Change Of Plan$? Changing Your Airline Ticket Becomes Overly Costly Tuesday, May 28, 2013 Just in time for summer vacation season, the airlines are jacking up the cost to  change your flight. Sen. Charles Schumer is slamming the four major airlines, Delta, American Airlines, U.S. Airways and United, for increasing their ticket-change fees in recent weeks while price competition has vanished due to mergers. The New York democrat says after United Airlines raised change fees to $200 dollars other carriers have followed.      FlyersRights has been at the forefront of demanding airlines roll back excessive fees. Just last week we reported airline fees hit a record $6 billion in 2012, and it has not translated into any better airline service. FlyersRights Makes An Impact Lawmakers are demanding TSA rule out knives on planes   A group of 145 House members has signed a letter to the head of TSA calling for the agency to permanently drop its idea of allowing pocket knives on airplanes.  Citing a "chorus of objections" Congress members wrote "we urge you to keep the rule simple: no knives on planes." TSA has postponed their proposal to allow passengers to carry knives in carry-on bags after intense pushback from the lawmakers and aviation groups such as FlyersRights.org. Time to Revisit Cell Phones on Planes?   iPhone blamed for interference with airliner electronics Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/05/16/2904576/passenger-gizmos-blamed-for-interference.html#storylink=cpy   Could your iPhone really send an airplane miles off course? At least one pilot thinks so as government regulators weigh the effects of smartphones and tablets being left on during takeoff and landing. Bloomberg reported last week that an iPhone left on during a regional flight caused enough interference to make compasses go haywire. According to a NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System report, the 2011 incident claims the small jet experienced a problem while climbing past 9,000 feet, in turn sending the plane "several miles" off course. The crisis was allegedly resolved when a flight attendant asked a passenger seated in the ninth row to turn off the iPhone.     Judy R., FlyersRights member and former international flight attendant brought our attention to this story and pointed out that hard objects such as these become projectiles if the pilot aborts a take-off.     Not to mention that cramming people in sardine tubes is tough enough already, but adding the cacophony of cell phone and gadget users only multiplies the discomfort by an order of magnitude.    Your Power in Action!  Jeff P. wrote to us, fed up with a United flight out of St. Louis. It was late due to maintenance problems according to the ground crews. However the airline claimed weather.  He expected to get denied lodging by the airline, per the phoney weather excuse.   But then he name-drops FlyersRights:       I told the gate agent I was emailing flyers rights dot org about the lie. How we knew it was because of maintenance but they said weather. She got on the phone with someone and they updated the screens and emails to reflect maintenance. If you would like I can forward the two consecutive emails with the changed cause of late.     Outrage of the Week   Ron K. wrote about a recent Delta flight where he paid $1,200 for an Economy-Comfort seat, but endured the opposite of comfort due to a very large passenger sharing half his space.   He wrote to Delta customer service about the ordeal, asking why they have size tests for carry-on luggage but nothing for passengers. Why do they charge extra for luggage over 50 pounds but do nothing for overweight passengers?     Delta offered only a stock apology and a woefully inadequate 7,500 frequent flyer miles.        AVAILABLE : Summer Internship and Project Manager position now open in Washington DC office.  Must be a change-the-world wannabe.  Send resume with cover letter to  pshudson@yahoo.com.      FlyersRights' Partnerships:  Flybag™ - the must-have TSA-compliant toiletry kit for the efficient traveler. Enter code: ISTILLFLY and you'll receive one dollar off AND another dollar will be donated to FlyersRights! Visit FlyBags.com.     Check out our Napa Valley wine shop! You can't miss with any of these great wines! Paul Hudson, FlyersRights president Kate Hanni, founding member   Founded by Kate Hanni in 2007, FlyersRights  is funded completely  through donations and our Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) charity, to which contributions are tax deductible.   Thank you for your continued support!