Airlines Continue to Squeeze Passengers and Profits Thanks to US Senate
Not widely reported was a vote brought to the senate floor this past Thursday by New York Senator Chuck Schumer. The amendment would have blocked airlines from further reducing the “size, width, padding, and pitch” of seats, passengers’ legroom, and the width of aisles. If you’re feeling more and more cramped on airlines, realize that it’s not from all the food you devoured on vacation. Economy-class airline seats have shrunk these past several years on average from a width of 18 inches down to 16.5 inches. Also the pitch, the space between your seat and the one in front of you, has gone from 35 inches to around 31 inches. This is the thanks we get after airlines recorded a record-breaking year in 2015 thanks to the dramatic drop in fuel prices, an item I discussed in a recent interview with Fox News. Of course, the dysfunctional Senate voted against the proposal simply because Schumer is a Democrat, voting for the most part along party lines. But make no mistake that it’s the public that’s getting squeezed out of the equation. It’s the reason why business and leisure travelers always rate US airlines amongst the worst in the world on any recent survey. Sad.
After a brutally cold and wet spring, we finally had our first sunny weekend in Boston. Fall foliage might get all the hype, but spring is my favorite time of year to travel around New England, when the flowers are blooming and trees are budding. Since it’s the shoulder season, it’s also a great time to find deals. 
Bike trails on Nantucket branch off in every direction, like the spokes on a wheel. My favorite ride, especially in the spring, is the 6-mile jaunt from town to Madaket Beach. Head out on Cliff Road. You’ll quickly meet up with the Cliff Trail as you pass the rolling meadows and red-winged blackbirds at Tupancy Links conservation land. Merge with the Madaket Trail and you might be greeted by flittering goldfinches and osprey peering out from their oversized nests. When the trail becomes sandy and you can hear the pounding surf, you know you’re getting close. On the westernmost part of the island, the beach slopes down to the crashing waves. All around you is water, as if you’re stepping off land into the great abyss. If you don’t have the energy to do the return trip, the Wave bus runs until 11:20 pm and has a front rack for two bikes. 
Skiers will want to know that two Vermont hotels are about to open in the state. 
With its highest point being a mere 812 feet, Rhode Island is not a place most folks think of when they want to take a hike. Yet it does have some of the longest beach strolls in New England. Napatree Point juts out from the village of Watch Hill on a wild strip of coastline, offering views of Connecticut and Fishers Island, New York. Take off your shoes and listen to the waves as you saunter along the water all the way to the point of this crescent-shaped beach. The spit of land curves back toward Rhode Island, similar to how Provincetown lies at the tip of Cape Cod. Sailboats cruise Block Island Sound, ospreys and their young fly above the shores. As you reach the point and the last square foot of terra firma, the wind begins to howl, the surf seems a bit more ominous, and the sand is replaced by large battered rocks. On the return trip, you’ll be treated to a view of the Victorian houses that cling to the bluffs of Watch Hill. 
With its stunning seascape, sheltered coves, and vast array of sealife and birdlife, Nova Scotia is blessed with some of the best sea kayaking imaginable. I had the good fortune to sea kayak in Cape Breton on my last trip and will be kayaking Lobster Bay from 
Blink and you might miss the entrance to