Overseas Flights

United Airlines has been one of the last major airlines to jump into the business of offering on-board wireless Internet. But it's trying to make up for its tardiness. The Chicago-based carrier offers Wi-Fi in about 3% of its fleet of about 700 planes, one of the lowest rates of any major carrier in the nation, according to a recent study. But United recently became the first U.S.-based international carrier to offer satellite-based Wi-Fi Internet for passengers traveling on long-haul overseas flights.

United Airlines has been one of the last major airlines to jump into the business of offering on-board wireless Internet. But it's trying to make up for its tardiness. The Chicago-based carrier offers Wi-Fi in about 3% of its fleet of about 700 planes, one of the lowest rates of any major carrier in the nation, according to a recent study. But United recently became the first U.S.-based international carrier to offer satellite-based Wi-Fi Internet for passengers traveling on long-haul overseas flights.

Billions in taxpayer dollars and swarms of federal screeners have made U.S. airports harder for terrorists to hit, but passenger jets bound for America remain vulnerable overseas because of gaps in global security, industry and government officials say. "There are hundreds and hundreds of examples of gaping holes in foreign security," said Capt. Steve Luckey, security chairman for the Air Line Pilots Assn.

Planning to check two bags on your next flight to London, Rome or Paris? Pay up. In a little-publicized trend, airlines are cracking down on transatlantic luggage, dinging coach fliers $50 or more each way for a second checked bag -- about twice the going rate of domestic flights. By Thanksgiving, four of the five airlines that fly nonstop between LAX and London, for instance, will be charging the new fee. Only Air New Zealand, as of last week, was still honoring the treasured two-bag tradition on that route, with "no plans that I know of" to change, said spokeswoman Sarah Miller-Reeves.

About 80% of nonstop scheduled U.S. airline flights between the United States and foreign cities will be smoke-free by June 1, the Transportation Department said. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena said the nonsmoking rules on overseas flights will be put into effect June 1 by Delta Air Lines, Trans World Airlines, USAir, American Airlines and United Airlines.

United Airlines dropped a plan to charge as much as $9 for meals in the coach cabin of some overseas flights, citing feedback from customers. The carrier had intended to offer food for sale aboard trips to Europe from the Washington area's Dulles International Airport starting Oct. 1. The Chicago carrier would have been the first in the U.S. to end free meals on such flights. "They told us quite directly and candidly that they value hot meals," said Robin Urbanski, a United spokeswoman.

Thank you for bringing Susan Spano to The Times. Honest and insightful, her column brings out the intrepid traveler in all us gals. I'd like to add two items to her list ("Luggage Lessons for Women," Her World, July 26): First is the inflatable neck pillow, indispensable for long overseas flights, especially for women of diminutive stature whose heads are in direct conflict with the airplane seat-back's contours. Second, Spano mentions bringing tea bags but admits to preferring coffee.

Los Angeles International Airport, battered by financially devastated domestic airlines, is now headed for trouble from overseas. Foreign carriers, until now a bright spot for the airport in an increasingly dismal year, are slashing flights at LAX amid high fuel costs and slowing international demand, dealing yet another blow to Southern California's economy. For Southern California passengers, the cuts would add to travel woes including fewer nonstop flights to overseas destinations, higher fares and crowded planes, experts said.

When Harlan K. Ullman's article (Editorial Pages, June 20) "As Terrorism Continues, What Can We Do?" observes that we are vulnerable to terrorist hijackers, I agree that we certainly have been in the past. When he recommends "covert operations, (and) preemptive strikes" against suspected terrorists as the proper and only actions, not only is he deficient in suggesting suitable recourses, but that which is proposed is antithetical to values America holds dear. There are many effective measures that we can take to greatly reduce the incidence of hijacking.

United Airlines, struggling to curb losses from record fuel prices, will become the first U.S. carrier to stop serving free meals in the coach cabin of some overseas flights. Instead, the second-largest U.S. carrier will offer food that can be purchased aboard trips to Europe from Washington's Dulles International Airport starting Oct. 1, spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said. The change expands the list of formerly complimentary services airlines are charging for as they combat a 52% rise in the price of jet fuel during the last year.

U.S. airlines are cutting back on once-lucrative overseas flights as a global recession prompts a sudden, steep decline in international travel. Delta Air Lines Inc., the world's largest airline, said Tuesday that it would reduce its international flying by 10%, starting in September. The Atlanta-based carrier said it was also mulling over additional job cuts even though 2,100 employees had accepted buyouts and would be departing Delta in the next few months.

United Airlines dropped a plan to charge as much as $9 for meals in the coach cabin of some overseas flights, citing feedback from customers. The carrier had intended to offer food for sale aboard trips to Europe from the Washington area's Dulles International Airport starting Oct. 1. The Chicago carrier would have been the first in the U.S. to end free meals on such flights. "They told us quite directly and candidly that they value hot meals," said Robin Urbanski, a United spokeswoman.

United Airlines, struggling to curb losses from record fuel prices, will become the first U.S. carrier to stop serving free meals in the coach cabin of some overseas flights. Instead, the second-largest U.S. carrier will offer food that can be purchased aboard trips to Europe from Washington's Dulles International Airport starting Oct. 1, spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said. The change expands the list of formerly complimentary services airlines are charging for as they combat a 52% rise in the price of jet fuel during the last year.

Los Angeles International Airport, battered by financially devastated domestic airlines, is now headed for trouble from overseas. Foreign carriers, until now a bright spot for the airport in an increasingly dismal year, are slashing flights at LAX amid high fuel costs and slowing international demand, dealing yet another blow to Southern California's economy. For Southern California passengers, the cuts would add to travel woes including fewer nonstop flights to overseas destinations, higher fares and crowded planes, experts said.

Billions in taxpayer dollars and swarms of federal screeners have made U.S. airports harder for terrorists to hit, but passenger jets bound for America remain vulnerable overseas because of gaps in global security, industry and government officials say. "There are hundreds and hundreds of examples of gaping holes in foreign security," said Capt. Steve Luckey, security chairman for the Air Line Pilots Assn.

Thank you for bringing Susan Spano to The Times. Honest and insightful, her column brings out the intrepid traveler in all us gals. I'd like to add two items to her list ("Luggage Lessons for Women," Her World, July 26): First is the inflatable neck pillow, indispensable for long overseas flights, especially for women of diminutive stature whose heads are in direct conflict with the airplane seat-back's contours. Second, Spano mentions bringing tea bags but admits to preferring coffee.

Airline travel fees - including charges to check a bag and to board early - have become so prevalent that travelers almost need an advanced degree in mathematics to calculate overall trip costs. Last year at least 36 airline fees increased, and 16 others were redefined, bundled or unbundled with other services, according to a recent study by the consumer travel website Travelnerd. One bright spot in the Travelnerd study of 14 U.S. airlines is that most fee increases were only $5 to $10 each.

U.S. airlines that rely on international traffic for a share of their profits say that traffic is strong, despite the falling value of the dollar. Pan American World Airways and Trans World Airlines suffered last summer as Americans stayed home because of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and fear of terrorism, but this year the airlines say traffic is up substantially.

About 80% of nonstop scheduled U.S. airline flights between the United States and foreign cities will be smoke-free by June 1, the Transportation Department said. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena said the nonsmoking rules on overseas flights will be put into effect June 1 by Delta Air Lines, Trans World Airlines, USAir, American Airlines and United Airlines.

Maybe you've heard that sly, charming Brit Richard Branson on the radio, bragging about how his airline is now free of cigarette smoke on transatlantic flights, and inviting other airlines to follow his example. Well, it's true that the company Branson chairs, Virgin Atlantic Airways, has gone smokeless over the Atlantic.