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Airline passengers say they’d rather sit next to a crying baby than a smelly adult.

That’s just one of the findings in a new Harris Poll that looks at how fliers who take at least one trip a year feel about certain perks and annoyances when traveling.

“Travelers have been dealing with increasing airline prices and add-on fees for the past few years,” Mike de Vere, President of The Harris Poll, says in a release. “We wanted to find out which amenities people were willing to open up their wallets for, and discovered that while many consider added comfort and entertainment to be worth shelling out for, nearly two in five would give up personal boundaries to avoid carry-on baggage fees.”

Despite gripes about add-on charges, 58% of those surveyed in the Harris Poll claim they’d be willing to pay extra for more legroom on flights of three hours or more. That number falls to just 33% for flights of two hours or less.

As for those “personal boundaries,” 50% of those surveyed said an annoying, talkative seatmate would be worthwhile trade-off if it also came with more room to stretch out. Sixty-three percent say a stinky adult would be a more off-putting seatmate than one holding a crying baby. And more than a third (39%) of those surveyed say it’d would be preferable to let a stranger fall asleep on their shoulder during a flight than to have to pay the airline a fee for carry-on bags.

Elsewhere, when asked about to name the two “most important amenities” when flying, 53% say snagging a window or aisle seat was a priority while 35% mentioned “extra legroom.” And more than half (55%) say they’d rather have free WiFi than free TV or movies on a flight.

And for all the airlines hoping their multi-billion dollar orders for new aircraft will help sway customers, only 37% of those in the Harris Poll say they’d be willing to play more for flights on newer planes.

The Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between March 13 and 18 and focused on Americans who say travel by commercial airline once or more per year. The complete results and polling details can be found at the Harris Interactive website.

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American Airlines has extended preferential boarding to customers flying with small or no carry-on bags.

Beginning today, the carrier says customers not needing to stow a bag in its overhead storage bins will be able to board between the Group 1 and Group 2 boarding queues. American gives boarding priority to its first-class and elite-level fliers before moving on to Groups 1 through 4.

American says it successfully tested the new process at seven airports earlier this year and has now rolled out the change systemwide in an effort to reduce boarding times.

“With on-time performance being a key factor in the airline’s dependability rating, every minute saved during boarding allows American to push back from the gate earlier, resulting in a more timely departure and arrival,” AA says in a release announced the change.

Airline officials say boarding times have increased in the last few years. The airlines have created this problem by cutting back flights, which makes planes more crowded, and also charging fees for checking baggage, which encourages passengers to haul their luggage on board.

The result can be sharp-elbowed competition for scarce bin space that leads to short tempers among passengers and flight attendants.

Kevin Doeksen, director of customer planning for American, said the change will cut boarding time by about two minutes per flight, “which doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up throughout the day.”

American says customers at the gate who decide they’d like to board prior to Group 2 will be able to gate-check their carry-on bag at no charge.

“That.,” The Associated Press writes, “means savvy travelers will be able to move up in the boarding order and avoid checked-bag fees – $25 for the first bag, $35 for a second on flights within the U.S. – although they’ll have to retrieve their bag at baggage claim after they land.”

Jami Counter of travel website TripAdvisor says that “loophole” could come back to haunt American.

“Why would you ever pay a baggage fee if you can gate-check your bag for free?” he says.

And if the policy prompts fliers to swamp gate agents with requests to gate-check their bag for free, “now their two-minute savings just turned into a 15-minute delay,” Counter says. “That’s a loophole you could drive a truck through. I see that being tightened.”

American says the new boarding process received “overwhelmingly positive feedback” in tests at conducted at the following airports: Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Fort Lauderdale, Kansas City, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Washington Dulles.

AA customers can still bring a carry-on bag for free, but they won’t be able to board prior to Group 2 if the bag must go in the carrier’s overhead storage bins.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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An American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York diverted to Kansas City last week after a passenger refused to stop singing Whitney Houston songs.

The story, one of the more unusual unruly flier cases in recent memory, is coming to news this week after video of the brouhaha surfaced on YouTube and was picked up in the Kansas City media.

The video, captured by other passengers on the flight, shows authorities escorting the woman off the aircraft as she belts out an off-key version of “I Will Always Love You.” The song was a hit for Dolly Parton in the 1970s before Whitney Houston did the same with it in a 1991 remake.

“The woman was being disruptive and was removed from the plane for interfering with the flight crew,” Kansas City airport spokesman Joe McBride tells Kansas City’s KCTV Channel 5. “There was a federal air marshal on the aircraft, who subdued the woman and put her in cuffs and removed her from the plane.”

“The passenger was detained, not arrested, and then released pending further investigation by the TSA (Transportation Safety Administration) and federal air marshals,” Tom McKenna, another spokesman for the Kansas City airport, says to CNN.

“I can confirm that she was singing ‘I Will Always Love You’ as she was escorted off the plane,” McKenna adds.

ABC News reports the woman was removed from the plane and interviewed by authorities. American would not let her reboard the jet and continue to Los Angeles. “After she calmed down she was released and she left the airport in a taxi,” ABC adds.

Kansas City’s KMBC TV Channel 9 reports the woman told authorities that she’s diabetic and claimed her behavior stemmed from that.

American tells ABC that the aircraft was refueled and then continued on to Los Angeles, where it landed only about an hour late.

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Yes, that was Virgin Group founder Richard Branson dressed in flight attendant drag and serving drinks on a flight from Australia to Malaysia this weekend.

Branson, never one to shy away from a publicity stunt, made the eye-popping appearance after losing a 2010 Formula One auto-racing bet to pal and AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes. Branson finally made good on the bet this past Sunday, donning a blazing-red shade of lipstick and shaving his legs — but not his beard — before serving passengers on a six-hour AirAsia flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur.

Branson, of course, has deep ties to the aviation industry. His Virgin Group owns British carrier Virgin Atlantic and has minority stakes in a other airlines, including California-based Virgin America.

While Branson has shown a penchant for success in most of his business endeavors, his drag career as an AirAsia attendant appears to have been short-lived.

When asked to assess Branson’s skills as an attendant, Fernandes said they were “rubbish.”

“Out of 10, maybe one, for a bit of humor,” he added.

Fernandes also chided Branson after the British tycoon deliberately dumped a tray of orange juice on Fernandes’ lap.

“He looked at me, I said, ‘don’t you dare,’ and the next thing I know, he tipped the whole tray on me,” Fernandes said. “He and the girls mopped it up, but I was walking around the flight in my underwear for a while because I didn’t bring another pair of trousers.”

“I wanted to kill him actually,” a mostly amused Fernandes told reporters in Malaysia after the flight.

AP described the scene, saying “a cheerful Branson … was tasked with pouring beverages, serving meals and making flight announcements. (He) posed with Fernandes and popped champagne after stepping out of the plane at Malaysia’s main low-cost carrier terminal south of Kuala Lumpur.”

Branson said he was “glad to have gotten the bet over with and (was) looking forward to getting back into my clothes.”

“I always wanted to be an air hostess, but it looks like I have to get back to normality,” Branson quipped about the episode, which he used to help raise money for the Starlight Children’s Foundation. CNN reports the flight raised about $200,000 for the charity, which benefits hospitalized children and their families.

As for the bet, Branson and Fernandes challenged each other in 2010 about whose auto-racing team would perform better that year in the Formula One standings. Fernandes’ team landed two spots above Branson’s.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Delta Air Lines has apologized after the carrier found itself at the center of an awkward mix-up in which it mistakenly swapped body-bearing caskets to two different funeral homes.

WLTX TV of Columbia, S.C., says the mix-up apparently came as the caskets were being sent via the same Delta flight out of New York LaGuardia. That’s where WLTX reports that Delta shipping clerks “apparently put the wrong shipping labels on the caskets.”

As a result, a casket bound for Virginia ended up arriving in South Carolina and vice versa. The mix-up forced one funeral to be delayed by a day. The other funeral went on as scheduled, though the family had some nervous moments as the body arrived only about two hours prior to the event.

“Delta deeply regrets this unfortunate situation. We are investigating the matter and will work closely with the family during this difficult time,” Delta spokesman Russell Carson said to WABC of New York when asked about the Virginia family.

“You hear about this stuff happening on TV, but not to our family, you know?” Latasha Crumpton tells WLTX. Her uncle – Purdy Walker – was in the casket sent to Virginia instead of South Carolina.

The family and friends of Stanley Williams – the other casket to be shipped to the wrong place – tell WABC the mistake made it harder for them to grieve.

“It’s hard enough that you have to bury one of your loved ones and then to find out that the airline screwed up and prolonged the process, it’s crazy, it’s unbelievable,” Williams’ friend Josette Cerutti says to WABC.

The 50-year-old Williams died unexpectedly while trying to cross New York City’s Harlem River Drive, according to WABC.

The other family involved appeared to take things in stride, with Crumpton telling WLTX that her uncle (Purdy Walker) was a jokester.

“I’m sure he’s laughing about it,” Crumpton says, before adding: “I know he is. He went with the flow.”

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Airline passengers may think twice about checking their bags after seeing a video released this month by Italian police.

The video is part of a hidden-camera sting that caught dozens of airline baggage handlers stealing from customers’ checked luggage. Some brazen handlers even appeared to trash bags that had no valuables in them, according to authorities.

Police say they were able to catch the thieves after installing hidden cameras in the cargo holds of planes belonging to Italian carrier Alitalia. Among the thieves’ loot, according to police, were cameras, cellphones, cash and other belongings pilfered from fliers’ bags.

The Associated Press reports 29 handlers were arrested. UPI, the London Telegraph and London Daily Mail say another 57 were taken in for questioning. CNN adds all of those arrested were employees of Alitalia.

Alitalia says it cooperated with police, who conducted the hidden-camera sting at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport and about a half-dozen other Italian airports.

The investigation first began in 2011 at the airport serving the southern city Lamezia Terme, located in the “toe” of boot-shaped Italy, according to AP.

Lamezia Terme airport deputy police chief Ferruccio Martucci says investigators there were stumped about how the belongings were being stolen. He says they theorized the only place where handlers could be assured of secrecy was in the cargo holds. So, Martucci says police acted on that theory by installing temperature- and pressure-resistant cameras to the cargo areas of some Alitalia planes. That apparently allowed authorities to identify the handlers that they believed were responsible for the thefts. The investigation then spread to other airports.

If convicted, the accused handlers could be jailed for up to six years.

CNN adds that “the accused have been charged with criminal offenses including theft, aggravated theft and damage, since the luggage that they were not able to open was sometimes damaged out of spite, police said.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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United Airlines will restart Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” flights on May 20, putting the aircraft on hub-to-hub routes out of Houston Bush Intercontinental.

United spokeswoman Christen David confirmed the news to Today in the Sky, saying the Dreamliner flights became visible in United’s reservation system with a May 4 schedule update.

Until that update, United’s resumption of Dreamliner service had been set for May 31 in United’s flight schedules, though the carrier indicated at the time “additional schedule changes” were possible.

As for the May 20 restart date, United’s first 787 flight be will be an 11 a.m. CT departure from Houston to Chicago O’Hare.

It will be the airline’s first flight on the jet since it was grounded by safety regulators in mid-January because of overheating concerns on its lithium-ion batteries. The Federal Aviation Administration approved Boeing’s proposed fix for the problem on April 25, paving the way for the new-age jet to resume passenger flights.

Ethiopian Airlines was the world’s first carrier to resume passenger flights on the jet, flying the 787 on its Addis Ababa-Nairobi route on April 27. Qatar Airways also resumed its Dreamliner service last week, returning the jet to service on its Doha-London route.

Back to United, the carrier currently is scheduled to use the Dreamliner for just one round-trip flight on its busy Chicago-Houston schedule on May 20. United’s Dreamliner will appear on an increasing number of Chicago-Houston flights through the rest of the month and into June.

Elsewhere, United’s Dreamliners will begin operating some flights between Houston and Denver on May 21 and between Houston and Los Angeles on May 24. Dreamliner flights on those routes will ramp up in the coming weeks as well.

The Dreamliner will return to international service for United on June 10, when the airline uses the jet to launch nonstop service between Denver and Tokyo Narita.

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Frontier Airlines today announced a major shakeup to its fare structure. Hardest hit will be passengers who don’t book directly via the carrier’s FlyFrontier.com website.

Starting this summer, customers who book anywhere other than Frontier’s website will have to start paying for checked bags and drinks, and they’ll earn only a 25% of the frequent-flier miles that they would receive from booking at FlyFrontier.com.

Among the biggest changes is that carry-on bags will soon cost $25 per bag if paid in advance or $100 if paid at the gate.

There’s a significant caveat, however: customers who book at Frontier’s FlyFrontier.com website will be exempt from the fee. Frontier’s elite-level members of its EarlyReturns frequent-flier program also will not have to pay the fees.

Frontier says the carry-on fee change will take effect in summer 2013, with the start date to be announced later this spring.

The move is the latest in an effort by Frontier to steer more customers directly to its website to purchase tickets.

But Frontier says it also is making the change after receiving complaints its top-tier fliers about overhead storage bins filling up before they can stow their carry-ons.

“With this change, we are ensuring that our most loyal customers – Ascent and Summit level members of EarlyReturns, those who book Economy, Classic and Classic Plus tickets, including all customers who book through FlyFrontier.com, will have more space onboard the aircraft for their carry-on bags,” Frontier CEO David Siegel says in a statement. “As we unbundle our product further, we ensure those customers who want the absolute lowest fares can always find them at FlyFrontier.com.”

Frontier sells three fare types on its website, with “Economy” fares being the lowest and coming with the fewest amount of perks. Frontier’s “Classic” and “Classic Plus” fare types each offer more perks for correspondingly higher prices. Frontier labels fares sold through third-party sites as “Basic” fares.

Among other changes, Frontier says its fee for a first checked bag will remain $20 when purchased during at FlyFrontier.com but will increase to $25 when purchased at airport check-in for all Economy and Basic fare tickets booked on or after June 1 for travel on or after July 11.

Frontier also will begin charging non-elite customers flying on its lowest fares for drinks. The carrier will charge $1.99 for coffee, tea, soda and juice – part of what Frontier describes “as part of (its) transformation into an ultra low-cost carrier.”

“All customers will now receive a full can of soda or juice and customers choosing coffee will be offered free refills,” Frontier says in its statement.

Again, Frontier’s top-level frequent-fliers will be exempt from the beverage charge. Also exempt will be customers who purchase Froniter’s Classic Plus and Classic fares. Customers buying Frontier’s cheapest “Economy” and and third-party “Basic” fare types will have to pay for beverages other than water.

Changes are coming on the frequent-flier front, as well.

Frontier already had moved to reduce mileage earned for customers who bought their tickets anywhere other than Frontier’s website. Those benefits now will be diminished even further.

Frontier says that beginning July 1, mileage earned on tickets bought from third-party sites will only earn 25% of miles flown – down from the current 50%.

All tickets bought at FlyFrontier.com will continue to earn 100% of the miles flown for Economy tickets, with 25% and 50% bonuses for Class and Classic Plus fares, respectively.

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Turkish Airlines is considering banning alcohol on its flights to and from Russia in an effort to curb unruly fliers on those routes, according a report in the Russian newspaper Izvestia. The story has since been picked up by several English-language outlets, including The Washington Post and Eurasianet.org.

In its WorldView blog, The Washington Post writes:

“The proposed ban comes after a string of incidents involving Russian passengers who had too much to drink and became unruly. Last year alone, 28 such incidents on Turkish Airlines flights between Turkey and Russia required police intervention. Earlier this month, an audibly drunk Russian man on a Turkish Airlines flight got into a confrontation with several members of a Russian soccer team who were also the flight. A cell phone video of the altercation shows the men wrestling in the aisle.”

Eurasianet.org – which notes that “the photo used (by Izvestia) to illustrate the article says it all” – wonders aloud if the “article was meant to serve as a warning for any hard-partying Russians coming to Turkey to keep their drinking firmly grounded.”

Turkey is a top holiday destination for Russian travelers. In addition, Turkish Airlines has become an increasingly big player for connecting flights in the region, where its well-positioned Istanbul hub has allowed the carrier to grow.

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A 19-year-old man suffering from Tourette’s syndrome was barred from a JetBlue flight after the man kept repeating “bomb” at Washington’s Reagan National Airport.

The passenger, Michael Doyle, 19, of Rockville, Md., was ticketed to travel from Washington to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he was to participate in a Revolutionary War re-enactment, according to The Associated Press.

Doyle tells Fox 5 of Washington that he produced paperwork documenting his illness, just in case he had an incident that concerned security personnel.

Tourette’s syndrome is a neurological disorder that can cause uncontrolled speech.

Doyle estimates he repeated “bomb” as many as 100 times. AP writes Doyle “said he had the Boston Marathon bombings on his mind, as he became more nervous, the problem worsened.”

“I was telling myself in my head before don’t say bomb,” Doyle explains to ABC News. “When you try to suppress Tourette’s, it comes out even worse.”

Doyle says Transportation Security Administration officials let him through security and onto the plane. But Doyle says the problem came from a pilot on his JetBlue flight. The pilot, apparently unable to get past Doyle’s “bomb” talk, asked him to get off the flight just before departure.

“We went through TSA saying ‘bomb’ the whole time and no one stopped us,” Doyle tells Fox 5. “No one said anything because they were aware.”

Describing being barred from the flight, Doyle tells Fox 5: “I mean they stood me up in front of everyone and told me like I’m in kindergarten that I’m not allowed to go on the plane.”

New York-based JetBlue issued a statement saying the pilot initially had a security concern but later determined the situation was “innocuous” and offered Doyle a spot on the next flight, according to AP.

Doyle acknowledges he was offered a free round-trip ticket on another JetBlue flight, but says he was given no guarantee that he would be allowed to fly.

Ultimately, Doyle and a friend he was traveling with gave up on their trip to Puerto Rico.

“It is very frustrating, especially after three hours of sitting there and two years planning, and it just doesn’t happen,” Doyle’s 20-year-old friend Chaz Petteway says to ABC News.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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