News notes from around the interweb:
- The crazy story how the sale of Chinese insurance giant Anbang’s hotel portfolio went sideways. It involves the company’s incarcerated former chairman making trademark claims, and using those to dispute ownership over the hotels. Kind of like the man who claimed to own a New York hotel after staying there because of the city’s rent control laws and he got a court to agree.
- More Larry Summers on the stupidity of the airline bailout
I cannot understand why grants should have been made to airlines to enable them to continue to function, rather than allowing their share values to be further depressed, and allowing those who would earn substantial premiums by taking risk on airline bonds to do so, accepting the consequences of an investment gone wrong.
- First time back flying trip report.
- Report from the front lines, American Airlines flight attendants refusing to do drink service or offer alcohol in first class
- United being sued for an accident that didn’t even happen on one of their planes because codeshare.
- 500 free Lufthansa miles for downloading their app
Just be eternally grateful that Anbang didn’t get their rotten fingers on Starwood…Marriott looks like a blessing from heaven in comparison with the horrors such a deal would have entailed….