Middle Seats Archives | The Takeoff Nap

DALLAS, TX - Taking a page out of Frontier Airlines' playbook, American Airlines unveiled a new employee bonus program rewarding poor customer service experiences.

American Airlines offers bonuses to employees for poor customer service

by Lee BallouMarch 11, 2023March 11, 2023

DALLAS, TX – Taking a page out of Frontier Airlines’ playbook, American Airlines unveiled a new employee bonus program rewarding poor customer service experiences.

ATLANTA, GA - Steve Johnson, a 47-year-old veteran narrowbody pilot is furious after learning he will only earn a mere $475k this year to sit in the cockpit of a plane that is mostly flying itself.

Pilot furious he will only make $475k this year threatens to quiet quit

by Lee BallouMarch 9, 2023March 9, 2023

KANSAS CITY, MO - Tyrell White finished his drink service as quickly as possible practically tossing cans of unopened soda at passengers and salt-bae-ing bags of pretzels in a rush to get back to his game.

Flight attendant deploys secondary flight deck barrier so he can finish Candy Crush level

by Lee BallouMarch 6, 2023March 6, 2023

WICHITA, KS - A Delta Airlines pilot inadvertently diverted his flight to a small airport in Wichita, KS despite there being no threat or passenger freakout underway. When questioned, the pilot stated the emergency landing was simply habit born out of flying the last 2 years during the pandemic.

Pilot inadvertently diverts flight out of habit even though no passengers are freaking out

by Lee BallouFebruary 24, 2023February 24, 2023

CHICAGO, IL - After United Airlines unveiled policy updates designed to simplify the process of booking seats next to their children, parents across the globe began protesting the elimination of the little-known travel hack.

Parents furious after United removes secret travel hack: not having to sit with your kids on the plane

by Lee BallouFebruary 22, 2023

CHICAGO, IL - Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled a new plan this week to relocate homeless people from O'Hare Airport to its crappier little brother, Midway Airport.

Chicago mayor orders O’Hare Airport homeless moved to less exotic Midway Airport instead

by Lee BallouFebruary 21, 2023February 21, 2023

DALLAS, TX - Union reps for American Airlines' flight attendant union reminded its members of the longstanding rule after the airline unveiled a new surreptitious in-flight monitoring program.

AA flight attendant union reminds folks that snitches get stitches

by Lee BallouFebruary 9, 2023February 9, 2023

WASHINGTON, DC - The Federal Aviation Administration announced plans to modernize its IT infrastructure following the recent massive outage that crippled air traffic across the country. Under the new plan, the agency will upgrade all of its client desktops to Windows XP.

FAA to modernize IT equipment, upgrade to Windows XP following massive outage

by Lee BallouJanuary 14, 2023January 14, 2023

DALLAS, TX - After suffering the largest IT failure in its storied history, Southwest Airlines unveiled a massive IT upgrade overhaul that includes issuing new Palm Pilots to all staff members.

Southwest issues new Palm Pilots to all staff in massive IT upgrade project

by Lee BallouJanuary 6, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This reporter was in Washington, D.C., to observe the madness that is the Speaker of the House election when he heard of a major development at airports across the country.

DEVELOPING: Flights Canceled After TSA Detains Thousands at US Airports When Passengers Say “Bomb”

by Anson HowardJanuary 5, 2023January 5, 2023