Airline passenger news and views

There has always been the old story about dogs biting man not being very newsworthy but the newswires were buzzing this week with multiple stories of mice disrupting air travel. Both a SAS Airbus 330 from Stockholm to Chicago and a Nepal Airlines Boeing 757 grounded at Hong Kong were the work of these furry rodents.

SAS and Nepal Airlines shared the view that the mice posed potential safety risks as they could chew through the aircraft's cables.  

These decisions are very difficult for airline operators.  The obvious risks, particularly if you ask the delayed passengers, are very low.  The hidden risks are potentially much more serious.  Back in 2009, Delta Airlines made the same decision to cancel two of their New York to London flights following similar mouse incursions.

To make matters worse, this week's incident is a second embarrassment for the Nepalese airline, after what is believed to be the same plane was grounded for more than 11 hours at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport on Monday - also because of a mouse.

Who would want to be an airline executive having to make these calls?

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