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Boston Become Southwest's Newest City This Fall; Somewhere, Competitors Weep

The US airline that changes the market in every city it begins service announces it will start flying into and out of Boston's Logan airport this coming fall.  Southwest has for years served Boston with flights into Providence, Rhode Island, and Manchester, New Hampshire.  The airline pays smaller airport fees at such regional airports  But it also hasn't shied away from launching flights from major airports such as Los Angeles.

The Boston announcement came at a company event in Chicago last night, and the news will obviously send executives at other airlines that serve Boston into a frenzy.  It's called the "Southwest effect"--anytime Southwest begins service in a new market, airline fares drop across the board as existing competitors try to hold on to business in the face of lower fares introduced by Southwest.

So Bostonians can expect not just lower fares come the autumn leaves but also promotions from existing carriers such as on double miles on flights into and out of Logan.

Southwest is the country's only consistently profitable airline, and what used to be a fringe player now serves 64 airports and is a game-changer in every market it enters.  Coming in March: Southwest begins flying from Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, my hometown, to Chicago's Midway.  Northwest, its main competitor, matched Southwest's low fares as soon as they were announced.  It remains to be seen, as Southwest begins flying to other destinations from  MSP, what affect it will have on Northwest, which, of course, is soon to become Delta Air Lines. 

Drunk Pilot On Moscow-NYC Flight Relinquishes Control After Passengers Protest; 'It's Not Such a Big Deal,' Says Airline Rep

It took a Moscow socialite and television host and a statement signed by 100 passengers to get an apparently drunk pilot thrown off an Aeroflot Boeing 767 flight set to fly from Moscow to New York City on Dec. 28th, according to the Moscow Times.

The bizarre incident began when the pilot, switching clumsily between Russian and English, attempted to deliver pre-flight announcements on the plane's public address system.  His slurred words and apparent inability to speak clearly in either language alarmed passengers who demanded to see the pilot.  Flight attendants tried to hush passengers by threatening to throw them off the plane. Not until television host Ksenia Sobchak started working her cell phone did the crew begin to relent.

A co-pilot came out and assured passengers that all was well and that he, in fact, would be flying the plane. Passengers were still not satisfied, and after a half hour of protests, the pilot in question made a personal appearance.  He was reportedly struggling to stand erect and promised he'd "sit quietly in the corner" and let his three colleagues pilot the aircraft. About 100 passengers signed a statement on the spot asserting the captain was incapacitated.

Finally, the entire crew was hustled off the plane and a new crew took over.  Aeroflot, in stereotypical Russian fashion, belittled the passengers as suffering from "mass psychosis" and threatened to sue the television host for delaying the flight; apparently her high profile caused the airline to eventually replace the flight crew.  An airline representative floated the theory that the captain might have been suffering a stroke.  (In fact, he's reportedly being treated for an unspecified medical condition, and it's not certain whether he'll return to work or not.)

My favorite line came from an Aeroflot employee who reportedly said, "It's not such a big deal if the pilot is drunk . . . really all he has to do is press a button and the plane flies itself.  The worst that could happen is that he trips over something in the cockpit." 

Hey--tell that to the passengers on the US Airways flight captained by Sully!

JetBlue Launches $94 flights each way between Orlando & Bogota

Colombia is becoming a hot destination in South America as the country grows safer and news about the beauty of cities such as Cartagena spreads.

Along comes JetBlue with a new route that's offers daily, non-stop service between Orlando and Colombia's capital city of Bogota.  The airline is advertising a $49 fare each way if you book by Feb. 18, though with taxes and fees added, that one-way fare is closer to $94.  It's still a steal, but book now as seats are limited. 

Note: I just checked a sample fare for travel to Colombia on March 12 with a March 18 return and had no difficult obtaining the sale fare. I priced the same dates for a NYC/JFK-Orlando-Bogota round trip and came up with a fare of $414.  If you take the new flight to Bogota, let me know how the trip was by clicking on "COMMENTS" below, won't you?

A Very Cool Bangkok Hotel For a Very Cool $99 A Night Thru April

Since the Bangkok airport was taken over for a few days late last year by protesters demanding a new government, tourism has suffered in Thailand's capital.

Which may explain the $99-a-night offer at one of Bangkok's most stylish hotels, the Metropolitan Bangkok.  From the cool, white lobby to the polished serenity of the rooms, this is a hotel that allows you to escape the wonderful madness that is Bangkok.  I've happily stayed at the Metropolitan, which is very well located in the city's Central Business District and a short taxi or tuk-tuk ride away from everything you want to see in Bangkok.

Here are the details: The sale is good through the end of April, but you must book seven days in advance and stay a minimum of two consecutive nights.  You'll pay in advance, and you can't ask for a refund, though you can change your dates without penalty.  There's an additional 10% service charge plus seven per cent in taxes, so your effective nightly rate is $117.  If you'd like a larger room, the hotel's goes for $119 during this sale and an even larger Metropolitan Room is $150, before that 17% in service and taxes are added. 

Heck, this sale is almost reason enough to visit Bangkok.  And if you need to be persuaded further, pick up the Thailand DVD of my three public television shows on the country; one episode is devoted entirely to Bangkok.