Tag: air travel

Houthis Say Forces ‘Repelled’ Saudi Warplanes From Threatening Iranian Civilian Airliner

Yemen’s Houthis announced Friday that they had “repelled” an attempt by Saudi warplanes to prevent an Iranian civilian aircraft from landing at Sanaa airport.

Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said that Saudi warplanes violating Yemeni airspace were targeted with several air-defense missiles, forcing them to withdraw.

Saree stressed that the Iranian civilian aircraft was carrying more than 200 Yemeni citizens who had been stranded in Iran, including many who were sick or wounded.

“We warn the criminal Saudi enemy against repeating any attempt to violate our airspace or any aggression targeting our country. Such actions will be met with a comprehensive response targeting its airports and vital interests on land and sea,” Saree said in a video statement.

The YAF spokesman further stressed that “our hand is on the trigger” to implement any directives issued by Ansarallah leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi “within the framework of breaking the Saudi-American siege on our people and expelling the occupiers.”

Saree also praised Iran’s role in “breaking the siege” on Yemen by operating flights to transport patients and stranded people and to alleviate humanitarian suffering in Yemen.

After landing in Sanaa, the Iranian plane safely returned to Tehran carrying an official delegation of the Republic of Yemen to participate in the funeral of slain Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has imposed a blockade on Yemen’s land, sea, and air ports, severely restricting vital commercial and humanitarian imports, including fuel and food.

The blockade triggered what the UN called one of the most severe humanitarian crises globally, leading millions towards famine and drastically damaging healthcare and water systems.

The Saudi siege on Yemen was partially lifted following April 2023 negotiations with the Ansarallah resistance movement, which leads the YAF and is closely allied with Iran.

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Man Who Sued Pepsi Over Fighter Jet Finally Gets His Reward 30 Years Later

Three decades after suing Pepsi for refusing to give him a fighter jet, John Leonard finally got a reward that may be even better, according to a post at Supercarblondie. 

Leonard became the center of one of advertising’s most famous legal battles after taking a 1996 Pepsi commercial at face value. The ad, promoting the company’s Pepsi Points loyalty program, jokingly claimed customers could redeem seven million Pepsi Points for a military Harrier jet.

Rather than laugh it off, the Seattle college student raised enough money to buy the required points and submitted a claim for the aircraft. Pepsi rejected it, insisting the jet was never a real prize.

The article says that the case went to court, where a judge ruled that no reasonable person would believe Pepsi was seriously offering a fighter jet in a soft drink promotion.

Although Leonard lost the lawsuit, the bizarre dispute became legendary and was later chronicled in the Netflix documentary Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?.

Now, nearly 30 years later, Frontier Airlines gave the story a happy ending. As part of a Super Bowl campaign called “The Big Redemption,” the airline converted Leonard’s original seven million Pepsi Points into seven million Frontier Miles, effectively giving him free flights for life.

The airline even featured Leonard in a tongue-in-cheek commercial, handing him the keys to an Airbus A320neo as a nod to the decades-old saga.

Now in his 50s with a wife and children, Leonard joked that unlimited airline miles are far more practical than owning and maintaining a military fighter jet. After waiting three decades, he never got the Harrier, but he may have received an even better prize.

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CDC expands Ebola screenings to New York’s JFK airport

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded its passenger screening for Ebola to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

The federal agency said the expansion of its around-the-clock Port Health Protection system went into effect at Kennedy airport Thursday night. 

 The CDC also said Kennedy previously conducted enhanced public health entry screening and has established operational procedures in place.

The enhanced screening” is also now underway at Washington Dulles International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, in Houston, for air passengers arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Uganda. 

“Public health entry screening serves as one component of CDC’s layered public health approach, which also includes overseas exit screening, airline illness reporting, and post-arrival public health monitoring,” the CDC said in a post on X.

The State Department issued a travel advisory recently, instructing all U.S.-bound American citizens and lawful permanent residents who have been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan within 21 days of arrival in the U.S. to go through the “enhanced public health screening” carried out by the CDC and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The screenings come ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico next month. The first match will take place in Mexico City on June 11.

The United States has not seen an Ebola case so far, though one American tested positive for the virus while overseas and is being treated in Germany.

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United Airlines Flight to Minneapolis Diverted Due to Failed Hijack Attempt

A United Airlines flight traveling from Chicago to Minneapolis diverted to Madison, Wisc., after an unruly passenger made multiple attempts to reach the cockpit, prompting the flight crew to declare a security emergency.

United Flight UA2005, a Boeing 737 carrying 147 passengers and six crew members, landed safely at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison on May 29, with no injuries reported.

According to air traffic control communications, the passenger made repeated attempts to access the cockpit before law enforcement officers who were traveling aboard the aircraft were able to restrain him. The pilot activated transponder code 7500, the emergency signal used to indicate a potential hijacking or unlawful interference with an aircraft.

The passenger, whom authorities identified as a 75-year-old man experiencing a mental health crisis, was detained after the aircraft landed. A United spokesperson told NBC News that Flight UA2005 “landed safely in Madison… to address a security concern with an unruly passenger.”

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office deputies took the individual into custody, and the FBI was notified of the investigation. Passenger Mike Rundle told CNN that a disturbance occurred near the front of the aircraft after another traveler observed the man reach toward a flight attendant. Several passengers and officers intervened and escorted him back to his seat.

In air traffic communications that NBC News acquired, flight crew onboard the plane could be heard discussing the attempted cockpit breach with ground control.

“I do not believe they ever cuffed him, but they were able to finally get control of him after multiple attempts to try to breach the cockpit,” a member of the crew said. “I believe at this point he is seated in a seat and flanked with law enforcement officers on either side.”

Rundle said signs of trouble emerged before takeoff from Chicago O’Hare International Airport, when the suspect repeatedly stood during taxiing and crew members sought a Russian-speaking passenger to assist with interpretation.

After landing in Madison, law enforcement officers boarded the aircraft, removed the passenger, and conducted their response. The flight later resumed its trip to Minneapolis, landing early on Saturday morning, data from FlightAware confirmed.

According to FlightAware tracking data, Flight UA2005 had been airborne for roughly 45 minutes after departing Chicago before the incident occurred. The FBI said its Madison Resident Agency and local law enforcement partners responded immediately to the incident. 

“A subject was detained by the Dane County Sheriff’s Office and afterwards passengers resumed their flight,” a spokesperson for the FBI’s Milwaukee office told NBC News.

Authorities have not released the passenger’s name, announced charges, or disclosed additional details about the events that led to his detention. The Federal Aviation Administration said it investigates all passenger disturbance incidents and may pursue civil penalties against passengers who interfere with flight crews. According to the agency, airlines have reported more than 640 unruly passenger incidents so far this year.

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Homeland Security ‘Drawing Up Plans’ to Suspend International Flights Into Sanctuary Cities Until They Stop Protecting Illegal Aliens

The Trump administration is considering plans to suspend immigration and customs processing at airports in Democrat-run sanctuary cities.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the administration is drawing up plans to halt processing at airports in Democratic-run jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

Mullin confirmed the plans in an interview on Fox News host Sean Hannity.

“We’re currently drawing up plans to say listen, in these sanctuary cities, where the local, radical left Democrats aren’t allowing us to do our job and enforce federal laws, then we shouldn’t be processing international flights into their cities either,” he explained.

“Because they don’t want us to enforce immigration, but they want us to process immigration at their facilities? Nothing about that makes sense to me.”

The proposal would impact some of the country’s busiest international gateways, including airports in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Denver, Philadelphia, and Newark.

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Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson fined for improper use of state aircraft for personal travel

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson violated state ethics law by allowing a former aide to fly on a state aircraft for personal travel, according to a ruling by the Washington State Executive Ethics Board.

The board concluded Ferguson improperly used state resources and granted a special privilege when he invited former Chief Strategy Officer Mike Webb to join him on a Washington State Patrol plane in June 2025.

The incident stemmed from a complaint filed on July 30, 2025, alleging Ferguson permitted a private citizen to travel on a taxpayer-funded aircraft assigned for official gubernatorial use. The complaint said Webb, who had left state employment months earlier, was traveling for non-government purposes.

According to stipulated facts accepted by the board, Webb resigned from the governor’s office in March 2025 but was allowed to accompany Ferguson on a June 26 flight to the Tri-Cities, where both had separate engagements. Ferguson said he offered Webb an empty seat on the plane because the flight was not at capacity.

Ferguson acknowledged the decision was a mistake, stating in a written response that the invitation “may have given the wrong impression” that Webb still had a role in the administration.

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Did Doug Ford just sell his private jet for a massive taxpayer loss?

Well, we finally have an answer in terms of how much Air Ford One cost Ontario taxpayers: almost $200,000.

That’s what Ontario taxpayers are on the hook for after Doug Ford experienced buyer’s remorse, big time, and returned his infamous $28.9 million “Gravy Plane” to Bombardier.

That’s a steep fee for a plane that apparently never got off the runway in the brief 13-day time span that the province owned that swank Challenger 650.

In other words, Ford’s would-be flight of fancy cost the Ontario taxpayer about $15,585 per day just to sit in a hangar collecting dust.

Little wonder people across the political spectrum screamed blue murder about the province’s chief cherry cheesecake enthusiast purchasing a private jet.

And really, how tone-deaf was Doug Ford to purchase something like this during a time of soaring unemployment, inflation, homelessness, and food bank usage?

Talk about not reading the room.

However, despite attempts at damage control, within 48 hours Team Ford flip-flopped on the Challenger. They said they learned their lesson and that the government would seek a refund.

But apparently, it’s a buyer’s market these days when it comes to luxury jets. That’s because Bombardier only agreed to buy back the Challenger after the government agreed to a surcharge of almost $200,000.

That includes almost $18,000 for “acquisition support” – whatever that means. The taxpayer was also dinged for almost $34,000 for outside legal advice. But the lion’s share of charges was in the form of nearly $140,000 for maintenance, storage, training, and preparation.

Perhaps we need to contact the fine folks at the Guinness Book of World Records? Could this $200,000 haircut work out to be the largest fee for a flight that was never taken?

Looks that way to us.

Hard to believe that Doug Ford used to run on the slogan, “Respect for Taxpayers.” Hard to believe this guy was all about derailing the gravy train before falling in lust for a gravy plane.

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Warren blames Spirit Airlines closure on Iran war after advocating against JetBlue-Spirit merger

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is receiving backlash from GOP lawmakers for pushing former President Biden’s Justice Department to block the merger of JetBlue and Spirit Airlines. 

“The 14,000 employees at Spirit who’ve lost their job loss, the travelers who will now pay higher fares, and the shareholders and debt holders who have been wiped out can thank Elizabeth Warren,” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) wrote on X on Saturday. “Electing left politicians, who have ZERO business experience, has consequences.”

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz reposted a critical Warren post and wrote, “Stunning.” 

Warren defended her advocacy against the merger by blaming a federal judge for stopping it. 

“Spiking fuel prices from Trump’s war was the nail in the coffin for twice-bankrupted Spirit airline,” Warren wrote in a post on X. FWIW, JetBlue merger failed because a judge, appointed by Ronald Reagan, said the deal was illegal. Republicans are desperate to shift blame from higher costs hitting families.”

Biden’s Justice Department had detailed its involvement in blocking the merger back in 2024.

“Our win in court is a victory for U.S. travelers who deserve lower prices and better choices,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “We fought this case to protect consumers who, as the court recognized, ‘otherwise would have no voice.’ I am incredibly proud of the Antitrust Division’s team and our state law enforcement partners’ tireless advocacy.”

Warren had pushed the Department of Transportation under Biden to work to block the merger, as detailed in a letter she wrote.

She also applauded the blockage of the merger.

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OOPS: Elizabeth Warren’s Arrogant X/Twitter Post Comes Back to Haunt Her as the Notorious Spirit Airlines Shuts Down For Good After 34 Years In Service

An old X/Twitter Post of Senator Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren (D-MA) has come back to bite her after America’s most infamous airline ceased operations on Saturday.

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Spirit Airlines was preparing to shut down after a $500 million government rescue deal put together by the Trump Administration fell apart.

The Daily Mail later confirmed Spirit Airlines had shut down its operations for good after 34 years in service.

Trump said he was willing to save Spirit Airlines but did not want to use taxpayer dollars.

While Spirit Airlines has long offered some of the cheapest flights available, it has become more famous for wild brawls that have broken out on regular basis amongst passengers. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

But Spirit Airline’s apparent demise could have been avoided two years ago had the Biden regime not blocked a proposed merger between JetBlue and Spirit. Biden’s cronies argued that the merger would lead to decreased flights and higher expenses for flyers.

A judge agreed with Team Biden and blocked the merger, thus seemingly sealing Spirit’s fate.

But when the merger was blocked, Warren, who pleaded with Biden, crowed on X that the decision was “a Biden win for flyers.”

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Korean Air bans roosters from flights to Philippines after Texas tied to cockfighting supply

Korean Air has banned roosters on flights from the U.S. to the Philippines, following a report that found a large swath of Texas is tightly tied to supplying birds for cockfighting in the Asian nation. 

According to the airline, the decision was based on care for the safety of animals. 

While cockfighting is illegal in the U.S., breeding and selling roosters for agricultural or other benign purposes is not.

Korean Air restricts roosters

What they’re saying:

In a statement to FOX Local, Korea Air said the suspension applies to all roosters, regardless of age:

“Korean Air has suspended the transportation of roosters of all ages on routes from the United States to the Philippines. Korean Air is firmly committed to the lawful and safe transport of live animals, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.”

The backstory:

Some months ago, an animal rights nonprofit called Animal Wellness Action (AWA) released an in-depth report calling an area including North Texas the “primary hub of illegal cockfighting” in the nation, with multiple reports of rooster breeders taking their animals to the Philippines for that purpose. That report claims Korean Air was the airline of choice for such operations. 

What they’re saying:

“We are grateful to Korean Air for giving us an audience and allowing us to present the mass of information revealing that the company was being rooked by U.S. cockfighters, pretending to be “farmers” and benign “breeders,” but who have been supplying fighting birds to the Philippines every year by the tens of thousands and directly participating in the fights themselves,” the group said in a Monday statement after Korea Air’s announcement. 

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