An off-duty flight attendant flying as a passenger delayed an AirAsia flight for about 90 minutes after refusing to calm down, insisting crew speak Chinese, and forcing police to board the aircraft.
The Trump administration is reportedly preparing a $500 million bailout for Spirit Airlines, a carrier that has already burned through bankruptcy, taxpayer aid, and private capital without finding a viable business model. If this goes through, it will not just hand public money to a failing airline — it will normalize using legally dubious federal power to socialize losses for companies the market has already given up on.
Finnish Air Force cadets turned a routine training exercise into a juvenile aviation tradition, tracing at least four phalluses and two hearts in the sky near Jyväskylä. The flights reportedly stayed within their assigned training area and posed no danger, but the Air Force says the cadets still face disciplinary consequences.
American Airlines will announce a deal that gives ConciergeKey members access to PS private terminals, extending one of the most exclusive ground products in commercial aviation to its top customers. This fits with PS’s expansion into Dallas and Miami this summer and gives American a new way to make its invitation-only status feel meaningfully more premium than priority check-in, golf carts, and upgrade priority.
Frontier Airlines is suing American after another gate collision between the two carriers, arguing this latest incident was not just a one-off ground accident but part of a pattern. Liability seems clear but it’s not obvious how much Frontier can recover beyond repair costs, and American has already offered to pay half.
A Delta passenger who appeared intoxicated was removed from a flight after landing, but the story took a darker turn the next day when she returned to the airport with little memory of what had happened. Witness accounts suggest she may have been drugged, raising the possibility that what looked like a routine removal of a drunk passenger may actually have prevented something much worse.
The problem for Spirit is that they really have very little of actual value for an investor or acquirer.
American Airlines served a business class meal with glass in it, plus Southwest gate-checking bags despite empty bin space, Alaska and Bank of America extending their card deal, better meals returning to American at Heathrow, and more.
Shortly after takeoff from Las Vegas, a Southwest captain was struck in the head by the cockpit heads-up display hard enough to leave him seeing stars and vomiting, forcing the flight to turn back.
A top United executive took a personal shot at American Airlines CEO Robert Isom during FAA meetings over Chicago O’Hare, saying “he’s no Bob Crandall” while arguing American’s weak position there was the result of its own decisions.
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 »
