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Here are this week’s travel news headlines from around the web and interweb I found the most interesting. Take a look:
A Bloomberg Law opinion piece makes a compelling argument that the government’s decision to block the JetBlue-Spirit merger in 2024 actually made things worse for consumers, not better. The idea was to preserve Spirit as an independent low-cost competitor. Instead, Spirit is gone entirely, 17,000 jobs evaporated, and millions of cheap seats disappeared from the market. The author argues antitrust regulators rely too heavily on static market share numbers without considering whether a company can actually survive long-term on its own. It’s a genuinely interesting read if you care about the future of budget air travel in this country.
This one is sad – but hilarious! When Spirit Airlines collapsed, its Airbus jets were left sitting wherever their last flights happened to land, some still blocking gates with no employees left to move them. A company called Nomadic Aviation Group was hired by the leasing companies to retrieve them, and co-founder Bob Allen told the Wall Street Journal he had just six hours to round up 20 pilots to start ferrying the planes out. Many of those pilots had flown for Spirit themselves. The planes are now parked in storage facilities outside Phoenix and Tucson, chosen for their dry desert climate to prevent corrosion. Some will eventually be leased to other airlines, including Spirit’s former competitors. A few older ones may be scrapped just for their engines. It’s a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at what actually happens when an airline disappears overnight.
Elevate Jet CEO Greg Raiff has 35 years in the business and a blunt take: there is no jet fuel shortage. He told Fortune that the shortage narrative is largely politically driven to pressure an end to the war, and that airlines are using the Strait of Hormuz situation as cover to invoke “force majeure” and quietly cancel routes they never wanted to fly in the first place. Private aviation demand, by contrast, is actually up since the conflict started. His one real concern? If this drags into fall, refineries may have to choose between producing jet fuel and heating oil. That could get interesting.
During a planned IT maintenance window, Carnival’s website briefly displayed fares that were way below anything reasonable. People booked. One person grabbed a six-night balcony cabin for around $400, paid in full, and booked flights. Then came the cancellation email. Carnival offered a $100 non-transferable onboard credit as consolation. Does Carnival have the legal right to do this? Yes, it’s in the ticket contract. Is it still a terrible look? Also yes. The Reddit thread on this one has some very unhappy campers.
The U.S. Air Force says the $400 million Boeing 747 donated by Qatar is done being modified and tested, is currently being repainted in red, white, and blue, and should be ready for President Trump to fly in by this summer. It’ll serve as a bridge aircraft until Boeing delivers two brand new Air Force One planes, which are now expected in 2028. After Trump leaves office, the plane is set to be transferred to his presidential library. The ethics debate around accepting a luxury jet from a foreign government hasn’t gone away, but the plane is happening either way.
Where do I even start with this one. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers boarded eight cruise ships between April 23 and 27 as part of an ongoing child sexual exploitation investigation. They found 27 crew members engaged with child sexual exploitation material and had them deported. Most of the 27 were from the Philippines, with one each from Portugal and Indonesia. Both Disney Cruise Line and Holland America confirmed some of their crew members were involved. Disney said those individuals are no longer with the company. Holland America called the allegations “deeply disturbing.” No U.S. criminal charges have been announced yet.
Yikes. A passenger aboard the Carnival Celebration drove her mobility scooter off a pier at Celebration Key in the Bahamas on May 9. Carnival’s team pulled her from the water but she did not survive. A fellow passenger believes she may have suffered a heart attack before the scooter went over. This is now the third fatality at Celebration Key since the $600 million private resort opened in July 2025. The previous two were drownings. Our thoughts go out to her family.
This is one of the wildest stories I have come across in a long time. A Russian cargo ship called the Ursa Major suffered a series of explosions and sank in December 2024 off the coast of Spain. The captain later told Spanish investigators the ship was carrying components for two submarine nuclear reactors, possibly headed for North Korea. A Russian spy ship showed up at the wreck site a week later and set off four more explosions. U.S. nuclear “sniffer” aircraft have flown over the site twice. The Spanish investigation hints a Barracuda supercavitating torpedo may have caused the initial hull breach. Nobody is officially talking. CNN has a full deep-dive investigation on this one worth reading.
After a pilot program where 170,000 guests exchanged over a million messages with the system and gave it a 93% satisfaction rating, MSC is putting its AI-powered MSC Concierge app on all ships by the end of this month. It works in more than 90 languages, helps guests book restaurants and excursions, check their onboard account, and find entertainment options, all through the MSC for Me app and without needing to buy an internet package. MSC says the goal is to support crew members, not replace them. We’ll see how that holds up over time.
OK this last one is pure AI silliness but it genuinely made me smile. A plane full of cats in every seat, in the aisles, and a flight attendant pushing a cart of cat food while they jump all over it. Absurd? Yes. But honestly, compare it to a real packed flight and you can totally see how some flight attendants might feel this is just… their life up there taking care of us. Bless them all.
Were there any crazy or interesting travel news stories you found interesting that I missed? If so please drop a comment below and include a link to the story! – René
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and and may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
