Monthly Archives for June 2017.
Delta provides funding for charitable causes in communities where it wants to buy goodwill from customers. And it uses that funding as leverage. But the moment that the funding is controversial? The hot money disappears.
Aviation English is the universal language for air traffic control. Pilots and air traffic controllers are supposed to have a minimum level of proficiency.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
easyJet flight 3246 from Ljubljana, Slovenia to London-Stansted diverted to Cologne, Germany Saturday evening because passengers told crew that three men were discussing “terrorist matters” on the flight. One of the men even had a book “with a sniper rifle on the cover.”
We’re going to see more transatlantic destinations coming to American Airlines, and a bunch of changes to the planes that are flying American’s international routes.
What is surprising is that we’ll be seeing this on prime international routes that flight attendants love to fly before the airline integrates flight attendants of the two airlines. American still isn’t set up to have legacy American Airlines flights attendants fly legacy US Airways aircraft and vice versa, or to mix legacy American and legacy US Airways flight attendant crews on the same flights.
Alaska Airlines is doing things differently, as a business strategy. It has the operational reliability of Delta (or better) and the financial performance of Delta (or better, relative to size).
And it’s working to make its customers happy, with a frequent flyer program that’s different than others in the U.S. They still award miles based on distance flown rather than ticket price. Six weeks ago they re-affirmed their commitment to a generous frequent flyer program and upgrades.
A week ago we learned that United would launch Los Angeles – Singapore non-stop flights in October.
The flight will feature United’s typical six-across business class on a Boeing 787-9 (eventually there should be a retrofit to Polaris business class seats) and slimline seats in economy – less padding so they can squeeze in more seats.
Earlier this year I wrote that it’s the golden age of air travel with cheap fares all over the world. Most of those fares have been in economy, with sub-$400 roundtrips to Europe and Asia with amazing flash sales.
The President is expected to announce a new policy towards Cuba as soon as Friday in a planned speech in Miami that would “tighten rules on trade and travel, rolling back parts of former President Barack Obama’s opening to the island.”
Any return to a crackdown on business and tourism is likely to focus rhetoric on abuses of human rights in Cuba, which are of course true. However US policy towards Cuba has failed to foster regime change or liberalization for 50 years, at some point you declare the strategy a failure and try something different instead of doubling down.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
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 »
