The National Transportation Safety Bureau has found subsurface tears in three more Southwest Airlines planes similar to the one that ripped a hole in the fuselage of a Boeing 737 in flight and forced an emergency landing last week. Since then, Southwest has canceled over 300 flights across the country and pulled the remaining 79 of its 737s from its fleet. more ›

We've had our share of surly airplane seat mates as well as the fun, friendly type. But this beats any experience we've had by an airline mile. An area man has sued Southwest Airlines claiming that on a 2008 Chicago-to-Orlando flight, attendants failed to help out his then-14-year-old son who was offered drugs and sexual advances by his seat mate, described as an "older female passenger." For most teenage boys, getting hit on by an older woman to join the mile-high club would be a hormone-fueled dream come true (even if it is, you know, illegal). But not for this one. From the Tribune: more ›

It's a story that we hear about every few months: an airline declares a passenger too fat to fly. The latest example happened to a Park Forest man who was prevented from flying home on his booked Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Midway, though he had flown from Midway to Las Vegas without incident. Said Emery Orto, who is 6-foot, 350-pounds, "They gave us the impression I was too big or too fat to fly...It was just absolutely humiliating and embarrassing." But Southwest insists it was Orto's anger over the original incident, not his weight, that led to him being removed from the flight. According to CBS 2:

Southwest says its policy has been in place for years and that Orto was arguing with an elevated voice in a belligerent tone. The airline also says that at least four passengers said they weren't comfortable flying after watching Orto lose his temper. more ›

File this one under the "How Are We The Only Ones Not To See This" folder, but we're going to share anyway. Tomorrow morning, I'm flying back to Home Swampy Home New Orleans for the weekend and I can only hope my flight attendants are half as entertaining (and have as good a flow) as this guy. more ›

Southwest is eliminating 196 flights nationally and 22 flights from Midway, the most of any airport, as a result of high fuel costs. From now on, there will be one fewer flights per day to Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Hartford, Houston, Los Angeles, Manchester, Oakland, Omaha, Orlando, Philadelphiam Pittsburgh,Portland, Providence, Raleigh-Durham, Sacramento, San Diego, St. Louis, and Tucson, and two fewer to Baltimore and Nashville. [Crain's] more ›

It seems like a Blue Line detour is the least of the worries for travelers out of O'Hare. From January to May of this year, O'Hare reported the worst on-time record of major U.S. airports, falling from 64.4 percent last year to 63.2 percent this year. This in spite of the fact that the total number of flights was reduced by 4.6 percent, thanks in large part to major flight cutbacks from American and United. It could be worse, however. A similar report in Europe has London's Heathrow Airport as the worst airport on that continent with a staggering 56 percent on-time departure rate. more ›

Southwest Airlines is "honoring" Illinois with an eyeball-rapingly hideous plane called "Illinois One." It's meant to resemble the Illinois state flag. more ›

As the air turns colder and fall approaches, our mind turns to things like raking leaves, hot cider, football tailgates, and of course, Halloweening. Chicagoist pulled a few pranks in our day, like TP-ing houses, soaping car windows, and chucking the occasional bag of flaming dog poo, but we always made sure we picked the right target. Apparently in Aurora, they don't plan ahead as carefully. more ›

Few things are certain in this world. But Chicagoist readers getting riled up about smoking is one of them. more ›

Southwest Airlines Flight 2899 going from Chicago's Midway to San Diego this afternoon was evacuated after a passenger found a written bomb threat in a magazine inside the plane. During the boarding process, a passenger reached into the seat pocket in front of her for a magazine and saw that someone had written "There is a bomb on the plane" on it. more ›