Category Archives for Airlines.
I wrote about Sunday night’s JetBlue flight from Barbados to New York JFK where the Airbus A321 tipped back on its tail after it had parked at the gate. There’s now more footage from as this was happening, including from inside the aircraft.
The answer to what transpired actually comes from an internal American Airlines communication about the incident, where the airline explains that “44 year old Joseph Emerson tried “to disable the aircraft engines while at cruise altitude by deploying the engine fire suppressions system.”
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker has announced that he is stepping down from the role he has held since 1997. He’s doing it with two weeks’ notice, and no successor named was named in his announcement – only later by the airline. Al Baker is the current chairman of the oneworld alliance.
Sunday evenings Alaska Airlines flight 2059, a Horizon Air flight from Seattle’s Paine Field to San Francisco, diverted to Portland. It appears that a pilot was jumpseating and “tried to shut the engines down and crash the airplane.”
According to Alaska Airlines, “no weapons were involved, and the crew was able to secure the cabin without incident.”
After the American Airlines earnings call, tensions rose during an all-employee meeting with questions centered on union contracts for flight attendants and reservations agents. The flight attendants union, demanding a 50% wage increase and hinting at potential strikes, criticized the company’s treatment, while CEO Robert Isom responded by emphasizing their intent to offer industry-leading compensation and benefits.
After JetBlue flight 662 from Bridgetown, Barbados arrived at New York JFK and parked at its gate, the Airbus A321 (registration N959JB) tipped back on its tail.
It appears to me that cargo was removed from the front of the aircraft first. Rear cargo was likely full and heavy.
I love to see the aspiration of offering a truly quality product across all cabins. The Airbus A380 is a fantastic aircraft from a passenger perspective. And if they’re able to launch they’ll help drive down fares across the Atlantic. But that’s not great for their business and whether they can figure out a way to minimize losses over the winter to make it to summer 2025 and beyond.
For several years American Airlines has said that if they could get their operation running well, everything else would fall into place. But they’ve been running well in 2023 and they aren’t making money. There’s something wrong with the American Airlines business plan.
Europe’s parliament wants to ban airlines from charging for carry on bags. This would benefit large national airlines at the expense of discounters and drive up price, just like the push in France to outright ban the low prices that carriers like Ryanair and easyJet charge.
Aer Lingus is an oddball airline. Geographically Ireland is well-placed for connections between the U.S. and Europe, in addition to serving a major tourist destination. They’re owned by the same company as British Airways and Iberia. Yet they partner with United Airlines. And that partnership creates arbitrage opportunities, for as long as it lasts.
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 »
