Can’t Wait for Fall Foliage? You Don’t Have to.

Omni Mount Washington Resort

After moving from California to New Jersey, I am so looking forward to the fall colors. According to the folks at Boston.com, I won’t have to wait long, as some areas are already seeing the leaves change. I rounded up some cool fall travel ideas for The Huffington Post. Now I just need to pin down my own plans.

Tags: Travel, fall foliage, leaves, omni, mandarin oriental, northeast, fall travel packages

This is Why I Blog.

A Compass Airlines flight attendant was reportedly fired for admitting on television that she qualified for food stamps. Most junior flight attendants do make so little they qualify for public assistance. I know I did. The strict no-media policy followed by many airlines is exactly why you don’t know about the sub-standard working conditions in the airline industry. Flight attendants, who can legally work up to 20 hours in a day with no such thing as overtime, need our protection, but they’re afraid to ask for it. I have been writing articles and blog posts and appearing on television and radio to talk about flight attendant challenges, especially fatigue. Some people wonder why anyone should listen to me since I no longer work for an airline. This is exactly why. No one else is allowed to talk.

Snakes on a Plane

Four baby pythons escaped on a Qantas flight yesterday.

This reminds me of the most shocking passenger I ever saw. Lying on the carpet next to SFO’s ticket counter while his zookeeper checked him in, was a twenty-foot long python with a diameter of about a foot. Sounds like a scary movie to me.

Reality Check

Check out this brilliant Huffington Post story by transportation reporter Christine Negroni. Her reaction to Time magazine’s ill-conceived, anti-airline rant is the most sensible piece on air travel that I’ve seen in years. You demand cheap fares, this is what you will get.

Tags: Travel, airline, passengers, complaints, air fare, fees

Rene Foss and I Appear on The Huckabee Show

We talk about inflight emergencies, out of control passengers, and flight attendant fatigue.

Tags: Travel, airline, flight attendants, Huckabee, Fox News, TV, Steven Slater, feature

At the Airport After Slater

The pre-security mood at Philadelphia airport was quite cheerful. People joked about Jet Blue’s Steven Slater and slowly pushed their way through the line with smiles on their faces and warm comments for their neighbors. His stunt seemed to have let some steam out of the tightly compressed world of air travel. For a second I thought these joyful moods would feed off each other and make the entire journey like something I haven’t seen since 9/11.

Unfortunately, after taking off shoes and placing liquids, computers, shoes, sweaters, belts, and phones in a series of trays, being patted down and then crammed into standing-room only gate areas for delays, all levity had left the scene. I hope the national fascination with Slater’s sliding escape will create ideas and eventually solutions to the sad state of flying. I miss loving it!

Tags: airline, airport, flight attendants, new york times, Steven Slater, Travel

Arrest That Passenger.

I weigh in on a New York Times debate about passenger conduct. In my opinion, the abusive passenger should have been arrested as well. Interfering with a crew member’s duties is against the law. I’ve had the authorities meet passengers at the door. Why aren’t they going after this one?

Disgruntled Airline Workers: The Next Terrorist Threat?

My essay in The Huffington Post.

According to The New York Post, yesterday federal agents charged a former American Airlines flight attendant with making terrorist threats. After being fired for throwing a coffee pot at a co-worker, Rodney Lorenzo allegedly said he would retaliate by giving cockpit-access instructions to Islamic terrorist groups.

It’s frightening to think of what could happen if airline workers were to “go postal.” Especially when you consider that air crews are now among the most poorly treated work groups in the nation.[read more]

Tags: airline, crew, fatigue, flight attendants, Huffington Post, terrorism, Travel

Modern Love

Check out my Modern Love piece in The New York Times.

How I Earned My Wings Back

I GOT married a few months ago, but my husband — a proud Air Force pilot from a small town in Georgia — doesn’t know how we met. Rather, he doesn’t know the path that led me to him. By the time he was perched on one knee and presenting an engagement ring, I feared it was too late to tell the love of my life that we had been brought together not by fate but as a result of my nationwide crusade to find a pilot. [read more]

Tags: air force, dating, feature, flight attendant, new york times

LA Times

Check out my essay in the Los Angeles Times:

There is an aspect of air travel that we’re likely to be putting out of our minds — pilots asleep at the yoke and flight attendants so tired their mental states can be likened to a drunken stupor.

Most Americans are protected by the Fair Labor Standards Act, which since 1938 has limited the workday to eight hours and the workweek to 40 hours. Airlines, which are governed by the Federal Aviation Administration, are exempt. They can push their workers up to 20 hours per day, without bearing the cost of overtime pay, which discourages such practice. <read more>

Tags: airline, crew, FAA, fatigue, feature, flight attendants, Los Angeles Times, Travel