Monthly Archives for May 2024.
Shortly after takeoff customers began verbally sparring, and the fight happened on landing in Boston.
Two men exchanging punches in the aisle, with a bold flight attendant intervening to separate them using her arms as shields. The scuffle continued with the men falling onto seats and resuming their fight.
A United Airlines passenger wonders what to do when the man sitting next to them has his arm resting on theirs. The aisle seat passenger doesn’t fit inside the confines of their own seat, and he extends into their middle seat. He takes up two armrests, even though the one between him and the middle seat passenger is already taken.
A Hertz Presidents Circle customer was charged a fee of $277.39 for not filling up the gas on a Tesla model 3 in Los Angeles. This is an obvious, impossible claim because it’s a Tesla that doesn’t run on gas. But Hertz customer service is so bad, that they kept doubling down saying that there’s ‘nothing they can do’ about the charge.
Several Southwest Airlines pilots have been refusing to allow United pilots to fly in their jump seats, following an incident where a ‘relatively new’ United pilot (recently hired from a regional carrier) reported a safety incident she observed while jumpseating.
A strong showing may signal ‘resolve’ to the company – that flight attendants are united in getting a good deal and won’t settle. But they probably do little else. Picketing in front of the White House might get more media, and make a point to the President not to intervene the way President Clinton did, halting an American Airlines flight attendants strike in 1993. I’m quite optimistic that a strike can be avoided altogether.
French air traffic controllers have won the right to show up for work three hours late and knock off work three hours early; a raise of more than $19,000; 18 more days off each year; and retirement pensions at age 59.
JetBlue is in a rough spot. They’re losing money. Their primary strategic plays – acquiring Spirit to have the planes and pilots to benefit from their American Airlines partnership – have been lost to Biden administration opposition. Now both Spirit and JetBlue fight for their lives, as the DOJ anti-trust suits may turn out to reduce competition in the industry (and of course help United but especially Delta in New York and Boston).
In March I wrote that JetBlue would cut some transatlantic flying and this announcement would come in April. It looks like the timing was off by about a week, but that they are pulling back on winter trips across the Pond. That’s a sinkhole for money and JetBlue can’t afford losses right now.
Fighting for San Juan, and offering premium service to winter long distance domestic destinations from New York makes good sense.
There’s a legit fare sale from Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal. They’re mostly promoting good coach deals (like Chicago to Copenhagen from $379 roundtrip), but it turns out there are even better business class offers. And the fare deals allow Lisbon stopovers at no extra charge.
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 »
