Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for March 2024.

$600 Or More: Is Splurging on High-End Hotels Really Worth Your Money?

by Gary Leff

Park Hyatt New York Proves Why Hotel Loyalty Makes Sense
Mar 03 2024

There’s a live social media debate over whether expensive hotels are “that much better” so as to justify their extra cost – that a modest price over cheaper accommodations may buy you a better stay, but that once you get past a few hundred dollars the extra money just doesn’t buy you very much.

I think there’s a lot of nuance to this, and I don’t spend $600 or more out of pocket on room nights myself though I regularly redeem points for hotels that cost far more than this. My controversial take is that I do feel that they can deliver a lot for the money! But that I’m reluctant to spend that money myself.

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The TikTok E-Commerce Revolution Will Bring More Flights Across The Pacific – But To Where?

by Gary Leff

Mar 03 2024

TikTok isn’t just for showing off your Nyquil chicken, teaching people how to get points from Delta when your luggage is delayed or making videos about eating frozen honey. It’s turned into an e-commerce phenomenon.

And that’s creating a challenge for global air cargo as Shein, Temu and ByteDance’s TikTok Shop try to ship products out of China, especially to consumers in the U.S.

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The FAA Will Let New Air Traffic Controllers Skip The Academy, But That Still May Not Help New York

by Gary Leff

Mar 02 2024

The FAA had gone to off-the-street hiring to meet diversity goals but the problem was there weren’t enough training slots, and qualified controllers were being passed over when we need controllers. Whitaker’s approach lets the agency train controllers from a variety of backgrounds without sacrificing onboarding those that have gone through training privately already.

But what if New York TRACON refuses all new controllers to keep their overtime hours up?

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American Airlines Crew to Stage Wall Street Protest Monday During Carrier’s Investor Day

by Gary Leff

Mar 02 2024

American Airlines flight attendants want bigger raises than American is offering and they want retro pay back several years, like pilots (who have far more leverage).

So while the airline is holding its Investor Day on Monday afternoon, flight attendants will be holding a protest on Wall Street. The location is meant to symbolize investors, or something? Plus it’s New York, so maybe there will be media.

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Quit Saying JSX Exploits A Loophole Just Because They Offer Passengers A Better Product

by Gary Leff

Mar 02 2024

A ‘loophole’ is something that is expressly legal until it’s used in a way we dislike – or in this case, something that airline competitors and unions don’t like. The common connotation of loophole is some sort of mistake or drafting accident that’s being exploited.

However what JSX and others do by operating charter flights under FAA part 135, and selling individual seats on those flights under Part 380, is not actually a loophole. The linkage between parts 135 and 380 in regulations is actually intentional.

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Rumor: American Airlines Adding Seattle Flight Attendant Base

by Gary Leff

american airlines plane
Mar 02 2024

American had planned to fly Seattle to Bangalore and to Shanghai. Neither flight materialized. American isn’t even flying Seattle – London this winter. They aren’t operating long haul at all from Seattle. So it’s been a question mark whether Seattle would actually be a long haul city for American at all – whether their ‘L.A. replacement’ wasn’t one after all, and the airline would just shrink in the Pacific.

So I was surprised by the rumor – not necessarily endorsed – that aviation watchdog JonNYC passes along about the airline adding a flight attendant base in Seattle.

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