Monthly Archives for February 2021.
American Airlines is once again the biggest airline in the world by seats flown, retaking the title from Delta. The four largest airlines in the world by seats being flown right now are all U.S. carriers. The Chinese entrants though have all grown substantially week-over-week.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz just bailed on the state and headed for Mexico, in the midst of a tremendous crisis.
There’s not a ton that Texas Senator Ted Cruz can do to fix the problem now but it’s not a good look, bailing on Texas for a United flight out of Houston to Cancun for warmth while state utilities melt down.
Twenty six employees of Thai Airways are accused of faking their own deaths to collect a death benefit, but still going to work and continuing to collect a paycheck.
A passenger on a Los Angeles – Tokyo flight last year attacked a flight attendant who refused him a cocktail. The captain diverted the flight to Anchorage, and now the man has to pay $49,793 to cover meals and lodging for passengers and crew during the diversion.
He doesn’t have to pay the airline’s additional costs, such as fuel or labor costs, resulting from the diversion. He’ll get 5 years of probation. But he won’t go to prison because his lawyer says he has diabetes, which is a co-morbidity for Covid-19. Covid-19 is his ‘get out of jail’ card.
A couple of weeks ago I flagged a movement to rename Las Vegas airport, ditching former Senator Pat McCarran’s name and replacing it with former Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid’s. Things have moved quickly, and Clark County voted to move forward and ask the FAA for its blessing to honor the retired Senate Democrat.
This is less about honoring Harry Reid and more about cancelling former Democratic Senator Pat McCarran, for whom the airport is currently named.
A passenger on board Delta Air Lines flight DL2349 on Sunday tried to open a cabin door while inflight. That almost never works out the way the passenger wants, because pressurization .
Another passenger on the Boston-bound flight reports that the man was nearly 300 pounds. Law enforcement on board tried to subdue the man after he hit the first class flight attendant, and passenger taking video joined in to help, asking other passengers to hand him a belt to tie the man up.
American Express plans to open a new Centurion lounge at Washington National airport at the end of 2022. It will be at the southern end of the B concourse, and by the time it opens B, B/C and C will all be connected post-security through a combined checkpoint (“Project Journey”).
The lounge will be 11,500 square feet. The lounge will offer shower suites and “floor-to-ceiling windows will offer airfield views ”
In an update from the head of the American Airlines flight attendants union, crewmembers were briefed on the union’s priorities, reflected in their discussions with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
This includes a third airline bailout, vaccine priority, and a “a comprehensive ‘No-Fly List’ to further address threatening and abusive behavior on the airplane”
JetBlue flight attendant Kalina Collier reported on social media that she was being held hostage inside of Jamaica hotel. She had arrived on the island on January 28, and was supposed to be on a flight back February 1. First she had to take a Covid-19 test, which came back positive.
Collier took a second test, which came back negative, but a PCR test sent her to quarantine where she took to social media claiming she was kidnapped and held hostage. She’s been fired – and JetBlue’s CEO has even had to apologize to the government of Jamaica.
Pilots at JetBlue rejected an agreement with the airline that would have allowed them to move forward with their new American Airllines partnership. Ironically it’s probably JetBlue pilots who benefit most from this deal.
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 »
