Category Archives for Airlines.
I wrote last month that the first route to get the new planes was likely to be Chicago O’Hare – London Heathrow after first operating domestically Chicago – Los Angeles. In fact, the plan appears to be add new configuration 787-9s to the route so that all 3 flights are operated by this aircraft and place the aircraft on Philadelphia – London as well by late summer.
Glen Hauenstein offered during the carrier’s first quarter earnings call that they plan to go after the loyal customers of airlines that are trying to convert themselves into premium – like Southwest Airlines as well as Spirit and Frontier. They’ve had an elevated status match offer for Southwest elites, and Hauenstein says it is working.
An American Airlines 25 year veteran flight attendant who was assaulted by a passenger on a Charlotte – Las Vegas flight has been fired by the airline over the incident. As usual, the crewmember’s union has not been helpful.
Delta is back on top in March on-time performance rankings, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium. However that’s less about material improvement on their part and more a function of Southwest’s (and Spirit’s) slippage during the month.
An American Airlines passenger forced flight 198 from New York JFK to Milan to divert back to its origin four hours into the trip on Monday night – after he became irate and charged the cockpit because he was refused an exit row seat while traveling with a lap infant and did not receive his first choice of meal.
On Sunday, an American Airlines gate agent working a severely delayed flight from Birmingham, Alabama to Charlotte approached the passengers before the inbound aircraft arrives – giving them a talk on how they’re going to need to be nice to the flight attendants.
Alaska Airlines is offering elite status to everyone flying to Australia and New Zealand this year.
The sorry condition of their aircraft turns out to be an opportunity, it seems, for cabin crew to bogart business and first class seats for themselves instead of working – at least according to passenger reports.
Japanese Star Alliance carrier ANA is raising the cost of many award tickets on its own flights, effective with travel booked June 24, 2025 onward. At the same time, they’re finally introducing one-way awards for half the cost of roundtrip – both on ANA flights as well as partner awards.
There is no successor named – instead there will be an “Office of the President” management-by-committee approach comprised of CFO Fred Cromer, COO John Bendoraitis, and General Counsel Thomas Canfield. No one person is in charge of this sinking ship.
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 »
