Passenger Air Transportation

City CM Helena Brown Never Visited Any South Korean Airlines On Publicly-Funded Trip To Asia

Houston City Council Member Helena Brown issued a press release Wednesday touting her recent trip to Asia, which she funded with $11,000 in public money, as a "successful business trip" -- but it's become clear her journey to Asia was anything but, and, in fact, completely different than the city's ... More >>

Southwest vs. United: The Tale of the Texas Tape

This week brings another chapter in the titanic showdown between Southwest Airlines, who wants to fly international flights out of Hobby, and United Airlines, the company that flies international flights out of Bush. United knows that allowing international flights out of Hobby would be a very, ver ... More >>

Comment of the Day: United, Southwest & Loyalty

We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involving wit ... More >>

United vs. Southwest Deathcage Match: Your Campaign Donations Scorecard

Houston City Council is currently in an uproar over Mayor Annise Parker's tentative proposal to allow Southwest to have international flights out of Hobby Airport. Councilmembers have said the proposal is rushed and would harm United Airlines, which, of course, merged with Continental and flies int ... More >>

The A380 Superjumbo Jet Coming to Houston

Upstairs, downstairs.​The double-decker Airbus A380, the largest commercial jet in the world, will begin making regular landings in Houston next year. Bush Intercontinental will be the first Texas airport, and only the fourth in the U.S., to have flights from the massive jet that began regula ... More >>

Mo Hussein: Claims Continental Tossed Him Off Flight and Stranded Him For Speaking a Foreign Language

Continental wanted less Hussein, suit says.​These days, if you're a businessman with a name like Mo Hussein, you're fighting an uphill battle in America. You've probably heard all the jokes you care to. But that doesn't mean you should be kicked off a plane and stranded 1,500 miles from home ... More >>

What's Closed: Your One-Stop List, Updated Throughout the Day

​The announcements of closings due to the anticipated winter storm are beginning to roll in, the most significant so far being HISD closing all its schools and offices tomorrow. We'll be keeping a list of what's closed and updating it throughout the day, so check back frequently for news. Our ... More >>

Don't Feel Turbulence

Annise Parker Says Fear Not Tthe Continental/United Merger

Continental -- just a memory now​Houston's Continental Airlines is seemingly about to be taken over by the Yankee corporation of United Airlines in a $3 billion merger than will create the world's largest airline.That airline will not be named Continental.Bad news for Houston? Not necessarily so, ... More >>

Top 5 Airplane Snacks

​Last week, Continental announced that complimentary meals would no longer be offered for most passengers. Starting this fall, healthier meals will be available for purchase to economy passengers. Continental will reserve complimentary meals for first-class passengers, international flights, a ... More >>

First, They Came For My Legroom...Then They Came For My Food

​Earlier this month Houston's Continental Airlines announced that it would be improving its customer service for tall people by charging them for legroom.Today the airline announced it would be improving customer service for everybody in coach by no longer giving them free food."Continental Airlin ... More >>

Southwest To Make Guinea Pigs Out Of Passengers, All In The Name Of The Environment

​We've heard of test pilots, but Southwest Airlines is offering the chance to be a test passenger.The airline is introducing a new "Green Plane," one where the materials used on a lot of things are lighter, resulting in a plane that uses less fuel to fly.If it works.One aircraft will be outfitted ... More >>

Continental Airlines Manages To Piss Off India

Continental Airlines is having a tough stretch -- its CEO quit, its recently announced earnings are dismaying Wall Street (What do those two things have in common? Hmmm....), its laying off a bunch of workers, and now it's got the parliament of India all in an uproar.Indian politicians are shocked, ... More >>

Larry Kellner Out At Continental Airlines

Larry Kellner, the head of Continental Airlines and a prominent guy in Houston political, social and charitable circles, is gone.The airline announced that he "has decided to return to private equity at year-end after 14 years with Continental, the last five of them as chairman and CEO."Taking his p ... More >>

Southwest Airlines Offering Some Really Cheap Seats

Photo by ACommentSouthwest Airlines has created a huge amount of buzz among low-fare junkies this morning with the announcement of a two-day sale where all tickets cost either $30, $60 or $90 one-way.As the Dallas Morning News' aviation blog puts it: Southwest calls it "one of the biggest fare sales ... More >>

Continental Airlines: Work Hard, Fly Right -- Unless You're A Kid

For the second time in a week, Houston's Continental Airlines has admitted they sent an unaccompanied minor passenger to the wrong destination.One 10-year-old girl who was trying to get from Boston to Cleveland ended up in Newark. (The only time ending up in Newark is "not so bad" is when you were i ... More >>

The Former Chron Employees' List, So Far (Updated April 3)

So far we've been limiting our list of laid-off Chron people to names readers might recognize; we've heard from some current and ex-Chronsters that they'd like a master list, since no centralized information is coming anywhere else.With that in mind, here's what we've heard so far. Other names are s ... More >>

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum’s Aviation History Day

Web exclusive!

Life On The Rodeo Road: The Road Was My Home

Photo by Paul KnightScotty Drennan Rodeo cowboys basically live on the road, traveling with a herd of men and women crazy enough to ride, rope and wrestle live animals for a paycheck. Each day, Hair Balls is asking a different cowboy to tell us a little bit about himself and his wildest story from a ... More >>

What, The Name "Death To Jews" Was Taken?

Photo courtesy Qatar AirwaysQatar Airways is making a big move in the Houston market -- it's got ads on the air touting its luxurious service, it's got a giant new 777 plying the new Houston-Doha route.One thing it's probably not doing -- advertising in Houston's Jewish Herald-Voice. Or, if they are ... More >>

Houstonian Survives First Day Of Amazing-ness

Photo courtesy CBSHoustonian Jodi Wincheski and her partner have (apparently) survived to live another day on The Amazing Race.The reality-Tv show's 14th season premiered last night, and Wincheski was on one of the teams, partnered with a fellow Southwest Airlines flight attendant.According to this ... More >>

Erin Andrews: Playboy's Sexiest Sportscaster

Photo by speedye The competition has ended, and just like the Philadelphia Phillies putting down the upstart Tampa Bay Rays in last year's World Series, ESPN Erin Andrews' dominated her competition once again to repeat as Playboy.com's Sexiest Sportscaster. Playboy.com attempted to toughen things u ... More >>

Erin Andrews: Playboy's Sexiest Sportscaster

Photo by speedye The competition has ended, and just like the Philadelphia Phillies putting down the upstart Tampa Bay Rays in last year's World Series, ESPN Erin Andrews' dominated her competition once again to repeat as Playboy.com's Sexiest Sportscaster. Playboy.com attempted to toughen things u ... More >>

That Snowstorm Was No Fun For Fliers Or On-Time Statistics

Remember that freak snowstorm that hit Houston late last year? Fun, right?Not if you're an airline worried about your on-time statistics.The federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics has released its latest report, and while overall airline performance improved -- mostly because there's fewer flig ... More >>

High-Speed Rail Coming To Texas, Once Again

Last week, the Houston Business Journal reported that high speed rail  is coming to Houston. At a speech at New York's Penn Station, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced that her office will soon begin "accepting expressions of interest to finance, design, build, op ... More >>

Southwest Airlines Going All International On Us

You are now free to move about...another country?Has Southwest Airlines, the little Texas company that introduced cattle-call boarding, going all international on us?The airline announced today it's taking the first steps to offering flights to Canada, which is a country somewhere to the north of th ... More >>

You Are Now Free To Bounce Around The Runway

Think you had a bad weekend?It could have been worse: You could have been coming home from Denver on Contintental.As you've no doubt heard, a Continental jet skidded off the runway into a ravine while trying to take off Saturday.Continental has issued an Official Statement: "The care of our passenge ... More >>

Tough Month To Be A Houston Flier

October was really a tough month to be an air passenger in Houston.The federal Bureau of Transportation has released its latest survey of flight delays, and Houston plays a prominent role in it.The third-worst airline when it came to on-time arrivals was our very own Continental. Almost 19 percent o ... More >>

At Least Someone Wants To Come To The Texas Bowl

Okay, so Notre Dame somehow preferred the Hawaii Bowl to the Texas Bowl. Some people just prefer Honolulu to Houston, we guess.But ND's replacement, Western Michigan University, is pleased as punch to be coming here.That can happen when you live in Kalamazoo (Motto: No, We Are An Actual City).The an ... More >>

Southwest Adding Flights To See Obama Get His First Executive Experience

As we've noted before, Houstonians are going wild over the chance to be in DC for Barack Obama's inauguration (assuming it still goes on, after the world discovers The Truth about his birth certificate.) More proof: Southwest Airlines is adding flights to Washington just to handle the increased ... More >>

Aftermath: The Black Keys at Meridian

Flying Objects: "Jac Leirner" at Gallery Sonja Roesch

Jac Leirner transforms daily life's debris into art

Memories of Pauline and Mike Holovak

Scorpion on a Plane!

Breaking News, Sorta

So Long, Friendly Skies

Please Check Your Seatbacks -- and Pilot

Image-Free Art

Julian Dashper gives us audio but no visuals in his recordings of the museum exhibit environment

West Coast Cool

L.A. curator turns "The Big Show" into a breezy stroll along Santa Monica Boulevard

We're (Kinda) Sorry

The Chron finally gets around to apologizing for being wrong about the supposed Clinton-staff vandalism scandal

Air Sic

In cargo holds or plane cabins, critters are taking more than flights of fancy

L'Italia Classica

Simposio

Best Japanese Restaurant

Kaneyama Japanese Restaurant

Cowboy in the Kitchen

Welcome The Houston Press's new food critic, Robb Walsh

News of the Weird

Business As Usual

The State Bar of Texas tries again to KAYO John O'Quinn but can't lay a glove on him

News of the Weird

Hot Plate

A Last Bite of '97

Alison Cook looks back at 1996: Year of the Rat