Airline Electronics Ban Slammed as Inept and Ineffective

Enter the Holland America Line “Choose Your Cruise” sweepstakes by March 31, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a seven-day Holland America Line cruise for two to the winner’s choice of Alaska, Canada and New England, the Caribbean, or Europe, including most onboard meals.

WOW Air, the Iceland-based no-frills carrier that raised eyebrows with its $99 fares from Boston and Baltimore to Iceland a year ago, now has something in common with Spirit Airlines, the U.S. carrier notorious for its nickel-and-diming and generally customer-unfriendly ways.

Enter the Budget Travel “Iceland” sweepstakes by February 19, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a trip for two to Iceland, including air, nine nights’ hotel, some meals, and local tours.

Beginning on June 1, Spirit will become the third airline to pull out of the Cuba market altogether, joining Frontier and Silver Airways. Two other airlines, American and JetBlue, have cut capacity on their Cuba flights, either by reducing frequency or downgrading to smaller planes.

When Muslim Advocates and the NAACP issue a joint letter accusing the U.S. airline industry of racism, it’s big news. And when the NAACP, the “nation’s oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization,” follows that up with an advisory specifically questioning the racial policies of the nation’s largest airline, American, it’s nothing less than a media firestorm. Indeed, all the major news media covered the story exhaustively. And “American Airlines” has been a trending Twitter topic for several days.

Tickets go on sale today from a brand-new airline.

Yesterday’s crash landing of Emirates flight EK521 in Dubai generated a flood of images of panicked travelers, loaded down with their carry-on bags, fleeing the burning B777-300. The headline of Bloomberg’s coverage of the incident said it all: “Crashing, Burning Planes Don’t Stop Passengers From Grabbing Their Luggage.”

In 2015, flyers filed 15,260 complaints with the Department of Transportation. That was a 34 percent increase over 2014’s 11,365 complaints.

Enter the Babich Wines “Trip to New Zealand” sweepstakes by August 31, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a seven-night trip for two to New Zealand, including air to and within New Zealand; hotels in Auckland, Marlborough, and Queenstown; choice of activities; and a NZD$1,000 gift card.

Enter the Conde Nast “Readers’ Choice Awards” sweepstakes by June 1, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a 15-day Viking River Cruises trip for two from Amsterdam to Budapest, including air and transfers.

Enter the Golf Advisor “Great Scot Getaway” sweepstakes by May 22, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a seven-night trip to Scotland for four, including air, hotel, golf rounds at five clubs (including St. Andrews), rental car, and $1,000 spending money.

In just the past month, there have been two major airline service disruptions, inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of travelers.