Airlines have been working to use their loyalty programs to shift customers to higher fares, and to make status a benefit for only those flying on those high fares. Eliminating change fees on the one hand, while doubling down on using Basic Economy as the tool to segment customers, is the latest attempt at doing this.
The Atlanta-bound passengers were part of a larger party. You can hear another passenger saying, “Come get Aaliyah, she’s fighting” and “Aaliyah, stop, stop” then a man and woman approach the battling ladies who hit each other in the head. One throws the other woman up against the jetbridge wall. And a crew member calls for backup.
As a result of the ruling, you can now sue TSA for any intentional battery they may inflict on you as a passenger in the states of Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. They join Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania (as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands) in recognizing this right of redress.
In the 11th Circuit states of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia you cannot sue under the 2014 decision in Jonathan Corbett v. TSA. Increasingly then we’re seeing a circuit split, making it possible that the Supreme Court may someday rule on TSA-imposed beatings and sovereign immunity.
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IHG hotels, the chain that includes Holiday Inn, Kimpton, Intercontinental, and related brands, is bringing its flexible cancellation policy to an end. All of the major hotel chains have sought to encourage new bookings by making them very low risk for consumers. IHG says, though, ‘no more’ after September 30.
There’s a huge desire to get hotel pricing and restrictions ‘back to normal’ but I don’t think the world is back to normal yet, and if other chains don’t follow IHG will be at a competitive disadvantage.
It isn’t often that Delta copies United but, like American, they’re also going to waive change fees. All three of course are copying Southwest Airlines – which doesn’t charge baggage fees either.
While Delta’s announcement was rushed out because of United’s move, they’ve actually been considering doing this for some time. They were talking about rethinking change fees at the beginning of 2020.
United announced an end to change fees on most domestic tickets. American matched in less than a day, including more destinations. They’re extending change fee waivers on international, basic economy, and award tickets to the end of the year. And they’re letting Basic Economy customers have elite benefits again, too.
After taking over at American Airlines, management spent $12.4 billion buying back stock over a six year period at an average price of $39.76 per share. Now they’re facing over $40 billion in debt and looking for a second government bailout this year.
At an internal Crew News session at the end of last week, a pilot asked the airline’s CEO Doug Parker if the airline is able to claw its way back, whether he’d change the way the airline is run – paying down debt instead of buying stock?
At the end of last week American Airlines told its pilots that based on conversations with the FAA and Administrator Stephen Dickson that they “see the finish line, it’s making good progress” bringing the Boeing 737 MAX into service. Their “targeted timeframe… [is] end of October-ish for the ungrounding to occur” for the aircraft. American intends to fly passengers in commercial service with the MAX starting in the second half of December.
According to Vasu Raja, we can expect more point-to-point leisure routes, changes to the airline’s fee structure, and changes to AAdvantage with business travelers gone. The airline is trying to see itself as “more like a $2 billion startup than a $45 billion airline that lost a lot of stuff.”
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 »
