Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for June 2022.

Seven Year Airline Drama At Dallas Love Field Settles With Government Subsidies For Delta

by Gary Leff

Jun 23 2022

After a number of gate leases Southwest Airlines had 18 of the airport’s 20 gates. Alaska Airlines had 2. And Delta found themselves without a gate in the game of musical airport chairs.

However the Department of Transportation said that the City of Dallas had to continue to accommodate Delta at Love Field even though it had no gates to do so, couldn’t legally build more, and Southwest had a valid lease for the gate Delta was using. Everyone wound up in court.

The FAA threated to issue a determination that the City of Dallas was in noncompliance with its Federal grant obligations in the operation of Dallas Love Field, making them ineligible for FAA grant funds.

Everyone wound up in Court.

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[FINAL WEEK] (3) 100,000 Avios Offers End This Month

by Gary Leff

Jun 23 2022

“>British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus enthusiasts should know that earning 100,000 Avios by spending $5,000 in three months is departing soon. Additionally, the ability to earn 5x Avios on eligible flights and 3x Avios on hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel is ending as well. Apply for the card before June 30th to take advantage of this massive bonus!”

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LA Mandates Hotels Offer Daily Housekeeping, Hotels Claim Cleaning Is Bad For The Environment

by Gary Leff

Jun 23 2022

While the lack of daily housekeeping means that trash piles up in rooms and hallways, that it’s tougher to clean rooms between guests since the rooms become dirtier, and thus it’s more likely new guests receive dirty accommodations, as long as hotels meet basic cleanliness standards it’s hard to see making daily housekeeping a law.

Nonetheless do not ever believe a hotel chain or lobbying association when they say their practices are intended to benefit the environment. And here remember that the biggest advance in the history of public health that extends lifespans is cleanliness.

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Did The APA Pilots Union Slander American Airlines On National TV?

by Gary Leff

young female pilot ready for takeoff
Jun 22 2022

American Airlines pilots union spokesman Dennjs Tajer went on CNBC Squawk Box and made a number of claims against the airline. Some of them are true – like American not keeping pilots current during the pandemic despite receiving government subsidies in order to do so – and then there’s this claim: that the federal government is advising employees not to book travel on American.

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United’s CEO Blames Fuel Prices For High Fares But That’s Not Really True

by Gary Leff

baggage truck by plane
Jun 22 2022

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby blames high fuel prices for unprecedented increases in airfares. That’s a new tune for Kirby who argued for a doubling of airfares even in 2018.

Airfares increased 18% in April, the biggest increase for a month since the government began tracking this nearly 60 years ago. Fuel prices, though, aren’t the reason why.

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The Safety Lesson From Viral Videos Of Yesterday’s Dramatic Landing Gear Collapse In Miami

by Gary Leff

Jun 22 2022

On Tuesday Dominican low cost carrier Red Air had a landing gear collapse on arrival in Miami. The McDonnell Douglas MD-82 operating flight L5-203 from Santo Domingo with 126 people on board “came to a stand still off the runway with a fire developing at the right hand wing, where a fuel spill occurred.” Three people were hospitalized from minor injuries during the evacuation.

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American To Flight Attendants: Let’s Test Not Taking Headphones From Passengers Before Landing

by Gary Leff

Jun 22 2022

One of the more common pet peeves among American Airlines business class passengers is the tendency for flight attendants to collect headphones an hour or more prior to arrival.

On an overnight flight this means that announcements about headphones are disturbing passengers who may still be trying to sleep. And it means that passengers can’t continue to use the headphones for the remainder of their flight.

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The Game Theory Behind Whether JetBlue Drops Its American Airlines Partnership

by Gary Leff

Jun 21 2022

Spirit’s board almost has to take JetBlue’s offer now unless Frontier comes up with more cash. The federal government then has to make a choice whether to sign off on it in order to kill the JetBlue-American Airlines Northeast Alliance. If they make that offer, JetBlue almost has to take it.

Frontier winds up with divested slots and gates in the Northeast anyway. JetBlue massively overpays. American loses its New York strategy. And the big winners wind up Delta and United, who face less competition for New York (and Boston).

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