News

The founder of Travelocity has teamed up with the IBM Watson project to create a new company, Wayblazer. This company’s aim is to use Watson’s plain language skills and ability to “learn” to make the booking process much easier for the usual consumer. From Market Watch: WayBlazer addresses the growing …

Chicago can’t seem to catch a break lately. Flights in Chicago were grounded Monday evening after further complications resulting from the Aurora radar center fires. From the Washington Times:  Delays struck hard during Monday’s evening rush hour at both airports — O’Hare International and Midway — because of a telephone …

Last week, a plane had to turn back after take-off because its engine was sticking out of the plane. Today, CBS News reports that a plane’s landing gear collapsed while the flight was starting to depart. This was an LAX to Mexico City flight and the passengers had to be re-booked. …

After a series of other issues with the Dreamliner, Air India had to ground one of its crafts due to toilet-issues.  The replacement Dreamliner responded with technical issues, leaving many of the passengers stuck overnight. From NDTV: Air India’s spate of trouble with its Dreamliner fleet continued on Friday as …

I feel like this has been a week of unreal travel news stories.  I’ll let this tweet speak for itself: “Ladies and gentlemen your flight is delayed b/c a box of live crabs spilled out in the cargo bin during flight” @USAirways how is this real — Anna Scarcella (@Cscarcella) …

After all the cancellations last week from the radar center fires, travelers are still finding themselves unable to leave Chicago. From USA Today’s Ben Mutzabaugh,: More than 450 flights – or about 16% of the entire day’s schedule – had been grounded at O’Hare and nearly 1,000 more delayed as …

In the category of news I can’t make up, flights to Alaska have been rerouted due to a large (35,000) crowd of walruses. The sad part is the reason why the flights are being rerouted.  Apparently, if they are spooked enough, they can trample each other. From the Guardian: Until …

The National Forest Services has announced it will begin regulating photography in the US National Forests.  Those who do not obtain a pricey permit face a $1,000 fine for snapping away. Roadtrippers had the scoop: If the plans are finalized in November, any media with a camera, even a simple …

When flights get cancelled, usually you can get rebooked within a few days.  But some passengers are in a tough situation after PEOPLExpress cancels flights for the next two-and-a-half weeks. From NJ.com:  If you had a flight booked on PEOPLExpress airlines between now and mid-October, it’s time to make alternate …

Flights are still being delayed and cancelled in Chicago due to the fires at the radar facility on Friday. From USA Today’s Ben Mutzabaugh: About 480 flights had been canceled Monday at Chicago O’Hare as of 12:45 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. That represents about 15% of the Monday …