News and notes from around the interweb:
- Airbnb entered into a deal with ANA Mileage Plan to award miles for rentals
- Delta is considering an order for 100 narrowbodies to be placed by year end and will choose either Boeing 737 MAX or A320neo series planes to replace Mad Dogs, 757s, and older A320s. Meanwhile United is considering buying 767s.
- British Airway restoring second meal service to long haul economy. Apparently there are limits to how far the former Vueling CEO can cut things at the British carrier. It’s funny though how we didn’t used to want airline food until they took it away…
- Court will hear the petition of a transgendered person denied cabin crew position by Air India as a result of India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation indicating there’s “no category” to include them in.
- Air New Zealand passengers told to delete photos of cracked aircraft windshield and the airline claims the reason is “restrictions around using mobile phones on the tarmac” which is of course silly because it required passengers to continue using those phones to delete the photos. Deleting photos doesn’t undo having used the phones.
- Bank of Utah reportedly registers aircraft in the US for foreigners using trust accounts without knowing their true owners. They’ve registered a plane in the US for Russia’s richest oligarch.
Mr. Croasmun and Mr. Hansen took issue with the suggestion that they were exploiting a loophole to bypass restrictions on foreigners registering aircraft in the United States. By filling the role of “U.S. citizen” for registration purposes, the bank provided a valuable service for, say, multinational companies whose top executives might not be American, they said. The bank is clearly sensitive to concerns raised about the trusts. Its website carries a statement distancing itself from the planes it registers in its name, noting its only role is that of trustee.
- El Al’s CEO has resigned
