Yesterday's news brought the welcome breath of new life to Columbus ever since Skybus did us wrong, jilting us like an uncaring, unfeeling lover.

I heard in a radio news broadcast that AirTran Airways will begin flights between Columbus and Atlanta, Fort Myers and Orlando starting November 6. As the news commentator noted, this does not mean there will be a rush on low cost airlines to Columbus. Jet Blue, for example, has been there and done that.

Still, when I think of how Jet Blue used to be here before Skybus RUINED IT, I feel like Kate Winslet, almost frozen to death, floating on that piece of wood after the Titanic sank, hoarsely crying out, "Come back. Come back."

I'm glad that AirTran has noticed that Columbus is a viable market for folks going to Florida. If you've ever been in Columbus, Ohio between January and April, you'll know why folks are eager to get out of here and head south. The gray skies make this a place to leave if ever the chance arises.

If only AirTran wasn't bailing out of Newburgh, New York and would make that a Columbus connection as well, I'd be ever so thrilled.

According to this article in the Columbus Dispatch, AirTran has been one of the best managed airlines in the past nine years. Skybus was exactly the OPPOSITE. I'm still stinging from the break-up.

Jumbo jets, like Boeing's classic 747, are a bit like that Buick your grandpa used to drive. They are sizable enough that you don't have to concern yourself too much with what is going on outside. What's a little turbulence to such a massive beast? What's a six hour flight when you can stand up and actually walk around? (I was a little kid last time I rode in "the boat," but you get the analogy).

High fuel prices have been grounding more and more of these large aircraft. And those who fly frequently are none to happy about it. Aside from a smoother ride, larger aircraft offer more seating options, more lavatories and more overhead space. If you are flying from New York to L.A. or Atlanta to Seattle, a little extra room can make a big difference.

Among major carriers, American and Delta still offer the most jumbo jet flights at more than 50 per day. However, wide-bodied planes are nowhere to be found on Northwest's and Continental's domestic routes. According to the industry, large aircraft will account for less that 1% of air traffic by the end of this year.

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Gradual reductions to in-flight meals have finally reached the international market. It used to be that everyone on the aircraft got a meal, wherever where you were going or in what class you were. That slowly devolved to meals in first class on some long-haul flights (exception: Continental, where all meals in domestic are still free!).

Now, spurned by cost cutting measures across the industry, United Airlines has announced that they're discontinuing meal service on some of their international flights.

From Washington DC's Dulles airport, flights to Europe will now offer food for purchase instead of the standard "chicken or pasta" choices. Nine dollars will get you a salad or sandwich while six buys a snack box. I found no mention of warm food in this Bloomberg article.

To reiterate: they aren't even charging you $9 for the soggy chicken that you used to get.

As to whether the changes will be unrolled to the rest of the international legs, the airline is still not sure. They'll be taking input from passengers after this trial period to see how poorly it's received.

And poorly received it will be. On a three or even four hour flight across the country I can see how someone can gorge up on food beforehand and make it through the itinerary. But on a nine hour flight you need to eat at some point. And unless you brought a sack lunch you're going to be forced to pay whatever prices they're charging. Yes, they only take cash.

Take this opportunity to send a note to UA protesting the changes. There's still time to reverse the tide.

The FrugalTravelGuy, a man that spends far more time in airplanes and is a member of far more frequent flyer programs than myself, recently spent some time musing about airline miles and what they're now worth. With carriers making it more difficult to spend miles across the board, it's becoming an increasingly valid question -- nobody wants to get pinched out of their miles nor wants them to expire out from under them.

What Rick has done is taken a personal look at many of the airlines and ranked their quality as far as value of the current mile. Things like how many miles it takes to get status, book a ticket or redeem other goodies played into the equation and the results are fairly interesting.

His best value frequent flyer mile program? BMI's mileage program. Who? British Midland Airways is based in the UK and has limited long haul service into the United States. More importantly, they're also a member of Star Alliance, which means you can be a member of their program and earn miles flying domestically on United or US Airways.

Benefits of BMI's program include 58k top tier elite qualification (versus 75k for most domestic carriers), access to airport lounges and other generous earnings.

FrugalTravelGuy's top Domestic program? American Airlines' AAdvantage program. You can bore into the details in his article, but for now we'll round out his top domestic carriers list:

2. United
3. Continental
4. Deltwest
5. US Airways

Note, his list isn't compresensive across all carriers or nations and you do have to admit that he is one man compiling a lot of data so can be biased. But his arguments are largely on point and his reflections well thought out.

If you're interested in entering the mileage game or making your miles last, give the article a read.

Several weeks ago, I reported that Delta Airlines was gearing up to offer the Aircell Gogo inflight Internet service, but it is American Airlines who beat them to the first operational service.

Aircell Gogo is now offered on select American Airlines Boeing 767-200 flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles and New York and Miami. This puts the total number of flights with the Gogo Internet service at 174 per week.

For just $12.95, passengers get unlimited access to the Internet, but Aircell points out that VOIP (Internet calling) and cell phone calls are not possible.

To use the service, you'll need a Wi-Fi capable laptop, PDA or smartphone, you can find a comprehensive list of supported devices on the Gogo site. If you plan to travel light, you'll be able to use your Wi-Fi enabled Blackberry, iPhone or iPod touch to get online, which should help keep you entertained for the duration of the flight.

Aircell is working on a very swift roll out of their service, in addition to American Airlines and the previously mentioned Delta rollout, they are also working to bring inflight Internet to Virgin America.

This service has all the key features of a successful product; it is affordable, it comes at a time where airlines are scrambling to generate some more revenue, and the market penetration of Wi-Fi enabled devices is larger than ever. My feeling is that it will be a huge success, and certainly more successful than previous attempts at airborne broadband.

Source (and image) from Gogo Inflight Internet

As one of the duties to make sure air travel is safer, TSA inspectors check planes for security issues while the planes are parked.

Unfortunately, knowing which parts of planes should not be touched, and what a ladder looks like is a skill set that still needs some fine tuning.

According to this ABC News report, an inspector at Chicago's O'Hare Airport used sensitive instrument probes as handholds while climbing into nine American Eagle airplanes. These TAT probes, pictured, are important to the operation of flight computers. As a result, 40 commuter flights were delayed.

At the time, the TSA agent was attempting to determine if the aircraft could be broken into and an agency official is quoted as saying "Our inspector was following routine procedure for securing the aircraft that were on the tarmac."

Next time, try using a ladder and a brick.

It's one o'clock on Friday, you had a margarita at lunch and your boss already checked out to Long Island for the weekend -- it's about time you decided to get the heck out of dodge. But your flight is at 7:30, and even if you got out of work early you would still be sitting at LaGuardia for five hours waiting for your flight -- and that's no fun.

Solution? Fly standby.

The concept of standing by, or taking an earlier flight, on an itinerary has been around since the beginning of commercial aviation. The problem is that many people are afraid to try it. Whether this is because they're unfamiliar with the procedure or don't want to risk waiting at the airport for hours, few passengers are willing to throw their their hat in the ring and try to bounce onto a different flight.

The rewards, however, can be succulent. Imagine getting to your destination three hours early while the sun is still up, meandering over to dinner with friends and getting a few drinks before your original flight even landed. Or imagine spending that extra time throwing the Frisbee in the park before your colleagues have even left their desks at the office.

Worth a shot? We've put together a list of ten handy tips for standing by on your next flight. Take a look and start packing those bags!

• Know when the flights are. Take a look at your airline's website before you even start thinking about standing by to see if there are any earlier direct flights that are identical to yours. Note that you can't stand by on an itinerary with more legs -- like you can't standby from DTW-IND-LGA if your original flight was DTW-LGA, but you can standby on separate legs independently. So if your original itinerary is DTW-IND-LGA, you can standby on an earlier DTW-IND leg and either try to standby on an earlier IND-LGA leg or go out in Indianapolis for a long layover and a beer.

Spanish media are reporting that a plane skidded off the runway at Barajas International Airport in Madrid today.

Early reports are saying that two passengers have been killed, and another 43 have been injured.

Details are still coming in.

The plane was a Spanair flight, with 160 passengers on board who were flying from Madrid to Gran Canaria.

Spain's influential newspaper El Mundo says the accident involved a flight leaving from Terminal 4 of the airport.

A lot is unknown right now. We don't know if the plane was landing or taking off, but Reuters is reporting that the plane swerved on the runway. El Pais, another Spanish newspaper, says one of the plane's engine had caught fire.

Media are busy trying to reach airport authorities for more details.

For some time now, Gadling has been following Transportation Security Administration plans to begin allowing laptops to be screened while remaining in special so-called "checkpoint-friendly" laptop bags.

This past Saturday, TSA began allowing certain bags to go through screenings with laptops still in them. The TSA has a helpful information manual up on its Web site right now, cautioning that this apparent relaxation in security procedures does not cover every laptop bag on the market.

In other words, not all laptop bags are checkpoint-friendly.

Only "butterfly-," "trifold-" and "sleeve-style" laptop carriers are acceptable.

What the TSA is after is a clear view of your laptop. Since security officers are looking for evidence that electronics have been tampered with, they need a clear line of sight to note any irregularities in your laptop.

The TSA is quick to emphasize that just because you have an ostensibly checkpoint-friendly laptop bag, TSOs may still ask you to remove your computer if they cannot see it clear enough through the bag.

The TSA also has these useful tips:

• Your laptop bag has a designated laptop-only section that you can lay flat on the X-ray belt. There are no metal snaps, zippers or buckles inside, underneath or on-top of the laptop-only section
• There are no pockets on the inside or outside of the laptop-only section
• There is nothing in the laptop compartment other than the laptop
• You have completely unfolded your bag so that there is nothing above or below the laptop-only section, allowing the bag to lie flat on the X-ray belt
  

Check out Scott's post of one TSA-endorsed line of laptop bags currently on the market.

The way Qantas is going, the airline is better off shutting down: Hole in the aircraft, tires blowing up, fluid leaks, doors not closing, hydraulic failures, rudder problems, and now dysfunctional toilets.

A Qantas 737 from Sydney to Perth was forced to land because the toilets wouldn't flush; they'd forgotten to empty the them after the last flight. The plane was diverted to Adelaide to sort out the toilet situation.

This isn't the first toilet issue for the airline. Not long ago passengers were doing their business in the airline's sick-bags as they were not allowed to move from their seats for an hour as the plane tried to land.

This is the 5th or 6th flight issue with Qantas since July 25 when "explosive decompression" caused a four meter hole to rip across the plane when it was at a height of 29,000 meters.

Qantas oh Qantas. Sort your sh*t out!