Grumpy Editor

AIRLINES, WITH PILOT SHORTAGE, EXPECT VERY BUSY SUMMER

Airlines are expecting a very busy summer travel season and despite more workers than they have had in two decades, it may not be enough to handle the action, notes Grumpy Editor.

United Airlines plans to add 15,000 workers this year.

Delta Air Lines is seeing record advance summer bookings with much activity focused on international travel.

The air-transportation industry had an estimated 534,400 employees in March, up 9.5 percent from a year earlier and the most since April 2003, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A major thorn is an ongoing pilot shortage.

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CARS RETAINED LONGER.  Americans are retaining their cars longer.  Average age of a passenger vehicle hit a record 12.5 years this year, according to data gathered by S&P Global Mobility. The pandemic in 2020 triggered a global shortage of automotive computer chips.  The shortage drastically slowed global assembly lines. 

NATIONWIDE BRIDGES EXAMINED.  Collapse of a Pittsburgh bridge triggers a  nationwide examination of more than 10,000 bridges with similar construction.  Corrosion is the problem.

CANINE HELPS POLICE FIND DRUGS.  A dog named Joel, with a fine nose for cocaine, helps Italian police seize about three tons of the drug hidden in boxed bananas shipped from Ecuador.

WALL STREET JOURNAL ELIMINATES TITLES.  The Wall Street Journal is eliminating titles — Mr., Ms., Mrs. — in sentences because, as the editor puts it:  “It can slow down readers enjoyment of our writing.”

BEST BEACH IN FLORIDA.  State park on St. George Island just off the Florida Panhandle gets top honor as best beach for 2023, from Stephen Leatherman, professor in the Department of Earth & Environment at Florida International University. 

DOG DRIVER BLAMED FOR SPEEDING.  A man is arrested after blaming his dog for driving over the speed limit.  Police say he swapped seats with the animal when he got pulled over in Springfield, Colo.  Police say he was going 52 m.p.h. in a 30 m.p.h. zone..

HIPPO CAPSIZES CANOE.  A 1-year-old child died and 23 people were missing after a hippopotamus charged into and capsized a long wooden canoe on a river in southern Malawi.  The canoe was carrying 37 people across the Shire River on their way to neighboring Mozambique.

DOG FOOD PRICES JUMP.  Prices for popular dog food brands on Amazon.com jump 45.5 percent since 2020 --- from $27.91 per product to $39.56 per product, according to Veterinarians.org.  Cases of wet dog food that cost $19.92 in 2020 now sell for $28.65 on average while the price of a bag of dry dog food increased from $35.91 to $50.54.

ONE CONTROLLER IN MAJOR U.S. AIRPORT TOWER CONFUSES PILOTS

Lost in post-election and California fires coverage was the revelation that one of the 10 busiest airports in the world had pilots muttering when the sole air traffic controller on night duty became impaired and started to mumble, observed Grumpy Editor.

Federal and airport authorities are investigating why an air traffic controller became incapacitated and went silent in the tower at busy McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

During a 40-minute span, the female controller slurred words and then apparently lost consciousness shortly before midnight Wednesday.

Some pilots started radioing each other and indicated they were going too stay in place until there was a resolution.

Five inbound aircraft remained airborne during the incident and aircraft on the ground held positions or communicated between themselves to maintain safety while moving, said the Federal Aviation Administration.

Things got back to normal about 25 minutes later when a second controller began handling air traffic.

Rep. Dina Titus, a member of the House subcommittee on aviation, described the incident as "deeply disturbing."

 

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THAI BUSINESSMAN BUYS FORTUNE MAGAZINE.  Meredith Corp. sold Fortune magazine to Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon for $150 million cash.  Alan Murray will run it.

FOX NEWS MAKES FIRST CALL IN ELECTION.  Fox News was the first major news organization to project that the Democrats would retake control of the House of Representatives.  About 50 minutes after Fox News’s call, NBC News followed.  CNN did not weigh in with a definitive projection on the House until 11 p.m. Eastern.

TRIBUTE PAID TO K-9.  When Hutch, a Belgian Malinois, retired from the Boynton Beach (Florida) Police Department in 2014, he left crime fighting to the department’s other K-9’s and went to live with his police handler.  When Hutch died at the age of 13, the department posted a tribute video on social media that recalled the dog’s storied career — taking part in the apprehension of more than 200 criminal suspects from 2007 to 2014.

ELVIS ITEMS IN NEW EXHIBIT.  An exhibition featuring newly recovered photos of singer/actor Elvis Presley’s time as a soldier in Germany nearly 60 years ago opened at the Grafenwoehr’s Culture and Military museum near the U.S. Army base in Grafenwoehr, Germany.  

OLDER WORKERS TARGET OF RESTAURANTS.  Casual restaurants are aiming to recruit seniors, placing want ads on the website of AARP, an organization of Americans over 50.  Recruiters say older workers have soft skills, including a friendly demeanor and punctuality --- traits younger workers often lack.

 

FATTEST STATES LISTED.  WalletHub — just before the holidays — released its ranking of the fattest states, based on obesity and overweight prevalence, health consequences, and food and fitness. Mississippi tops the list, followed by West Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas.

 

UNWELCOMED VISITOR TO WALMART.  The Port St. Lucie (Florida) Police Department dispatched officer Michael Connor to the local Walmart store to remove an alligator (a 1.5-footer) from the employee break area. The alligator was released into a nearby waterway.

 

SMELLY FRUIT GROUNDS AIRLINER.  A cargo of durian grounded an Indonesian plane after passengers complained about the smelly fruit that critics liken to rotten food or dirty socks. The Sriwijaya Air flight, headed to Jakarta from Bengkulu province in Sumatra, was carrying more than two tons of durian. 

 

BOMBARDIER CUTS WORKFORCE.  Bombardier is cutting 5,000 jobs around the world. Most will be in its aerospace division with half of the cuts in Canada.  The planes-and-trains firm feels slashing 7 percent of its workforce will save it $250 million.

 

SHADES OF THE WICKED WITCH: AVOID APPLE OFFERED NEAR END OF FLIGHT

So you think walking off a commercial airliner with an apple in a carry-on is nothing to worry about, asks Grumpy Editor.  Hold on.  That one apple could nick your wallet for $500.

Most media missed this one.

It’s the case of Crystal Tadlock, returning to the U.S. on a Delta Air Lines flight from Paris.  Nearing the U.S., flight attendants passed out apples in plastic bags for passengers who needed a snack. 

Sounds like a good gesture, right?

Tadlock put the fruit in her carry-on as a later treat for the second leg of her flight to Colorado.

Back on U.S. soil, Tadlock and her bags were randomly selected to be searched by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent, reports Fox 31 in Denver.  Tadlock said the agent pulled out the apple still in the plastic bag with Delta’s logo on it.

When questioned about the snack, Tadlock explained she received the apple from Delta and asked if she could throw it away or eat it. 

The Customs agent, as reported by the Fox affiliate, allegedly told her no and said there is a $500 fine for carrying undeclared fruit.

"He had asked me if my trip to France was expensive and I said, 'yeah.' I didn’t really get why he was asking that question, and then he said 'It’s about to get a lot more expensive after I charge you $500,'" said Tadlock.

Tadlock told Fox 31 she was frustrated with the incident and felt Delta should not have passed out the apples to passengers or should have at least reminded passengers not to take the fruit off the plane. She also thinks Customs could have handled the situation differently after seeing the fruit was in an airline-marked bag.

"It’s really unfortunate someone has to go through that and be treated like a criminal over a piece of fruit," added Tadlock.

 

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HAPPENS IN CHINA, TOO.  Seven students are killed and 12 injured in a stabbing rampage at a middle school in Mizhi county.  Knives are common weapons in violent crimes in China since the country tightly restricts private gun ownership.

GET BACK TO COVERING WEATHER?  With the House intelligence committee finding no evidence that Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential campaign, how is CNN and MSNBC going to fill up air time?  Suggestion:  Get back to covering breaking news events…or the weather.

CHINA CALLS U.S. “BULLY.”  The U.S. is “acting like a bully,” says a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman in response to reports that the U.S. Treasury Department is considering using an emergency law to curb Chinese investments in sensitive technologies, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.

WSJ EYES MORE WOMEN READERS.  Talking Biz News reports that “a media battle is being fought over the next generation of business-minded women and The Wall Street Journal has achieved early success by recruiting nearly 200,000 female students as subscribers.”

43-YEAR-OLD SPIDER PASSES.  Australian scientists report the world’s oldest known spider --- a female Giaus Villosus or trapdoor spider --- died at the age of 43, outliving its nearest rival by 15 years.  The spider was under observation since 1974.

CODE TALKER DIES.  Ex-Marine Roy Hawthorne Sr., an Arizona Navajo “code talker” who used his native language in U.S. military communications to confound the Japanese in World War II, died at 92.  

TRUMP GREETS OFFSPRING OF D.C. JOURNALISTS.  President Donald Trump treats children of White House journalists to an Oval Office visit on Thursday while their parents are left outside looking in through windows.

FAREWELL TO FUSION AND TAURUS.  Ford plans another $11.5 billion in cuts in order to reach a profit margin target of 8 percent by 2020, two years earlier than previously planned, reports Fortune. The move means the end of the line for Fusion and Taurus sedans. Ford wants to save $25.5 billion by 2022.

BBC ADVERTISES IN WSJ.  British Broadcasting Corp. takes out a one-quarter page ad in The Wall Street Journal asking:  How do you know you can trust the news?  Then BBC lists five reasons, including, “Because we’ve covered the story from every angle” and “We’ve always asked the difficult questions.”

MISTAKES WITH FLYING DOGS TRIGGERS PR PROBLEM FOR UNITED AIRLINES

United Airlines has a major public relations problem on its hands following a dog's death in an overhead bin last Monday followed by wrong-way flying mistakes with other dogs during the week, notes Grumpy Editor.

On Tuesday, a German Shepherd wound up in Japan after he was supposed to fly to Kansas.  Sent to the Kansas destination was a Great Dane that was slated to travel to Japan.  

Another canine on Thursday was wrongfully loaded onto a flight from Newark, N. J. to St. Louis.  The pet was supposed to fly from Newark to Akron, Ohio. 

But the incident that brought loud cries from dog lovers was the death of a French bulldog on a Houston-to-New York flight. 

A flight attendant told its owners to put the dog, in its carrier, in an overhead bin. A United spokesman said the passenger told the flight attendant there was a dog in the carrier, but the attendant "did not hear or understand her, and did not knowingly place the dog in the overhead bin."

Associated Press said passengers reported they heard barking during the flight and did not know the dog had died until the plane landed at LaGuardia Airport.

United called it "a tragic accident that should never have occurred, as pets should never be placed in the overhead bin."

The airline on Friday said "to prevent this from happening again, by April we will issue bright colored bag tags to customers traveling with in-cabin pets.”

 

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RUSSIANS TARGET U.S. AVIATION SYSTEM.  Russian hackers penetrated the U.S. civilian aviation system early last year, part of a broad assault on the nation’s sensitive infrastructure, according to a consortium designed to protect the industry, but it had limited impact, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.

MEDIA CONCERNED ON GETTING STORY FIRST.  Most Americans (62 percent) still think the media are obsessed with getting the story first, when they think they should be focused on getting it right, finds a Rasmussen Reports survey. 

NEWSPAPER STAFF CUTS CONTINUE.   The Denver Post is cutting 30 people from its newsroom, one-third of the paper's staff.  Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune newsroom also is hit by a round of layoffs of an undetermined number of staffers.  Spokeswoman Marisa Kollias says the newspaper “is reshaping its newsroom and making important steps in an ongoing effort to become more a digital enterprise.”

PLASTIC FOUND IN BOTTLED WATER.  The world's leading brands of bottled water are contaminated with tiny plastic particles that are likely seeping in during the packaging process, finds a major study across nine countries. Plastic is identified in 93 percent of the samples. Health risks remain unknown, but the World Health Organization is looking into it, reports Fortune.

MEREDITH SEEKS TO SELL RECENTLY ACQUIRED TITLES.  Meredith Corp. has hired advisers to explore the sale of recently acquired  Time, Fortune, Money and Sports Illustrated magazines. Meredith sees the  titles attracting mostly male readership, thus not playing to its core strength in women’s magazines, which include Better Homes & Gardens, Family Circle and Martha Stewart Living. 

GO EASY ON INTEREST RATES URGED.  Larry Kudlow, President Donald Trump's new chief economic adviser, urges the Federal Reserve not to raise interest rates too much. "Growth is not inflationary. Just let it rip, for heaven's sake," he points out.

 

 

Few media eyebrows raised as 11 jetliners disappear

Most U.S. major print and broadcast media, usually relishing intrigue and mystery disappearances --- especially with the 9/11 anniversary on Thursday --- took a rain check in reporting 11 commercial jet airliners vanishing from Libya’s Tripoli International Airport after an Islamist militia took control, notes Grumpy Editor.

Free Beacon writer Bill Gertz on Tuesday revealed, “Intelligence reports of the stolen jetliners were distributed within the U.S. government over the past two weeks and included a warning that one or more of the aircraft could be used in an attack later this month on the date marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against New York and Washington, said U.S. officials familiar with the reports.”

A number of Web sites picked up the information, mentioning the possibility of suicide attacks utilizing aircraft.

London’s Daily Mail pointed out the 11 commercial jets from state-owned carriers Libyan Airlines and Afriqiyah Airways went missing in August after militants overran the airport.

Sept. 11 marks the 13th anniversary of terrorist attacks by airliners in the U.S. and the second anniversary of the raid on the U.S. Ambassador's compound in Benghazi, Libya, where four Americans were killed, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

 

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Although Friday’s Labor Department report mentioned U.S. businesses added just 142,000 jobs in August, below the 226,000 added on average in the prior seven months, Vice President Joe Biden, filling in for President Barack Obama with the weekly White House address Saturday, painted a rosier picture, saying the “jobs report was another reminder of how far we’ve come. We’ve had 54 straight months of job creation. And that’s the longest streak of uninterrupted job growth in the United States’ history”…Film critic Leonard Maltin’s 2015 edition of "Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide," out tomorrow, will be the last in the series.  Maltin, now 63, was 18 when the first edition of his "Movie Guide" was published in 1969…USA Today, Gannett Co.’s flagship newspaper, laid off about 70 people, equally split between newsroom staffers and employees in other departments.  The newspaper said it is “working to align its staffing levels to meet current market conditions”…Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg soon will return to run Bloomberg LP, a financial data and media company…Reporting becomes dangerous job.  The Committee to Protect Journalists estimated at least 72 journalists have been killed covering the Syria conflict; more than 80 have been kidnapped and about 20 remained missing…Danger in San Francisco, too.  A KRON, San Francisco, TV reporter, sitting in the station’s van, was robbed by two men who stole his wallet plus TV equipment before fleeing in the Potrero District. It was the latest in a series of Bay area robberies involving news media members…Although Bank of America Corp. recently settled on a $16.65 billion fine for mortgage law violations, it faces PR problems with its patrons.  In the J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study, BofA rated at or near the bottom for customer service in most U.S. geographic regions where it conducts business…Investigation results near?  After more than three months of investigation into Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s 2009 disappearance in Afghanistan, a final draft should be close. Bergdahl, who was held by the Taliban for five years, was released in May in a controversial exchange for five Taliban members.  Several fellow soldiers labeled Bergdahl a deserter who walked away from his outpost in Afghanistan.

Sequester cuts trigger major air traffic delays, loom as hindering National Weather Service forecasts, too

Not widely grabbing space over the past few days to inform travelers:  Federal spending cuts that furlough air traffic controllers --- requiring one day off without pay for every 10 days work --- kicked in over the weekend, that could delay close to 7,000 flights a day at about a dozen of the biggest U.S. airports, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Thus, few passengers heading for airports are aware that sequester cuts are now triggering disruptions in air travel. 

At Los Angeles International Airport, for example, aircraft arrivals are expected to sink to 48 an hour from 80.  Departures also are affected. 

The Federal Aviation Administration’s plans are “illegal, irresponsible and damaging,” says Nicholas E. Calio, chief executive of Airlines of America, which represents major U.S. airlines. 

Michael Huerta, FAA administrator, says the air traffic controllers furloughs are unavoidable.

“We’re basically dismantling” the world’s safest and most efficient air traffic control system, warns Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

 

Budget cuts could affect weather forecasts 

Also not widely mentioned is that sequester action also could affect the National Weather Service. 

The Washington Post reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration proposes furloughing employees for four days across the agency that includes the National Weather Service. 

The newspaper notes NOAA would give labor unions the opportunity to offer alternatives to furloughs before finalizing its plan for reducing costs as part of the sequester. 

The union that represents National Weather Service employees criticized the furlough plan, saying it is “unnecessary and places the public at greater risk,” adds the Post.

 

In case you missed these… 

Boston radio stations plan 60 seconds of silence at 2:50 p.m. today to honor victims of last Monday’s Marathon bombing at that time…While much TV coverage of the Marathon bombing saw reporters standing in streets over the past few days, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer this morning was still reporting from a breezy, cool (temperature in the low 40s) Boston street corner --- competing with busy vehicular background traffic and sounds --- when his stand-up could easily (and more comfortably) be done from a quiet studio…A first in baseball:  the Red Sox-Kansas City Royals game in Boston was postponed Friday because of local manhunt…Still no explanation, one week after the bombing in Boston, on the role or observations of two law officers with rifles seen on the roof of the Lenox Hotel overlooking the marathon’s finish area in an Associated Press photo by Elise Amendola…Newly christened 21^st Century Fox will include the 20th Century Fox film studio, 20th Century Fox Television, Fox Broadcasting network, Fox News Channel, FX, Fox Sports, National Geographic channels and interests in foreign TV broadcasting companies, including British Sky Broadcasting...Las Vegas Sun editorial cartoonist Mike Smith captures the busy news week with a news junkie saying, "Me? Just trying to keep up with the news" while facing monitiors tuned to NBC, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, Fox, CBS plus You Tube, Facebook and Twitter.  See it here.

 

Surcharge on phone bill boosts ‘ObamaPhones’ usage

Grabbing attention over the past few days, especially on talk radio: coverage of the so-called ObamaPhone, including audio from a video of a happy user, notes Grumpy Editor.

While the regular phone user-funded program --- intended as a landline phone service for low-income Americans --- was created under the George W. Bush administration, it zooms ahead with cell phones in recent months under the Obama administration.

Yet, little is seen in print media about the bargain cell phones being widely dispensed.

Bloomberg News reports the current 12.5 million nationwide accounts via the program compares with 7.1 million four years ago. 

In Ohio, for example, one of the biggest battleground states in this year’s election, the subsidized phone service nearly doubles this year to more than a million people. 

See the video here of a happy Cleveland area cell phone (aka ObamaPhone) user. 

“Keep Obama as president,” the woman proclaims on the video.  “He gave us a phone.” 

The video is drawing attention to the subsidized phone program as a national debate unfolds on entitlements and the growing percentage of Americans who pay no income taxes and get federal benefits. 

And who pays for the service? 

Take a look at your monthly phone bill.  Among the higher “fees, surcharges and taxes” --- the Universal Service Fund surcharge goes toward footing the bill on "ObamaPhones." 

The number of people eligible for the Lifeline service is estimated at between 20 million and 30 million, according to Universal Service Administrative Co., that administers the program.

 

 

 

 

Spirit Airlines passengers grumble as flight takes 19 hours

Marooned passengers confined for an extraordinary time aboard a Spirit Airlines A319, after an emergency landing in Texas, should stir up the carrier’s public relations department, finds Grumpy Editor.

What was supposed to be a routine five-hour flight from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, late Saturday night wound up taking a blushing 19 hours to reach its destination.

The 100 passengers at times were subject to pressure cooker conditions after the aircraft’s pilot made an emergency landing at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport following actions by an unruly, disruptive and screaming 81-year-old blind passenger. 

Passengers were kept on the Tarmac for two hours without air conditioning before being allowed into the terminal, reported ABC News.

The airline, it added, then told the grumbling passengers that they would be shuttled by bus five hours north to Dallas, because Spirit does not operate a flight between Houston and Fort Lauderdale, and did not have a fresh crew to take over the controls.

Hearing that, passengers became irate, yelling and screaming at airline staff.

"We went 'No! No Way!'” a passenger recounted for ABC News, adding “it took them 25 minutes afterwards to come back and tell us that they were going to have a plane for us."

Spirit Airlines eventually flew passengers in a different aircraft with that flight arriving in South Florida about 8 p.m. Sunday.

The unidentified disruptive passenger was turned over to the Houston Police Department.

The Miami-area-based low-cost carrier said it offered the wayward passengers refunds and credits for future flights.

Spirit’s public relations department, hopefully, was busy at work this week devising a plan to soothe passengers with prompt action in similar future events.

 

Air pass idea creates PR problem for American Airlines

An American Airlines marketing gimmick is turning into a major public relations problem for the carrier and its parent, AMR Corp., notes Grumpy Editor. 

The airline, starting in 1987 and through 2004, offered a lifetime AAirpass that, with a companion ticket, allowed unlimited travel at home and abroad for $350,000.  It attracted 66 people. 

Now, the carrier is focusing on ways to terminate the lifetime contracts. 

Steven Rothstein was one of the AA pass holders.  But the airline snatched his lifetime pass, saying it was due to fraudulent activity --- booking flights under fake names if he didn’t know who his companion would be for the trips. 

He filed a lawsuit but a federal judge ruled against him.  The case is being appealed. 

In the meantime, Rothstein has been making the media rounds, including an appearance Monday night on Fox News’ “On the Record” with Greta Van Susteren.  It followed an ABC News interview and a New York Post piece.  In far-off Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald last Thursday picked up a lengthy Los Angeles Times story on the revoked pass saga. 

Such negative news is not exactly what AMR, which filed for bankruptcy protection last November, seeks in the competitive air travel world. 

As Rothstein told ABC:  “AA signed a contract, and a contract’s a contract.”

 

Spirit Airlines adds to long list of fees for passengers

Spirit Airlines’ Web site spotlights a new service between Atlanta and Atlantic City with a fare from $28.79 each way based on round trip purchase, but passengers these days --- as with flying on other carriers ---  have to factor in other fees and charges, observes Grumpy Editor. 

Spirit this week is in the forefront with a new charge it labels “Department of Transportation unintended consequences fee.”  (Say that fast a few times.) 

That DOT fee tacks on $2 each way to the Spirit ticket price. 

The airline with “ultra low fares” blames that on a new DOT regulation that allows passengers to change flights within 24 hours of booking without paying a penalty. 

The added fee joins a long list of “optional” charges beyond ticket price. 

Among them: 

Carry-on bag fee, $30 at booking or $35 at check-in.

Customer-requested seat assignments, $1 to $50 per seat.

Unaccompanied minors fee, $100 each way.

Pet transport fee, $100 per container each way.

Onboard snacks, $1 to $10.

  

See the full list here.