Southwest Airlines reinstated flight attendant Charlene Carter and helped pay a $946,102.87 judgment after a jury found it liable for religious discrimination case – it fired her at the behest of the union as a result of her speaking out with anti-abortion and anti-union messages. But the airline triggered a contempt fight by refusing to send flight attendants the message about their rights that the judge demanded.
Bilt members can now redeem Bilt Cash for Equinox spa, personal training and Pilates, but only with an active membership. Would an Amex Platinum-funded Equinox+ account get you through that hurdle?
American Airlines flight attendants are already warning that new seatback screens will break, generate complaints and delay flights. But that’s not going to ground aircraft, and the screens should make cabins easier to manage, bring back video safety briefings and give employees a stake in a more profitable airline.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian says San Antonio is the airline’s next long-term Texas opportunity after Austin. Gates, lounge space and years of planning could all line up.
Alaska Airlines flight attendants say the carrier’s new long-haul 787 service requires too much work for the staffing provided, and the union is demanding either more crew or a reduced onboard product. Alaska is meeting contractual staffing, but the union says their contract gives them a right to negotiate service levels.
Air France KLM Flying Blue is adding Light, Standard and Flex fare families to award redemption September 8. Base-level pricing and availability stay the same, but non-elites face a choice of fewer benefits or more miles.
Ascott has more than 1,000 operating and pipeline properties, yet it barely registers with many U.S. travelers. Its published status match can confer top-tier Platinum for a year, unlocking unusual perks including 24-hour stays, regional breakfast, airport transfers and invitations to preview new hotels for free.
American Airlines had another duplicate flight number incident, this time near Providence, where two PSA regional jets were both operating as “Blue Streak 5083” in opposite directions. It adds to other recent confusion near Phoenix and Louisville, showing that reusing flight numbers on out-and-back trips works, until delays and aircraft swaps put two planes with the same identifier in the air at once.
A viral claim says a new JAMA Internal Medicine paper shows cosmic radiation is causing deadly cancers in pilots and flight attendants, but that is not what the study proves. Flight crew radiation exposure is real and worth tracking, and some cancers such as melanoma and breast cancer appear elevated in parts of the literature, but this paper does not show that aviation workers are more likely to die of cancer or that inflight radiation caused their cancers.
Airfares have jumped nearly 20% this year and 25.5% since last July. Yet after adjusting for inflation, flying still costs about 20% less than it did in 2016, and hotel prices are now falling.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
