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News and notes from around the interweb:
- Plastiq is running a promotion to let you pay bills charged to your credit card (they mail a check) and you won’t pay a fee on the first $500 if you pay with Masterpass.
- In a sting operation, an employee of Envoy Air (American Airlines wholly owned regional subsidiary) offered to use his airport credentials at DFW to smuggle C4 explosives onto a plane.
- Royal Jordanian in talks to add 23 planes as part of its turnaround plan. A majority government-owned airline in the Mideast that loses money yet American Airlines has no problem with them.
- Delta expanding pre-selection of meals in business class on routes from the US starting June 1. This is one of those odd areas where American had Delta beat by several years.
- Cathay Pacific’s new blockchain rewards. Every consultant is trying to sell blockchain to loyalty programs but I’ve yet to come up with an actual use case that both makes real world sense and is something a program would want to do.
- NSFW: How airline boarding zones work. (HT: Pizza in Motion)
Ramp workers are the real weak link in aircraft safety. They have unfettered access to the cargo hold, are low skilled with low pay and higher turnover, and they don’t end up flying in the plane! Leave the pilots alone focus security screening on the ground crew.