there were no injuries.
P.S. III on December 27 - Partial Blackout at DIA
A power outage on Saturday, December 27, affected Denver Interational Airport, not the three concourses (or, as they are now called, gate terminals) and not the control tower -- but, you guessed it: the security area, which lost power. The Transportation Security Administration screeners had to do manual security checks, meaning that everyone was patted down or wanded, and all carry-ons were opened. The delay to pass through security was reported to be about 45 minutes. The airport estimated that 155,000 travelers were expected to pass through DIA on Saturday. Oh, the humanity!
P.S. IV on December 31 - The Year's Airline Casualty List
The Cranky Flyer has helpfully posted a list of all the airlines that he knew to have gone out of business in 2008. As a wrote initially, it has been a bad air year.
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