Travel Show 5: Trapped on the Plane

Posted by Patrick Wiscombe on May 31, 2010 under Travel Show Podcasts | Be the First to Comment

In this edition of the Travel Show, we talked about:

Trapped on the plane
British Airways hoping to avert a strike
Jet engine trouble for G.E.
Turbulence over Montreal
Marriott to to expand in China
State Department issues travel warning for South Africa

A Michigan woman who fell asleep during a flight and woke up locked in an empty plane filed a lawsuit against United Airlines. Ginger McGuire spent nearly four hours on the plane after United Express Flight 8080 landed before she was discovered by a cleaning crew. McGuire is seeking between $25,000 and $75,000 in the suit which alleges negligence, infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment and breach of contract. The complaint outlines a series of delays that led up to McGuire falling asleep on the airplane. McGuire was originally scheduled to leave Detroit, Michigan, at 6 a.m.Monday with a brief layover in the Washington area before continuing to Philadelphia. She didn’t leave Washington for Philadelphia until 11:40 p.m. United Express Flight 8080 arrived in Philadelphia just before 12:30 a.m. last Tuesday. McGuire was asleep when the plane landed and passengers and crew disembarked. When a cleaning crew discovered McGuire four hours later, it alerted the Transportation Security Administration and McGuire was “wrongfully detained and interrogated.”

British Airways is holding talks with union leaders so they don’t have another strike by cabin crews. The talks hope to resolve a dispute over changes to pay and working conditions and comes on the final day of five-day walkout by staff. Cabin crews are due to strike again beginning Sunday for five days — and for another five days from June 5 — if a solution is not found. Seven days of walkouts in March over the same dispute cost the airline about $63 million.

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The failure of General Electric engines on four jet aircraft overseas during the past two years has prompted the National Transportation Safety Board to issue an “urgent” recommendation to increase inspections of the engines on U.S. aircraft. None of the incidents resulted in crashes, injuries or fatalities. But in all four cases, engine parts penetrated the engine housing. On four occasions, the NTSB said, a rotor imbalance caused rotor disks to fail, leading to the uncontained engine failures. The NTSB issued its urgent recommendation, saying the FAA should require inspections every 15 flights until the disks can be replaced with improved parts.

A United Airlines jet was diverted to Montreal last Tuesday after six people on board were injured by severe turbulence over the Atlantic, according to airport and airline officials. Six passengers were injured — including one who suffered a severe bone fracture, and a pregnant woman. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada sent an investigator to meet the United flight and was going to take possession of the planes Flight Data and Cockpit Voice recorders and send them to their lab in Ottawa for further analysis.

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PODCAST SPONSOR: The Travel Show with Patrick Wiscombe is sponsored by GetAwayToday.com. Get an extra $10 off your Disneyland Resort vacation just for using promotion code CASTLE at checkout.

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Marriott International said it plans to double the number of hotels it runs in China in about five years. Marriott had 47 hotels in China at the end of the first quarter and expects to have a total of 60 by the end of 2010. Last week, they announced plans for seven more locations. The company said China is expected to be the world’s largest single source of international tourism and top travel destination within the next 10 years.

The State Department has issued a travel alert warning U.S. citizens in South Africa to be aware of increased terrorism risks during the World Cup, which starts June 11. However, the State Department said, there was no specific information on any threat. The alert urged Americans to be aware of their surroundings and warned that crime is prevalent in the country. It urged visitors not to wear expensive jewelry and ensure valuables were not in plain view. The warning said, “While driving, keep doors locked and windows closed … and when stopping at intersections at night or in isolated locations, leave enough space in front of your vehicle for a quick exit.”

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PODCAST SPONSORS: The Travel Show is sponsored by Cliphanger.com, the perfect item for all cell phones, PDAs, iPods, and MP3 players.

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Tags: travel news, travel podcast