Passengers

Airline fees are among the most annoying aspect of commercial flying, but the biggest gripes among passengers are uncomfortable seats and tight legroom. That was one of the key findings of the latest survey of more than 2,000 people in the U.S. by the travel review site TripAdvisor.com. After uncomfortable seats and hefty passenger fees, the travelers who were surveyed said unpredictable flight delays, long security lines and obnoxious passengers were the biggest annoyances. The most irritating fees, according to the survey, are charges to check bags, carry bags into the cabin, upgrade to a better seat, print a boarding pass and buy in-flight extras.

Delta Air Lines, one of the nation's largest airlines, said surveys of its own customers suggest that sleep is the most important in-flight experience. For that reason, the Atlanta-based carrier is upgrading the bedding and seats for long-haul passengers in the BusinessElite section. Starting in June, those upper-class passengers on international or transcontinental flights get a special pillow and comforter made by the same folks who produce the high-end bedding for the Westin Hotels.

Get ready for longer lines at Los Angeles International Airport, slower delivery of packages and the possible shutdown of small Southern California airport control towers if a resolution isn't reached on federal budget cuts. The good news is that the biggest effects probably will not take hold until April, giving President Obama and congressional leaders time to hammer out a deal to resolve the budget feud. But if no agreement is reached, the Federal Aviation Administration will be forced to cut its budget about $600 million.

You know, folks once came to this country on small wooden sailing ships. Think the Mayflower, the Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock.  Those souls were, I venture, a tad bit more, uh, hardy than most of us today. As evidence, I give you the epic tale of the crippled Carnival cruise ship Triumph, whose passengers -- like Gilligan, the Skipper, the professor and, oh, you know the rest -- went out for a four-day tour and barely got back. First, let's start with a little history of the Mayflower, courtesy of that font of lazy wisdom, Wikipedia: There were about 150 passengers and crew on the 110-foot-long ship.

MOBILE, Ala. -- The first lawsuit was filed Friday by one of thousands of passengers trapped aboard a Carnival cruise ship adrift in the Gulf of Mexico for the past five days. After disembarking in Mobile early Friday, Cassie Terry, 25, of Lake Jackson, Texas, hired attorneys Wayne Collins and Brent Allison in the Houston area, who filed the lawsuit in federal court in Miami. The suit charges Carnival with failing to provide a seaworthy ship and sanitary conditions, describing the ship as "a floating toilet, a floating petri dish, a floating hell.

MOBILE, Ala. - As conditions deteriorated on the crippled Carnival cruise ship Triumph, some passengers panicked. They hoarded food, drank too much and argued. But other passengers on the ship lumbering through the Gulf of Mexico banded together. They shared water, prayed together, comforted the children of strangers, and greeted each other in the halls like old friends. "What you had was a tale of two ships," said the Rev. Wendell Gill of First Baptist Church in La Porte, Texas.

MOBILE, Ala. - The Triumph docked about 9:20 p.m. CST, and the first few passengers walked down the gangway and into the parking lot about an hour later. It was the first real look at what life has been like for those stranded aboard the Carnival Triumph adrift in the Gulf of Mexico. With only one working elevator, Carnival officials warned that it could take four or five hours for everyone to disembark at the port in Mobile. The process stretched into the early morning hours Friday as passengers were greeted with cheers from the crowd and were mobbed by television camera crews.

MOBILE, Ala. - The first real glimpse of what life has been like for those stranded aboard a Carnival cruise ship adrift in the Gulf of Mexico came late Thursday as passengers began to disembark at the port in Mobile, a process that stretched into the early morning hours Friday. The lengthy parade of passengers was, at times, irate, tearful, amused and full of new-found gratitude. They described an atmosphere aboard the Carnival Triumph reminiscent of "Survivor" and "Lord of the Flies," starting with the engine fire that stranded the ship without power off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on Sunday.

MOBILE, Ala. - Thousands of passengers stranded for nearly a week aboard a Carnival cruise ship adrift in the Gulf of Mexico made their way home from Mobile on Friday as authorities began investigating the fire that started the debacle. Lawmakers, meanwhile, in Washington called for a thorough investigation of the incident . For the 3,141 passengers who had been stuck aboard the crippled 900-foot-long cruise ship - rather ironically named Triumph - the main concern Friday was getting home.

MOBILE, Ala. -- A stranded Carnival cruise ship being towed is expected to arrive in Mobile on Thursday evening, and officials said that although unusual, they do not expect delays bringing the ship into port after dark. A Carnival spokesman held a briefing at 10:30 a.m. CST Thursday outside the port's cruise terminal where the ship, the Carnival Triumph, is expected to dock and relatives were already gathering . Terry Thornton, a Carnival senior vice president, said the ship was nearing a sea buoy at the edge of the channel leading into the port, about four miles offshore, where a contingent was waiting to board that included local pilots, officials from the Bahamas, where the ship is based, from customs, the U.S. Coast Guard, National Transportation Safety Board and Carnival.