Many folks are increasingly worried about their United Mileage Plus miles, as the airline publicly discusses the possibility of liquidation and as the effects of an invasion in Iraq play havoc with United’s revenue. Randy Petersen, whom I much respect, thinks that United miles are certainly safe over the coming weeks, and I’ve gotten the impression from him that he believes the Mileage Plus program will be safe (in some form) even if the airline itself goes away. His argument (though I don’t wish to speak for him, and it’s possible that I won’t do it justice) is that the loyalty program is a value creator rather than a cost. Air Canada sold off a chunk of it’s program for a nice amount of money. Randy thinks Mileage Plus is worth perhaps $3 billion, whereas…
About Gary Leff
At least you’d be able to afford EasyPass award rates
Enter this 1,000,000 Continental Onepass mile sweepstakes from Lending Tree.
McKinsey & Co.: Bubonic plague for the airlines?
Steven Pearlstein lampoons McKinsey & Co’s airline consulting practice — and United and Delta for hiring them at $1 million per month. His Washington Post piece uses United’s 278-page January creditors committee presentation as a case in point.
McKinsey & Co.: Bubonic plague for the airlines?
Steven Pearlstein lampoons McKinsey & Co’s airline consulting practice — and United and Delta for hiring them at $1 million per month. His Washington Post piece uses United’s 278-page January creditors committee presentation as a case in point.
McKinsey & Co.: Bubonic plague for the airlines?
Steven Pearlstein lampoons McKinsey & Co’s airline consulting practice — and United and Delta for hiring them at $1 million per month. His Washington Post piece uses United’s 278-page January creditors committee presentation as a case in point.
Less Traffic, Higher Fares
Earlier this month, I said that military action against Iraq would not necessarily lower air fares — at least not immediately. Now Reuters is reporting on fare increases for international premium class travel. This isn’t surprising, really. Anyone flying internationally now is probably doing so because they really need to and so are among the least price-sensitive consumers. Lower air traffic eventually translates into lower fares, but in the short-term, just like after 9/11, some fares may actually go up.
Bombs Fly, You Don’t
An update on international flight cancellations in light of the current unpleasantness.
The socio-political implications of a Douglas DC-3
A Cuban plane was hijacked and diverted to Florida late Wednesday night. There’s nothing too surprising about that, given current information. I wouldn’t want to live in Cuba either. But for anyone who ever questions just how backward Cuba is, note this one salient point about the story — the plane was a DC-3, still in regular operation in Cuba, sixty-seven years after it was first introduced.
USAirways to Test Selling Food Onboard
USAirways begins its two-week test tomorrow on flights between Pittsburgh and Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Kansas City, Nashville, and New Orleans. Here’s the press release.
What Does TSA Stand For?
The TSA stands for Taxpayer Soaking Agency. And I thought it mean (T)housands (S)tanding (A)round or (T)aking (S)cissors (A)way.
