We’re not just looking at a new seat, but also more premium seats. I wrote last fall that American Airlines is planning to put more business class seats on planes. That’s true both for their widebodies and also their Airbus A319s.
We’re getting some sense now just what this means from two separate recent reports that I’ve confirmed.
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 were wet pants and faces of desperation on JetBlue flight 1830 from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic to Boston Saturday as the 3 hour 50 minute flight operated without a working lavatory. JetBlue disputes this story.
Jeff Bezos says the biggest mistake businesses make is not focusing most on what customers want. However Marriott’s CEO – who says workers make too much money and guests need to have more sympathy for hotel ownership groups – says his chain needs to modify brand standards to “consider franchisee feedback and..focus on reducing costs.”
Two hoteliers and hospitality consultants are pushing back, making the case that the hotel industry is living a big lie.
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.
American Airlines pilots, as a group, aren’t happy. Their union advises people not to come work for the airline. Usually unions want.. more members, not fewer.
In Los Angeles, though, their pilots have a special beef: they don’t get to fly as many places as they used to. In particular, widebody pilots have almost nowhere to go.
I understand that some people aren’t familiar with Western customs, and should perhaps be forgiven for that, like the gentleman I once saw at the breakfast buffet at a Westin in his bathrobe (and nothing else).
However there’s a place where I think we have to draw a line and reject cultural relativism. Here it is.
American is blaming an inability for crew to even get in touch with the airline on weather when this has happened before and when they’ve promised to fix it so it does not happen again before.
American promised to improve on this a year ago. They didn’t. They said hotel booking desks would get staffed up – both more staff at their outsourced vendor, and also augmenting that with American Airlines staff as well. Now they’ve outlined a four-step plan to avoid crew getting stuck sleeping in airports again.
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.
Before the pandemic one of the American Airlines breakfasts on regional jets was a smoked salmon plate. American’s regional jets don’t have ovens in the galleys so it was a perfect meal to serve cold. I always thought that it was a better choice than an egg dish with sausage on mainline.
In the fall I had a smoked salmon plate on my Los Angeles – Honolulu flight. I was thrilled at the choice, but there was no tomato and I was given a miniature bagel. I’ve often criticized American Airlines for failing to pay attention to the details. On this flight they’d really figured it out.
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 »
