During last week's annual FAA Forecast Conference, some attendees joked that they'd complain about airline service, but the carriers might charge them a fee for the privilege. To which some airline officials said: "That's a good idea." They were, of course, joking. Right?
Speaking of the flying experience ... Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) learned the hard way that the Transportation Security Administration plays no favorites. Apparently, security agents took a snow globe away from the lawmaker before her flight to Washington from Las Vegas. "It had too many ounces of liquid in it," Titus later explained.
Some former Japan Airlines employees are taking recycling to new heights -- or lows, as the case may be: TC hears they're selling their old flight attendant uniforms to workers in sex clubs. Apparently, the JAL apparel has been a black-market staple for years. Cash-starved JAL might be wise to take heed of this possible new ancillary revenue stream. TC couldn't find any uniforms on eBay, but there were a couple of JAL kimonos selling for between $20 and $60.
TC hears that Rail Europe is getting on the app train. The company, which sells rail travel in Europe (and recently introduced booking capability to agents for Amtrak trips), is launching a mobile application, which should be ready sometime this summer. Using the app, customers will be able to search train schedules and get information about European rail lines. Rail Europe is toying with the possibility of having a rail map function as well as a booking function.