Air Travel

No Bounce: Boeing-Boeing is an outdated French farce that never translated well

Videos: Top Ten TSA Airport Groping Scandals

Last week, footage of Transportation Security Administration officials at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport trying to pat down a three-year-old girl in a wheelchair went viral -- and brought national attention to TSA in St. Louis. Nathan Forck, the father trying to get his family to Disney Wor ... More >>

Passenger on Bird-Stricken AA Flight Describes "Acrid, Panicky Reek of Burning Plastic"

Last Friday evening, American Airlines flight 1186 roared out of Lambert International Airport, headed for Chicago-O'Hare. But by the time it hit 5,000 feet, it had collided with a bird, and had to turn back (this has happened at Lambert more than a couple dozen times so far this year). Here's how i ... More >>

More Laser Pointers Hit Planes at Lambert

The holiday weekend brought out the idiots again, as bozos with laser pointers lurking somewhere near Lambert International Airport shined their technological gewgaws into the cockpits of two aircraft on successive days. 

Flying High: Happy Hour to Arrive at Lambert at 4 a.m.

The airline industry needs cash in a major way. Overall profits were down some $3 billion last year, and so airlines have started rolling out well-publicized, much-maligned fees for things like checked bags and carry-on luggage. (Enjoy using that armrest for free while you still can.) Thankfully, ... More >>

Security Screenings At Lambert Will Be Expedited

​The Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Commission announced today that TSA Pre, its passenger pre-screening program, will expand to more airports in 2012 -- including Lambert, a.k.a., TSA's Airport of the Year.TSA Pre allows passengers to provide information about the ... More >>

TSA Names Lambert "Airport of the Year"

Lambert Field weathered the storm this year -- and came out on top!​We know what you're thinking: Lambert Airport is the airport of the year?! The judges must really like plywood windows!Whoa! Easy now. Those blown-out windows from the tornado last April are being replaced, thank you very much. An ... More >>

"L-Word" Star Allegedly Kicked Off Flight In St. Louis for Same-Sex Kiss

TwitterLeish Hailey was not laughing yesterday at Lambert Field.​Update 3 p.m. Leisha Hailey and her girlfriend, Camila Grey, released a statement today saying that they "were not making out" or creating any spectacle. "It was one modest kiss." The couple plans to file a formal complaint with the ... More >>

"Security Concerns" Force US Airways Flight to Land in St. Louis

​A US Airways flight form New York to Phoenix this morning made an unexpected stop at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Jeff Lea, spokesman for the airport, tells Daily RFT that the plane landed at 7:50 a.m. because of a "security-related concern." Passengers were taken off the plane. An in ... More >>

Fake Air Marshals Reportedly Kicked Off St. Louis to D.C. Flight

​Update 10:45 a.m.: The Transportation Security Administration today released a statement saying there was no security threat on United flight 3681 last night and no fake federal air marshals. The flight returned to the gate at the pilot's discretion. Original story follows...We're taking this sto ... More >>

Former Blues Player Pavol Demitra Among Hockey Players Dead in Russian Plane Crash

​A former Blues player is among the 43 people dead following the crash of an airliner Wednesday carrying the KHL hockey team, Locomotiv Yarslavl. The Russian-built airliner crashed in western Russia shortly after liftoff. Just two people survived the accident.Pavol Demitra was not one of the survi ... More >>

TSA's Full-Body Scans Will Now Look Like Gingerbread Men

tsa.comThe new "gingerbread" scanners at airports.​The Transportation Security Administration announced last week that it's rolling out "privacy" enhancement for its controversial full-body scanners. The software upgrades mean that the scanners will no longer reveal a realistic, semi-nude image of ... More >>

St. Louis Aerotropolis Partner Arrested for Child Porn

kveo.comRobert Hedrick was denied bail, so maybe he still has available that $50 million for St. Louis Aerotropolis.​Wow. Rough couple weeks for St. Louis officials hoping to turn Lambert Field into a major cargo hub with China and Latin America. First, industry experts assail the project (Exhibit ... More >>

Lambert Gets "Airport Experience" Restrooms

courtesy of Lambert-St. Louis International AirportThe airport's bringing sexy back.​OK, so they're not quite as glorious as the bathrooms at the Fountain on Locust -- which famously won an award last summer for having the best damn loo (or two) in the nation.But the new bathrooms at Lambert-St. L ... More >>

St. Louis Gets New Airline Only For Pets

What will they think of next? petairways.com​Today Lambert - St. Louis International Airport announced that Pet Airways will add the city to the 14 other destinations currently served by the airline. Pet Airways offers to ship your pet in style for fares starting as low as $99. According to the ai ... More >>

Under the Radar: Why do AeroMexico flights take off in any kind of weather and Mexican mistranslations go uncorrected?

Backscatter: Much Ado About Nothing

​All the buzz about stepped-up airport security during the Thanksgiving travel-palooza seems to have been much ado about nothing. Media reports stoked fears of huge delays, gropings, protests and all-around mayhem, but it didn't really happen, here in St. Louis or in other airports around the coun ... More >>

Lambert Field Gets Full-Body Scanners; Prepare to Get Virtually Naked

Sexy? Maybe if you're Terminator 2.​The Transportation Security Administration has been rolling out full-body imaging machines at the nation's airports for the past couple years. Now the scanners have finally arrived in St. Louis (a.k.a. terrorist target #499 on a list of 500 cities). The X-ray de ... More >>

Claire McCaskill: Champion to Flight Attendants

image via​American Airlines announced today that it would rehire 545 furloughed TWA flight attendants, and Sen. Claire McCaskill is pumped. TWA and American Airlines merged in 2001, and 2,500 flight attendants, many of them employees for the former TWA, were laid off with the right to reclaim ... More >>

The TSA Gets Put on Notice -- And Yes, Removing Your Shoes at the Airport is Idiotic

It is high time the TSA get its comeuppance for  airport screening indignities.​On March 29, 2009, Steve Bierfeldt was detained in a small room at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and interrogated for a half-hour by the Transportation Security Administration. Bierfeldt's ... More >>

Alaska Airlines Coming to St. Louis, Won't Fly You to Alaska

Alaska? She'll take you there.​Lambert-St. Louis International Airport announced today the addition of its 14th commercial carrier: Alaska Airlines. The company will begin service in September with a once a day flight to Fairbanks, Juneau, Anchorage, Nome, Ketichikan, Seattle. That's Seattle, Wash ... More >>

Holiday Travel Horror Stories -- Or, How A Complete Stranger Vomited On Me on an Airplane Last Night

Wikimedia Commons​According to AAA, travel during this Memorial Day weekend is slated to be up five percent over last year. Personally, I decided to get out of town this weekend - in fact, I'm already in Cleveland visiting my parents and my boyfriend, while tying up loose ends for my RFT work ... More >>

St. Louisan Goes Apeshit on Southwest Flight

Image sourceThe skies aren't so friendly anymore.​And it wasn't even Annie! On a completely different Southwest flight last night, this one from Seattle to Lambert, a St. Louis man went batshit crazy and started pounding on the cockpit door. The plane had to be diverted for an emergency landin ... More >>

The International Society of Women Airline Pilots Convention Lands in St. Louis

About 50 members of the International Society of Women Airline Pilots landed at the Four Seasons hotel this week for their annual convention. The society was founded in Las Vegas in 1978 to provide moral support for women in a heavily male-dominated field. (It still is; in the U.S., less than five p ... More >>

Recalling that Near-Disastrous Flight From St. Louis to Chicago on September 28, 2007

Should this plane have been grounded? According to a new study, more than 65,000 flights should have been over the past six years.​Since 2003, at least 65,000 U.S. airline flights should never have been permitted to leave the ground because shoddy repair work and improper maintaina ... More >>

We try to calculate the Rams' worth, catch up with Kenny Hulshof and remember the good old days of air travel

St. Louis Aviation Expert Remembers a Time When Air Travel Was Exotic

flickr.com/photos/The Picture HouseIn 1957, amid the true glory days of air travel, Frank Sinatra came out with a hit song, "Come Fly With Me," which evoked the glamour and exhilarating anticipation of climbing aboard an airplane.Come fly with me, lets' fly let's fly awayIf you can use s ... More >>

Branson Entertainers Visit U.S. Troops Overseas (As If They Haven't Suffered Enough)

This just in from the media arm of Mansion Theatre, home of "Branson's biggest shows."A junket of Branson-based singers and a few Branson favorites (i.e. Tony Orlando) just returned from a trip to Iraq and Germany to visit and entertain U.S. troops. The group also handed out Crocs sandals to the Ira ... More >>

Boeing vs. Airbus: The Winning Bird Might Be Too Big

Does It Offend You, Yeah? at the Fader Fort

What's Wrong with This Picture?

Up in Here

DMX gets a wake-up call at an airport, and the Pussycat Dolls are more pre-fab than you think. Plus: the debut of St. Louis scene trading cards!

Best Boondoggle

The Lambert Airport expansion

Cash Landing

With bills coming due at Lambert, St. Louis considers drastic change

Best Boondoggle

The Lambert Airport expansion

Tailspin

Lambert's billion-dollar expansion hangs on a wing and a prayer: The numbers no longer add up

Porn Storming

Porn star parties, broken promises and layoffs at Lambert: there are so many ways for St. Louisans to get screwed!

He Can't Blight City Hall

Bridgeton Mayor Conrad Bowers fails to persuade Lambert Airport officials to buy him out

If You Build It, They May Fly Elsewhere

High-dollar airport expansion rolls on despite fewer flights, loss of TWA

Busywork

Stepped-up airport security is more sizzle than steak

When Pigs Fly

On this flight, the biggest threat seemed to be a gassed-up, grabby pilot

Burning Airlines with Shiner and Aina

Thursday, Aug. 9; Rocket Bar

The Foggy Flight Of TWA

The only thing St. Louis can count on is uncertainty

Air Fare

Once reviled as a last recourse, airport food has gone upscale

Losing Altitude

The number of flight operations at Lambert drops, raising new doubt about W-1W

Gremlin on the Wing

Why TWA keeps losing money and how Carl Icahn keeps cashing in at the airline's expense

Grab Bags

Don't try to sneak home, or TWA will take your luggage hostage

MAYDAY, MAYDAY, TWA UNION EXEC GOING DOWN

Did Tom Brown's tough stance against the W-1W Lambert expansion plan cost him his union position?

IF YOU WANT LOYALTY, TWA'S NOT YOUR DOG

Terminal Illness

Twenty minutes from downtown, the $300 million MidAmerica Airport is ready and waiting for business -- any business. Trouble is, Lambert is killing its chances of attracting commercial traffic.