Category Archives for Airlines.
Delta is planning for a premium-heavy Airbus A350-1000 widebody, with the first plane being delivered next year. These planes will feature a new Delta One Suite in business class, as well as new economy seats.
American has decided to reverse course on pajamas. There will also be mattress pads. And they won’t be taking away the slippers to pay for it.
A major wind stom in Las Vegas kept planes from landing on Tuesday. American’s Chicago to Las Vegas flight 2254 made an unusal diversion – to Bullhead City, Arizona, an airport that lacks commercial service.
Emirates is only marginally useful as a transfer partner. Their awards are expensive and they impose draconian fuel surcharges as well. You can also transfer to Qantas and redeem saver inventory at similar or better pricing in many cases.
Probably the most misunderstood thing in all of aviation is speed tape. Passengers see what looks like ‘duct tape’ on their plane, and they worry whether it will hold together. The plane doesn’t look safe and first impressions over safety matter right now with aviation safety top of mind given the issues we’ve seen with the Boeing 737 MAX 9 door plug, air traffic control mishaps, and pilot error over the past couple of years.
If two people sit together on a plane and hit it off, and they wind up together in the end, then it’s an adorable story – like the couple who met on a Southwest Airlines flight, had the pastor from their row officiate at their wedding, and made it all airline-themed.
Usually, though, it’s just a little bit creepy. But women, knowing men are on the hunt for a more attractive seatmate, are using this knowledge to their advantage.
A large number of United’s cabin crew seem to be very unhappy with the contract their union negotiated. To me, the biggest issues are that after five years without a raise, the contract doesn’t really appear to produce economic terms that are better than competitors even though other flight attendants got raises first, and it makes concessions like allowing the airline to put crew up in hotels that are merely ‘tenantable’ while they’re on the road.
As part of a more customer-centric focus, one of the key things I’ve been suggesting American should do is reverse this policy. Now the airline shares that all customers will once again be able to be added to standby in-person with an agent.
Atlanta was hit with a significant storm that brought Delta Air Lines operations to its knees. The air traffic control tower at the airport had to be evacuated. Planes on the ground there on Thursday required inspection prior to flying. Delta cancelled 360 flights on Thursday, and 554 flights so far on Saturday.
Southwest Airlines is surveying a new elite program and gutting the Companion Pass. That’s one of only two things left that the airline has going for it.
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 »
