In a time when parts of our air traffic control system can shut down for two hours without backup, you know it’s tempting for Congress to get involved, especially with the upcoming FAA reauthorization. Wait, the FAA reauthorization is still spinning in circles? So what could they be working on?

It’s been awhile since I’ve whipped out the Cranky Jackass, but Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) and Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.) have certainly earned it this week. While there are plenty of major problems facing the US Congress right now, these two have opted to launch a bid to pass the Family Friendly Flights Act.

This ridiculous piece of legislation is designed to force airlines that don’t make all programming family friendly (what does that mean, exactly?) to create sections on every airplane that would not have viewable movie screens. Why? To protect children from seeing images that are too graphic. Why the heck is Congress involved with this? Don’t you have better things to do?

You know what ends up happening here? A bunch of passengers suffer without inflight entertainment just because a couple of parents can’t prevent their kid from watching the movie. Give ‘em a blindfold or some baby Ambien (or something else that doesn’t exist just in fantasy land). Or better yet, just don’t fly on planes with overhead screens. This doesn’t impact flights with personal screens because you can turn those off yourself, so there are plenty of options for parents who really care about this.

On overseas flights, make sure you fly someone that has personal screens. For domestic flights? Fly Southwest – you won’t see a screen on any airplane. Or fly American’s MD80s – not a screen to be found. There are million different options if you really want to “protect” your children. But don’t rely on the government to step in and do something that will anger more people than it will help.

And as for you, Congressmen . . . get back to doing some real work, please. This is a waste of everyone’s time. Let’s hope this goes nowhere, kind of like most of Shuler’s passes in the NFL.

It’s just been one long week of problems in the industry, that’s for sure. Of course, the biggest and most tragic was the TAM accident in Sao Paulo, but huge delays on the east coast due to bad weather, Virgin America’s website failure, and the whole JetBlue-O’Reilly flap made it a difficult week all the way around.

So why shouldn’t we end on a down note? (I know, not what you were looking for going into the weekend.)

At the risk of fanning the flames once again, it’s time to go back to the JetBlue-O’Reilly fight. JetBlue has apparently made the worst decision from a PR standpoint that they could have made in this situation, and that’s why they get the not-so-coveted Cranky Jackass award.

According to DailyKos, JetBlue told the website to pull the sponsorship banner down. They’ll still give them the tickets, but now they don’t want any recognition for it.

Are you kidding me, JetBlue? Now O’Reilly supporters still hate you because you’re still giving them tickets, but DailyKos supporters hate you as well because you’re hiding your support. Way to go, champ.

I’m sure we’ll hear some excuse like, “oh, they weren’t allowed to use our banner without permission anyway,” but is that going to help? Nope. They’ve still just found a way to piss people off on both sides of the aisle.

What a week.

I’m so conflicted right now. I think I’m going to give American both the Cranky Jackass and the Gold Star. First, let’s talk about how American earned their first Cranky Jackass award. (For those keeping count, United is in the lead with 2 while both JetBlue and the Brazilian Federal Police have 1 each.)

Effective yesterday, March 1, it’s going to cost you a lot more money to use your miles to upgrade if you want to go to Hawai’i or anywhere outside North America. If you’re trying to upgrade off any fare other than full fare (Y or B class), you’ll have to use 15,000 miles AND $150 to upgrade one way to Hawai’i and 25,000 miles AND $300 to go anywhere outside of North America (India is 40,000 miles). The mileage amounts haven’t changed, but previously no cash was required to go to Hawai’i and it was $250 to go outside North America. Remember, these are one way so it gets pricey quickly.

American says they’re doing this because they’d rather let people on heavily discounted fares upgrade for money instead of not at all, but this is a very high price to pay. So, Cranky Jackass to you.

But just as I was feeling my crankiest about these guys, they turn around and slightly redeem themselves.

Also beginning yesterday, coach customers will now be able to use the lavatory up at the front of the plane. That’s right, it’s not just for first class anymore. Even you, sitting in the back next to the engine on that MD80, can stroll on up to the front and park it in the formerly first class lav.

Don’t get too excited. They don’t have flowers or marble countertops. Nay, not even a bathroom attendant is there to spritz cologne on you, but it does mean shorter lines and that’s all that matters.

Many airlines continue to scold their coach customers when they try to go up front, saying that it’s a Federal regulation that prevents them from using the lav. That’s obviously not true.

In an unrelated welcome move, they’ve also added a new upgraded functionality on their website that allows easier searching for AAdvantage awards.

So, congratulations American for helping out the common folk . . . but you still suck for raising the cost of an upgrade.

Oh man. The Brazilian Federal Police have really earned the Cranky Jackass award this time. In fact, I think you could make the argument for renaming the award in their honor at this point.

Remember, the accident where the Embraer Legacy corporate jet collided with the Gol 737 causing the Gol aircraft to crash? Well, the Brazilians have now decided to charge the pilots of the Legacy with “endangering air safety” according to this Reuters article. This could result in up to 12 years in prison.

Now, had the pilots rammed the Legacy into a skyscraper in downtown Sao Paulo, then I would support a criminal investigation (though they’d probably be dead anyway). But this was an accident and should be handled just as all accidents are handled, through an accident investigation process.

Let’s not forgot that the latest information in this case (see my last post) points away from the pilots being at fault. Unless the Brazilians know something that they aren’t telling anyone, it would amaze me if the pilots could be proven to be criminally negligent right now. This just seems like a good excuse for the Brazilian authorities to place the blame away from their crumbling air traffic control infrastructure (or lack thereof).

It is despicable that before any investigation is complete and any cause has been determined, these pilots have been charged. I truly hope that the US gets more involved in this incident, because the American citizen pilots deserve far better treatment. The Brazilians deserve a lot worse than the Cranky Jackass award here.