You all know Kate Hanni, crusader for passenger rights, stuck on the tarmac for blah blah blah… Don’t get me wrong, she’s doing the right thing. She’s been yakkin’ about this, and lo! New York passed a Passenger Rights Bill. Now 6-other states have intro’d similar bills (Washington, Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Michigan). But an airline exec (Alaska) testified that this will mean a “patchwork quilt” of laws, and impossible to comply with…

(more…)

I flew from Dallas to Philadelphia on Saturday and back to Dallas on Sunday. It was a hectic weekend full of flights and family, but I was lucky enough to find a bit of peace amidst all the chaos. My Saturday flight on American Airlines departed DFW at about 8:30 AM. I was tired and unpleasant as I often am in the morning, and I was dreading the flight a little bit. In these days of 90% occupancy, I find flying to be a cramped, noisy, claustrophobic affair. However, to my great surprise, I boarded the plane and had my own row. It was like I had won some sort of lottery or I had become a celebrity over night without knowing it.

I popped up the arm rests and stretched out a bit, and I put my drink on the tray table of the empty seat next to mine, so my knees remained unencumbered. I had room to stretch my legs, I could read in relative silence, and I could grab things out of my carry-on without having to engage in any Twister-like moves. The flight went by fast and helped me get the whole trip off to a good start.

The flight home on Sunday was a different story. One of tray tables jammed into my midsection and a sleeping passenger draped over my armrest. I shouldn’t have been surprised. If you’re hoping for your own row, Saturday morning is one of your best opportunities to get it, and Sunday afternoon is one of the worst.

I know all flights can’t be empty, and too many open rows probably aren’t all that good for business, but now that I’ve had a taste of the sweet life, I don’t want to go back. If they could just make coach a little roomier, it might make a huge difference to those of us who fly. That, and make the breakfast sandwich a little more delicious. I mean, when you pay $2 for a breakfast sandwich you expect something special.

Over at our boss’s website, his article on the Knee Defenders has gotten some readers really riled (see OUR post on the gadget below).

Seems a lot of people are outraged over this product, because it could prevent them from lowering their seats.

Will fights break out? Will chaos ensue? Will heads explode? All I can say is, next time you board a plane, keep your cell phone camera handy!

Then send your pictures to us. We’ll share. Promise.

Yeah, yeah, we could all buy our own jets and the problem would disappear. But until then, the fine folks at Gadget Duck have the solution: Knee Defender!

Knee Defender is basically 2-little plastic clips that you attach to your tray table arms which prevents the galoot in front of you from lowering his seat back. Only problem is, it can only be used when your tray table is down, so its great if youre using a laptop or eating, but the gizmo cant do much otherwise. Still, its a steal at $14.95.

And what about that galoot in front of you? The Gadget Duckians arent completely heartless: they have a Knee Defender card you’re supposed to give the fellow before you lock him the standard upright position, a card that politely asks him not recline. But at the first sign he’s going to do it anyway, whip out the Knee Defender and watch the fun!

As they say at Gadget Duck, The right to recline my seat ends where the other mans knee begins.