Passengers | featured news

If you fly, chances are you have a story to tell about an uncomfortable airline seat. Vicki Morwitz does. Hers involves a long-haul plane trip, a minuscule economy-class enclosure and a circuitous routing that deposited her at her destination feeling exhausted and irritated.

American Airlines grounded flights across the country Tuesday because of an outage of its main reservations system. Thousands of passengers were stranded at airports and on airplanes.

Should overweight passengers pay more for their flights than skinny fliers? One Norwegian economist thinks so. In an article in this month's Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Bharat P. Bhatta writes that "All passengers are not alike in terms of their weight and the space they take in a plane." Weight and space, he said, are the major concerns on board an aircraft."

Airline passengers will be able to carry small knives, souvenir baseball bats, golf clubs and other sports equipment onto planes beginning next month under a policy change announced Tuesday by the head of the Transportation Security Administration.

Airlines must pay compensation to passengers who arrive at their destination three or more hours late, even when due to missed connections, the European Union's highest court said on Tuesday.

Flying increases flatulence, according to an article published Friday in the peer-reviewed New Zealand Medical Journal, and passengers should release the gas -- or risk painful medical consequences.

More than 4,000 passengers and crew were stuck on a cruise ship since an engine room fire cut power and left the ship listing four days ago.

The crippled Carnival Triumph cruise ship — described as a "nightmare" of filth — finally docked in Mobile, Ala., Thursday night, but officials said it would still be hours before all the passengers would be able to get off.

A cross-country JetBlue flight diverted to Denver after a passenger reportedly became unruly because a flier moved to a seat next to her paid less for the seat.

Southwest Airlines, known for open seating and boarding passengers in bunches, announced this week that fliers can buy a priority spot in boarding group "A" for $40 per flight. Southwest will put unsold slots in the A1-15 boarding group up for sale, when available, at the gate beginning 45 minutes before departure. Passengers will then be able to use a credit card to buy an early boarding spot. The airline tested the program in San Diego in December and received positive feedback.