Ryanair looking at cutting baggage handlers
Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary has been famous for making outlandish suggestions to cut costs including putting in pay toilets. Now the airline is considering cutting out the baggage handlers.
“We would say to passengers… take your own bag down through airport security, leave it at the bottom of the steps, we put it in the hold and on arrival we deliver it to the aircraft steps and you take it with you,” CEO Michael O’Leary told a news conference on Thursday.
So what’s next for the airline? Fly the plane yourself?
Airline Wi-Fi: A quick update on flying the wired skies
More and more airlines are outfitting its airplanes with WiFi access.
Delta now says 40% of its pre-merger domestic mainline fleet currently features Wi-Fi, with the company turning its attention to outfitting its Boeing 757-200 and MD-90 fleets. In total, 115 of the carriers MD-88s are now wired for the Web.
Virgin America, the fledgling discount carrier founded by Sir Richard Branson, is moving fastest out of the Wi-Fi gate, with plans to have all 28 planes outfitted by the end of May. (Virgin’s Web site does tell you which flights are supposed to be outfitted for the Web.)
Statue of Liberty crown to reopen
Ever since September 11, 2001, the Statue of Liberty’s crown has been closed to the public. However, the crown of the Statue of Liberty will reopen July 4 for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Thirty visitors an hour, chosen by lottery, will be allowed to visit the crown, which is accessible only by a narrow 168-step double-helix spiral staircase. Visitors will be brought to the crown in groups of 10, guided by a park ranger.
“We cannot eliminate all the risk of climbing to the crown, but we are taking steps to make it safer,” [Interior Secretary Ken] Salazar said.
