America's 11 Worst Airlines: AQR

Though it may be hard for the bedraggled frequent fliers among us to believe, America's airlines are getting better.

According to an annual assessment of America's airlines, the overall quality of air travel showed improvement last year, as flights were more likely to arrive on time to their destinations and airlines were less likely to lose passengers' luggage.

Coauthored by Purdue's Brent Bowen and Dean Headley of Wichita State University, the 2010 Airline Quality Rating report surveyed the country's most-flown airlines on four criteria: on-time performance, mishandled baggage, denied boardings and consumer complaints.

But as one of the study's authors, Purdue University professor Brent Bowen, told the AP, the industry's improved performance "does not mean we have fixed the system."

And indeed, while some airlines' excellent service landed them at the top of this year's ranking -- namely first-placed Hawaiian and second-placed AirTran -- the bottom half were notable for their frequently late arrivals, tendency to lose baggage, high rate of customer complaints and more common denied boardings (which were mostly the result of overbooking flights).

10 great places to explore geologic wonders

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Hawaii
This is the most dependable and safest place to watch a volcano in action, Hayes says. Kilauea has been erupting continuously for a quarter century. "Watching volcanoes in Hawaii is a spectator sport. The road leads right to the edge, and right now you can see the smoke and the gas coming out of the crater." 808-985-6000; nps.gov/havo

Mammoth Cave National Park
Kentucky
Caverns, Hayes says are "the closest thing we have to an alien world on our planet, a realm of total darkness." And Mammoth, the world's largest, is one of the best to explore. 270-758-2180; nps.gov/maca

Yellowstone National Park
Wyoming and Montana
The nation's first national park contains 70% of the world's geysers. The heat powering them is left over from some of the largest volcanic explosions in the planet's history. It takes a rare combination of conditions to develop a geyser, Hayes notes. When everything is just right, you get Old Faithful. 307-344-7381; nps.gov/yell

Death Valley National Park
California
The lowest point in North America exposes rocks as old as those in the Grand Canyon. "The Earth is being ripped apart in Death Valley," Hayes says. "The fault valleys there are incredibly deep." Visitors can stand on the desert floor, where temperatures top 120 degrees, and look up to see snow-covered mountains. 760-786-3200; nps.gov/deva

Dry Tortugas National Park
Florida
Hayes suggests a visit to a coral reef like the one surrounding this island park. Reefs are constructed by tiny animals, and over millennia, they turn into limestone. "A rock made out of life is a stunning thought to me," Hayes says. 305-242-7700; nps.gov/drto

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
Washington
Mother Earth isn't always so gentle. This year marks the 30th anniversary of one of the nation's most significant volcanic explosions. "An earthquake shook the top of the mountain loose, and that was like taking the cork out of a Champagne bottle," Hayes says. 360-449-7800; fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm

San Andreas Fault
California
Hayes cites two places to see the fault that makes California so earthquake-prone. At Point Reyes National Seashore (415-464-5100; nps.gov/pore), the earth shifted 20 feet in 1906, causing the massive San Francisco earthquake; hikers on the Earthquake Trail can see how a fence was offset. The fault is also visible at Carrizo Plain National Monument near Bakersfield. 805-475-2131; blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/bakersfield/Programs/carrizo.html

Jasper National Park
Alberta, Canada
Hayes recommends a visit to Athabasca Glacier, "a place where you can get out of your car, and walk a few hundred yards and be standing on a glacier" in the Canadian Rockies. 780-852-6176;pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/index.aspx

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Tennessee and North Carolina
The Appalachians top out at less than 7,000 feet, but they once towered as high as the Himalayas, Hayes says. The East Coast range, formed when Africa collided with North America, has been steadily eroding, "but the rocks there show this great geologic violence." 865-436-1200; nps.gov/grsm

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Volcanic Ash Causes Worldwide Flight Delays

countries in Northern Europe have closed their airspace - except for in the case of emergencies - due to the risk of flying through the volcanic ash that is being blown over by high altitude winds from Iceland. Flying through such ash, which contains tiny particles of rock, glass and sand, can cause aircraft engines to fail.

In 1982, a British Airways Boeing 747 had all four engines fail as it flew through volcanic ash over Indonesia. Captain Eric Moody and his team managed to save the day, averting disaster by restarting the engines after descending to a few thousand feet below the ash. The engines were so badly damaged that they were later scrapped. Other airlines around the world have also had close encounters with potentially dangerous volcanic ash.

Countries directly affected, but to different degrees, include Belgium, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Norway, Scotland and Sweden.

Further afield, customers around the world with flights into Europe, and flights that were to fly over the closed airspace, are facing cancelations, diversions and delays.

Intra-regional flights in Asia, and other parts of the world, are also affected, as many aircraft are stranded in Europe until the airspace and airports re-open.

Travellers, especially those with plans to travel to, or from, northern Europe are being advised to use their airline's website as a primary source of information, or - if they can - to contact them directly to learn the latest about when their flight is expected to depart. It should be noted however, that as this is a natural phenomenon - rather than a strike or such like - there is really very little the airlines can do but wait for official clearance to fly, and nobody knows quite when that will be.

Some websites, such as the UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS website), have experienced such heavy traffic that they took their site offline leaving just an holding page with the latest information on the situation.

Those that did have alternative means of transport available to them were quick to make bookings, filling ferries, bus services and trains rapidly.

As yet, there is no clear indication as to how long the disruptions caused by the volcanic ash will last, which is why many airlines are suggesting that travellers do not even make their way to the airport until they know for sure their plane is confirmed for take off.