airtran

Couples Sues Airtran For $100,000, Alleging Cockroaches Infested Their Flight
A couple is suing Airtran for $100,000 after they saw cockroaches on their flight, and they say they have to pictures to prove it. More »

AirTran To Require Some Overweight Passengers To Buy Second Seat
Now that AirTran is a subsidiary of Southwest Airlines, it looks like the carrier will be adopting Southwest's controversial policy of requiring that "customers of size" purchase a second seat. More »

DOJ Gives Thumbs Up To Southwest's Purchase Of AirTran
Seems like it was just seven months ago that we first wrote about the proposed sale of AirTran to Southwest Airlines for $1.4 billion. Now that deal is all but done after it passed the Justice Department's antitrust review yesterday. More »

Sale Of AirTran To Southwest One Step Closer To Being A Done Deal
Overshadowed by last year's relatively rapid merger of United and Continental was the sale of AirTran to Southwest. That sale is now one big step away from completion after AirTran shareholders approved the deal earlier this week. More »

AirTran Forgets To Tell Your Disabled Mom That Her Tickets Are Standby
Kym's disabled mother was going to move in with her a few weeks ago. She purchased tickets for her mother and four nieces to fly to Kym's city from a major hub airport about two hours away from their town. Instead of getting on their flight, the family ended up stuck in the airport for six hours, then had to hire a car service to drive them back home. What happened? Garden-variety airline delay? No, Kym writes: AAA sold her sister standby tickets without letting her know. The stress of the experience has affected Kym's mother so much that she still hasn't been able to make the flight. More »

Some Airlines Jettisoning First Class Seats
Global austerity has lead some airlines to chuck first class seats out the air lock. More »

What Does Southwest Buying Air-Tran Mean For Consumers?
So, what are the consumer repercussions of the surprise acquisition of AirTran by fellow low-fare airline Southwest? Airfarewatchdog's George Hobica is worried that fewer competitors, especially at this price point, will mean that Southwest and other airlines will have less pressure to keep fares low. He also expects more mergers on the horizon. More »

Southwest Buys Air-Tran
Overweight people wearing rude tshirts or skimpy clothes will soon have fewer flying options, now that Southwest Airlines is buying Air-Tran. The deal was announced this morning and comes a week after Continental and United Airlines merged. Southwest will get more access to places like New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington, and expand into places like Atlanta for the first time. More »

AirTran Fined $500,000 For Lousy Wheelchair Service
The Transportation Department has served AirTran a $500,000 civil penalty for repeated failures to accommodate disabled travelers, reports Associated Press. The airline was also cited for not providing adequate responses to customers who complained, and for not properly filing complaints with the government. The biggest issue, however, was that it doesn't always provide wheelchairs to disabled passengers in a timely manner. AirTran says it's working on implementing a wheelchair tracking system at its hubs. More »

Tiny Turtle Makes AirTran Return To Gate, Girls Forced To Get Rid Of Pet Before Reboarding
Maybe it was Michelangelo and they were afraid he would eat up all the in-flight pizza. A 10-year old girl's teensy turtle posed enough of a risk to an AirTran flight that the plane was forced to turn around and return to the gate. The girl and her sisters were told they could not get back on the plane with the turtle. More »

AirTran Makes Fun Of Southwest Seating In Commercial
If you've ever been part of the mad dash for seats on a Southwest Airlines flight, you might find this video from AirTran funny. In it, mooing passengers race down the jetway while a Southwest employee makes ridiculous jokes. Meanwhile, AirTran serves its assigned-seat passengers Kool-Aid. Wait, now I'm confused about who's being mocked here. More »

AirTran Makes Fun Of Southwest Seating In Commercial
If you've ever been part of the mad dash for seats on a Southwest Airlines flight, you might find this video from AirTran funny. In it, mooing passengers race down the jetway while a Southwest employee makes ridiculous jokes. Meanwhile, AirTran serves its assigned-seat passengers Kool-Aid. Wait, now I'm confused about who's being mocked here. More »

You Accidentally Forget You Don't Live In Baltimore, And AirTran Fixes It

—>Here's a heartwarming email from reader Joy. She accidentally booked tickets from Baltimore instead of Philly and AirTran not only fixed this mistake — they didn't charge her extra.  More »

People Love Airplane Wi-Fi, But They Don't Love Paying For It

—>The WSJ's latest "Middle Seat" column is about that holy grail for all internet-lovers — airplane Wi-Fi. It turns out that people love, love, love it... but pay for it? Nah.  More »

Breaking Down Airline Safety Records

—>The Daily Beast says it has determined which airlines in the U.S. are the safest by comparing the global statistics for the 25 airlines with the best safety records and those with the worst. Which is the safest? The answer may come as a surprise, since this methodology showed that AirTran is the safest national carrier.  More »

One Man's Publicity Stunt Is Another's Vision Of Hell

—>I mentioned comedian and filmmaker Mark Malkoff in passing in a post about Starbucks last week, not knowing that he would embark on a new project this week. He's making a career out of bizarre feats of consumer endurance, such as visiting all 171 Manhattan Starbucks outlets in one day, and living in the Paramus, NJ IKEA for a week. Now, as part of a campaign to publicize AirTrain's new in-flight wi-fi, he's living on an AirTran plane for 30 days and posting his adventures on the Internet. Yes. That's an entire month. Most of which will probably be spent on the tarmac in Atlanta.  More »

AirTran Removes Muslim Family From Flight, Refuses To Reseat After FBI Clears Them

—>AirTran removed a Muslim family and their friend from their flight, had them questioned by the FBI, and then refused to re-seat or rebook them after they were cleared by the FBI.  More »

Top 3 Most and Least "Fee Crazy" Airlines

—>Airline fees are a controversial topic these days, so we look a look at the fees that airlines were charging and picked the top 3 most and least "fee crazy" airlines. Avoiding fees is hard, so why not try to avoid the airlines that charge them instead?
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AirTran Agent Screams, Curses At Travelers While Supervisor Looks On

—>Forget about those dowdy old-school Olympics. What we need is an international competition to see which airline can suck the most, since everyone is getting so good at it. In the category of Random Rudeness, this AirTran agent and her equally hostile supervisor would have a good shot at the gold—especially since they aimed their hostility at a honeymooning couple.  More »

The Ultimate "Rule 240" List

—>Some airlines still call it "Rule 240" and others a "contract of carriage" but no matter what the name, it still means the same thing: power to the traveler. But which airlines still use it and how much does it protect a traveler?  More »