The aviation world was apoplectic this week at the suggestion that President Trump’s personal pilot John Dunkin could be named to head the FAA. It may have just been payback for the FAA eliminating navigation waypoints named for Trump in 2015. However Trump has been on record for awhile saying the agency should be headed by a pilot.
In this week’s “Tell Me Why” podcast for American Airlines employees, airline CFO Derek Kerr explains why they do not hedge fuel.
I offer a slightly different formulation of Kerr’s answer and it evinces surprising humility and self awareness.
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.
There are high wind warnings in the DC area. Gusts at National airport have been as high as 60 miles per hour.
Passengers are throwing up.
The flight attendant who runs the ‘Flight Service Official’ Facebook page made up of American Airlines employees says the group’s number one question is whether they’ll “ever see profit sharing numbers competitive with other airlines like Delta and Southwest.”
American should offer to match Delta on pay and profit sharing on equal terms with Delta. American’s unions will never agree to this of course. They want a less efficient work force that makes more.
Delta and United rescinded their group discount offer for NRA members over the weekend. United is based in Chicago and we expect gun violence there I guess. But Delta has taken a lot of heat for their position and tried to walk it back claiming they weren’t really taking a position.
There’s a lot of misinformation out there in the ongoing story of Georgia politicians blasting Delta for their move.
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.
At an American Airlines Crew News Q&A session between employees and management one flight attendant raised the problem that customers don’t know how to access the inflight video American is providing, “Our customers are having a problem finding the landing page for our inflight internet… they’re having a hard time finding the videos. I probably get 5, 6 people asking on a flight.”
A man onboard oneworld carrier S7 — Siberian Airlines’ Airbus A320 flight S7-3338 from St Petersburg to Novosibirsk was detained by armed police on landing. He reported sexually assaulted a woman, tried to strangle other women, and even attacked a baby after shouting about ‘Olympic Gold medals’.
We don’t usually get to see what happens next, after the passenger is taken off the aircraft. But there’s actually video of the man in his holding cell. Quite a piece of work.
American its transatlantic joint venture partners announced that they are rolling out Basic Economy fares across the Pond, following the lead of Delta and its partners.
File this under completely expected, but another degradation in the travel experience that offers less value to customers at the same price.
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 »
