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.
The Emirates A350 Deal Shows Why to Treat Aircraft Order Announcements With Skepticism
At the Dubai Air Show Emirates placed a firm order for 50 Airbus A350-900s “at $16 billion in list prices. Deliveries will start in May 2023 and run until 2028.”
Great news for Airbus? No, not really.
American Airlines Expected to Acquire Alaska Airlines Airbus A319s
Back in February 2018 I wrote that American was in the market for used Airbus A319s and might pick some up from Frontier. And then six months later that’s exactly what they did.
A couple of months ago I wrote that American was again looking to acquire used Airbus A319s.
United Airlines Reseats Passenger Who Wouldn’t Sit Next to a Black Woman
On Saturday 16 year old Taylor Richardson reports that she flew United flight UA2369 from Denver to Jacksonville, Florida. She’s black, and says the white man assigned to sit beside her refused to sit next to her because of her race. He flagged down a United flight attendant, who then apparently changed his seat.
Is This The Biggest Boarding Pass That Has Ever Been Printed?
For years airlines have allowed you to print your own boarding pass at home. They don’t even usually tell you what kind of paper you’re allowed to use. We know you’ll cause some hysteria if you generate boarding passes for flights you don’t actually have a ticket for. But beyond that, are there limits to what you can get away with?
This is actually a pretty good gag, but if you decide to try it at home it’s a good idea to have a backup copy that’s smaller – just in case. And beware, travel alone is subject to flight shaming – just imagine if you waste paper, too!
The A320 Has Overtaken the Boeing 737 As Most Popular Plane
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.
Is Singapore Airlines About to Announce Chicago – Singapore Non-Stop?
There are several clues that suggest Singapore Airlines may use their A350 Ultra Long Range to launch Chicago – Singapore non-stop starting in fall 2020.
Airline CEO Wants Government to Ban Business Class for the Public Good
Every business can do this, cloak their self-interested lobbying in the mantle of benefit for a broader public good. Indeed, most businesses who seek to profit by political rather than economic means do this today. It’s just exceptionally common in the airline industry, where government corruption has run rife on consumer interests for a hundred years.
Can’t Look Away: On This Flight Every Seat Back Television Was Tuned to the Same Thing
This is much better than the olden days when everyone on a plane watched the same thing because there were just overhead monitors, and one thing playing on all of them. On an American Airlines flight from Sydney to Honolulu to Dallas back in 1991 they kept playing John Goodman’s King Ralph over and over – and I wanted to impeach the airline’s Vice President of Inflight.
United Now Charges a Fee for Close-In Booking of Awards – Collected in Miles Instead of Money
It’s sad that United maintained they weren’t making changes to partner award pricing – and then did so immediately on the very day they eliminated close-in booking fees in cash.
As a general matter they appear to be charging more for close-in redemption of United flights, too – so there’s no ‘fee’ for close-in booking, just a mileage penalty.