This week’s featured link:
Fliers’ right to video gets push from recent airline incidents – Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There’s a very interesting case brewing around the idea of whether or not people have the right to record video on airplanes. On the one hand, it’s private property and the airline (specifically the captain) should have the right to prevent filming onboard. But it also feels very heavy-handed and if something bad is happening, people are still going to do it.
Most airlines have straddled a line saying that filming is fine, but you can’t film specific people onboard without getting their permission. That, of course, effectively defeats the purpose of someone trying to film a incident while it’s happening.
There’s no question that filming is a double-edged sword. There are people who will stoke the fire, start filming, and then make edits to try to make people look bad unfairly. But there is also a public service being done when people are trying to help write wrongs by making the incidents public.
Two for the road:
New Orleans-based GLO Airlines to suspend service, but company has ‘good game plan’ to take off again – The New Orleans Advocate
It looks like GLO’s days down in the Bayou are numbered, at least temporarily. The company had filed for bankruptcy, but now its flight provider is pulling out. It says it has a plan to get back in the sky, but in the meantime, flights stop this weekend.
Israel Seeking Saudi Flight Deal to Bring Pilgrims to Mecca – Bloomberg
There’s something about travel and diplomacy that go hand in hand. With allegiances shifting in the Middle East as Israel and Saudi Arabia get closer thanks to a common enemy (Iran), opening up pilgrimage flights could be a real sign of progress in normalizing relations. Baby steps.
