4 articles tagged
United just made headphones a legal requirement, not a suggestion. Skip them for a TikTok scroll or a movie, and a flight attendant can now have you removed or banned for good. The airline buried the change inside its Contract of Carriage in February, and most flyers still don't know it exists. Here's exactly what changed, why it happened now, and what it means the next time you board.
I connected through Newark this spring with barely two hours to spare and under the FAA's new 72-flights-an-hour cap, that math doesn't work the same way anymore. The order runs through October 2026, and it's already reshaping upgrade clearance, award space, and connection buffers for anyone flying United through EWR. Here's what's actually driving the cap, who's absorbing the cost, and how to plan around it.
Economy seats have shrunk by up to 5 inches since the 1990s. The average American now stands 5'9". The FAA has done nothing. Here is exactly how every major US airline compares on pitch and width and the only strategies that actually work until Washington catches up.
Most pilot salary guides still quote $465/hr as the Big 3 peak. That number is wrong. United widebody captains now earn $483.74/hr at Year 12 and the gap in total compensation between Delta, United, and American is bigger than the base rates suggest. Here is the exact 2026 breakdown.