New and notes from around the interweb:
- In my first Forbes.com piece I break news on why Delta CEO Ed Bastian really skipped the Oval Office meeting of airline CEOs with President Trump.
- How China Lost Hong Kong: Compromise or crackdown are the only options left for Beijing.
- Man calls in bomb threat in attempt to date a Lufthansa flight attendant. Then again John Hinckley Jr. seemed to think shooting Ronald Reagan would impress Jodie Foster.
- Was the Capital One data breach just meant as research? It may be that nothing illicit was done with the data, nor ever intended.
- Inside the short window airlines have to turn planes
- Air New Zealand should probably cease flying and focus on its core safety video production business.
Air All Blacks… it's got a nice ring to it 🖤 #CrazyAboutRugby #AirNZSafetyVideo pic.twitter.com/fHsVFKEtN4
— Air New Zealand✈️ (@FlyAirNZ) July 31, 2019
- Where’s Samuel Jackson for bats when you need him?
Regarding the Delta CEO that seems like a completely fine explanation. Unfortunately it is risky in this scenario. He might need to book a board meeting at a Trump hotel to make up for it.
Congrats on the Forbes piece!
Good reporting on the Bastian absence. Bastian made a bad decision, which I’m sure he now regrets. I have great sympathy for scheduled vacation, but as CEO of an S&P 500 he could have — and should have — adjusted his vacation plans. You don’t get an audience with the President on an important issue affecting your company very often. Obviously, Trump was annoyed by Bastian’s absence. It didn’t help his cause. Your free flights to the Maldives are safe for awhile.
I’m laughing at the bat video because you can plainly see some guy sleeping through it all with his mouth open…
Yes Trump is President. And it means something to meet with the President. However, why put anything on hold just to attend a mtg that will have NO results? If the answer was contact DOT then why even bother meeting with the President? I don’t fault Mr Bastian for not attending…
Congrats on being a Forbes contributor. As a market analyst with a daily blog / report of my own; I appreciate the work you do in assessing and compiling airline industry developments. I also concur that nothing would have been achieved by Ed Bastian’s attendance; other than the political inference that doesn’t totally vanish by his absence (such as sending the family ahead and taking later flight; it is not like he’d not be allowed to change flights without an extra fee 🙂 )… keep up the good work!