Your Aviation Weekend Reads for May 26, 2016

Another week, another round of long TSA airport security checkpoint lines. I appeared on WBUR’s “Here and Now” to discuss the mess and there are two posts on About.com Air Travel here and here on the subject. It was inevitable that the blame game would start being played. Skift reports that Airlines for America, the industry’s trade group, called on Congress to change its mind about its decision in 2013 to shift $12.6 billion in passenger security fees to help cut the federal budget deficit and use it instead to pay for airport security screening. But Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson thinks the solution is that airlines waive checked baggage fees. Considering that the airlines made nearly $4 billion in baggage fees in 2015, that solution is highly unlikely.

TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger warned that even with Congress shifting $34 million to his agency to help with long lines, travelers won’t see much relief this summer, reports Skift. The money will be used to pay overtime and hire an extra 768 screeners by June 15. Neffenger said the $34 million was a “good down payment,” but more is needed to hire more screeners.

American, Delta and United are stepping up and opening their own pocketbooks -- to the tune of $4 million each -- in their own effort to help reduce security lines, reports Bloomberg. They will hire contractors who will manage lines and help with bins, which will allow TSA officers to focus on screening.

Photo courtesy of Bombardier

In 2008, Bombardier announced it was formally getting into the larger jet market and launched the CSeries family of aircraft, ranging from 110 to 130 passengers. The program received orders from Swiss and regional operator Republic Airways, but went through a series of setbacks including a cancellation of the program, a delay of the first flight from 2012 to 2013 and several delays of its entry into service date, including the uncontained engine failure of one of its test jets. And now, AirwaysNews.com reports that Republic’s order of 40 CS300s has been removed from the Canadian manufacturer’s production schedule. But the program got a major leg up after Delta Air Lines signed a deal making it the largest CSeries customer, with an order of 75 CS100s.

In the decade since Concorde stopped flying, there have been fits and starts to build the next supersonic jet. A tentative step toward hypersonic speed was made recently when scientists and designers from the U.S. and Australia launched a rocket that reached a speed of Mach 7.5., or 5,700 miles per hour, reports FOX News. If the aircraft is ever developed, a flight from Australia to the U.K. would take about two hours.

The Tupolev Tu-144. Photo courtesy of Ralf Roletschekat the German language Wikipedia

Speaking of aircraft, the Hush Kit blog highlighted 11 “horrible” Soviet Union-built aircraft. The aircraft included: the Tupolev Tu-144, known as the Concordski; the Sukhoi Su-7, a military jet fighter that proved very difficult to control; and the Tupolev Tu-116, a 1950s turboprop that was designed to be an aircraft for state travel.

Delta Air Lines was the first domestic carrier to offer a true premium economy cabin beyond just offering extra leg room. And now beginning September 19, the Atlanta-based carrier is offering Comfort+ on more routes in Asia and Latin America, reports the Runway Girl Network. Travelers get more legroom, priority boarding access, upgraded snacks and alcohol.

Delta Air Lines' Comfort+ cabin. Photo courtesy of Delta

American Airlines is getting into the domestic premium economy game by introducing its own product, as announced by President Scott Kirby during a presentation at the Bank of America Transportation Conference. According to the View From The Wing blog, American will introduce a premium economy cabin on its fleet of Boeing 787-9s sometime in 2017.

But Turkish Airlines has decided to get rid of its premium economy product, Comfort Class, reports the Runway Girl Network. The decision by Turkish Airlines to scrap Comfort Class is not much of a surprise, writes Seth Miller, noting that the carrier said three years ago that the product was going away.

A trip to Europe is usually a popular destination for summer travel. The tourism industry and airlines thought that despite a spate of terrorist attacks on the continent, travelers would still come. But after the crash of EgyptAir Flight 804, people are now worried about travel to Europe, reports the Wall Street Journal. It noted that bookings this summer to Paris are up just 0.6 percent, while bookings to Brussels are down 30.4 percent and bookings to Istanbul are down 43.7 percent, according to Allianz Global Assistance, a travel-insurance provider.

Photo courtesy of the FAA

As someone who travels regularly with her kid, I buy Early Bird seating on Southwest Airlines so I know that we will sit together. On those rare occasions when we fly another airline, I ensure that we have seats together when I book a flight. The Consumerist blog wrote about a Wall Street Journal article (which is behind a paywall) that shows how American Airlines is making passengers pay if they want to guarantee seats with their kids or a group. But elite passengers have more seat choices, since they pay higher fares.

Inflight Wi-Fi provider Gogo has been hammered by travelers over its spotty service. The Chicago-based carrier is going to the  junk bond market to raise $500 million that will partially be used to pay for the “the launch and commercial rollout of Gogo’s next-generation technology,” reports Bloomberg.  Gogo needs $100 million to $200 million to install its new 2Ku satellite system through the end of 2018, according to Andrew DeGasperi, an analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd. in the Bloomberg story.

Women are getting their own security checkpoint lines in several airports in China, reports Travel + Leisure. The lines are marked with bright pink signs that say “Female Only” in Chinese and English at airports in Beijing, Shenzhen, Kunming and Wuhan. The People’s China Daily reports that the lines are intended to speed things up because women and all their pesky face creams, lipsticks, and shampoos apparently slow down the general security process.

Sometimes even the airlines need a good laugh. CNN reports how American Airlines passenger Alex Hamberger sent a snail-mail letter to the carrier asking them to waive a $200 change fee after he had to cancel a flight. It read, in part:

"Dear Most Kind and Benevolent American Airlines Customer Service Staff Member,

I write to you with the hopes that you may take mercy on me and afford a little sympathy for this flyer who was taken quite ill and had to postpone his trip to see his beloved niece." Read the rest here. Enjoy the long weekend!!

EDITOR'S NOTE: I’m the Air Travel Expert for About.com. You can follow my travel-related magazines on Flipboard: Best of About Travel, a joint curation venture with my fellow About Travel Experts; and Travel-Go! There's Nothing Stopping You, all about the passenger experience on the ground and in the air. Click here to subscribe to my weekly aviation newsletter. Finally, you can see my travel-related boards on Pinterest and follow me on Twitter at @AvQueenBenet, on Instagram at aviationqueen and on Snapchat at AvQueenBenet.