Passengers Drink Free on US Airways, Again

Score one point for registering complaints with airlines. US Airways announced that they will be lifting the charge for non-alcoholic drinks served in-flight, which isn't exactly earth-shattering, but we'll take it.

The free beverage service begins on March 1, and is the airline's second major recent passenger-favoring announcement after returning mileage perks to frequent fliers. So why start giving it away for free now? It could be the lower fuel prices, or if US Airways CEO Doug Parker is right, then it's just a result of low sales combined with passenger pressure.

Some Airlines Say, "What Crisis?"
We thought it's all doom and gloom for airlines. We were wrong. There are airlines out there that haven't heard the words "global economic recession."

German low-cost carrier Air Berlin is one of them. They're out there trying to hire 300 to 400 new flight attendants, while tons of other airlines are getting rid of them (so there should be plenty of good candidates).

And perennial over-achiever Emirates is thinking along the same lines. They've announced they'll increase capacity by 14 percent this year, although they do concede that this increase is lower than it's been in other years. At least we know a couple of more-likely-to-be-recession-safe airlines we can book some flights with.

When Will FlyDubai Finally Fly?
When we last left FlyDubai, they were planning a launch during the first half of 2009, when the global economic situation was slightly better off than it is today. Well, the airline hasn't received its order of 737s from Boeing, but they are still holding onto a 2009 launch date despite what others have to say about it.

Dubai Airports, the manager of the Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali stated that the hub isn't going to be ready until halfway through 2010. FlyDubai officials don't want to hear anything like that, and have confirmed that they are looking to get things started this summer. However, they did admit that they aren't totally certain which airport the budget carrier will use as its home base.

Unfortunately, there's been no announcements regarding their initial destinations. The airline's CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith says that routes and more information about the airline will be released soon, but we'll believe it when we see it.