Air Zimbabwe is shutting down for several days because they have no aircraft suitable to operate.
On December 30 their Boeing 737-200 went out of service. It reportedly needs 45 days of maintenance, though may not return to the fleet. Their only other aircraft, a Boeing 767-200, needs maintenance that’s expected to take several days.
The cockpit isn’t a place where you want distractions. It’s also not a place where you want anything other than flying to be a priority.
American Airlines should be close to introducing premium economy awards. They’ve retrofitted much of their widebody fleet of Boeing 777s, 787-9s, and now some 787-8s to offer a premium economy cabin. However they have not had an option to redeem premium economy seats for miles.
I expect to see premium economy awards introduced this month, at least that’s what’s been confirmed to me by two well-placed sources at American.
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.
AirAsia operates out of terminal 2 in Kuala Lumpur. And AirAsia’s CEO is none too impressed with the facility. He shared his thoughts on twitter, creating quite a buzz.
Well run airports have procedures in place to handle this, and airline CEOs don’t need to take to twitter to have the issue addressed.
My own take on world’s second best business class is Star Alliance member EVA Air based in Taipei. They should be on everyone’s radar because they also frequently have very good award availability from their US gateways and offer good connectivity into Asia.
Already they offer great seats — reverse herringbone that’s similar to what Cathay Pacific has — but they take things a step beyond with pajamas, pre-order meals, great champagne, and quality amenity kits. And their service is top notch.
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.
During the government shutdown most employees are furloughed. TSA screeners, however, are supposed to work. They won’t be paid until funding is restored. Screeners have been calling out sick at a higher rate than normal with what’s being referred to as ‘blue flu’ (screeners wear blue uniforms).
At Miami the sick out rate is higher than average, and the airport will close the G concourse checkpoints in the afternoon to compensate. G primarily serves United, Frontier, Sun County, and Bahamasair.
For your strategic awareness, two American Express Centurion lounges will be closed temporarily starting Monday — Miami and Las Vegas.
Worldwide there’s a significant pilot shortage in commercial aviation. However at Etihad, where the airline has been scaling back from an expansive growth posture, they believe they have too many pilots.
According to an internal memo Etihad will be laying off some of their excess pilots this month.
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 »
