Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

Delta Air Lines Concedes: United Or American Will Take Our Slot At Tokyo Haneda Airport

by Gary Leff on October 15, 2023

Oct 15 2023

I thought Delta would have a good chance keeping the slot if it proposed a New York JFK flight (a new competitor on the route in an important market, and ironically one with much better connectivity now that the Department of Justice forced American and JetBlue to break up their partnership). I also thought that the best shot of winning would be new service from a market that currently lacks a non-stop to Tokyo, such as Miami (or Orlando).

However Delta is telling its employees that the slot will go to American or to United.

United Airlines Demands $400 To Gate Check Bags, But Passengers Didn’t Have The Money

by Gary Leff on October 13, 2023

Oct 13 2023

What happens if you’ve purchased a ticket, you’re about to board your flight, and the airline demands $400 that you don’t have? Two women traveling United Airlines had to find out. And they were only able to fly, along with all of their belongings, thanks to the kindness of a stranger traveling on the same flight that day who pulled out her own credit card.

The Oregon-based musician, singer, and Rhodes scholar JT Flowers shared what he witnessed at the boarding gate. Two passengers, that he noted were “black women speaking broken English,” were told that they could not board because “they can’t afford to pay $400 to check two tiny purses at the gate.”

American Airlines Apologizes For Declaring Flight Attendants At Company Headquarters A Threat

by Gary Leff on October 13, 2023

Oct 13 2023

There are elevated terrorism threats with Hamas calling for attacks on Jews today. The world is in a state of crisis, as Iran and Hezbollah try to draw the U.S. into war in the Mideast, after Hamas massacred Israeli civilians.

American Airlines, though, saw the real threat: flight attendants visiting corporate headquarters.

American Airlines Tells Security: Look Out For Flight Attendants In Union T-Shirts

by Gary Leff on October 12, 2023

Oct 12 2023

American Airlines flight attendants, led by union President Julie Hedrick, delivered a letter of ‘no confidence’ in management to Senior Vice President Brady Byrnes on Thursday. The airline’s reaction to union members at ‘Skyview’ corporate headquarters was to put out a memo to security to “BOLO” – Be On The Lookout – for anyone wearing a union t-shirt.

American Airlines Flight Attendants Demand 50% Wage Increase Or Strike

by Gary Leff on October 12, 2023

Oct 12 2023

The American Airlines flight attendants union has reduced pay demands ever so slightly, but extended out the period of time they’re talking about to get up to a 50% bump in wages in order to sell it to their members.

They’re still outside the zone of possible agreement, though. And they’re saying they are “holding firm on” wages after taking a strike authorization vote in which over 99% of voting crew supported going on strike. They want a 50% increase in wages – firm – and they’re threatening strike to get it.

United Airlines Will Change How It Boards Planes Later This Month

by Gary Leff on October 12, 2023

airport gate

Oct 12 2023

According to an internal memo, United is boarding planes two minutes slower than they were prior to the pandemic. And so they’re moving to what they call WILMA, which is basically ‘Window Middle Aisle,” and adding a new sixth boarding group for domestic flights.

American Airlines Adds Flights To Fill Void Left By End Of JetBlue Alliance

by Gary Leff on October 12, 2023

Oct 12 2023

American Airlines is adding a seasonal route network from the Northeast to summer seaside destinations in and around Cape Cod as well as Maine and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Previously most of these destinations would have been served to American’s customers by JetBlue, but that partnership is mostly through winding down after a district court judge ruled against it in an anti-trust case.

El Al Will Fly On The Sabbath, And U.S. Banks Will Pay For It?

by Gary Leff on October 12, 2023

Oct 12 2023

El Al doesn’t fly on Shabbat, from sundown Friday evening until sundown Saturday evening, as a religious observance. However they will operate from both the New York and Bangkok this Saturday to assist in bringing reservists back to Israel as part of the country’s call up of 360,000 (4% of their population).

El Al will not be charging for these flights. Instead, the cost “will be borne by El Al and large US financial institutions” according to the airline.

JetBlue Introducing New Elite Benefits Including Confirmed Business Class Upgrades At Booking

by Gary Leff on October 11, 2023

Oct 11 2023

The current status program was itself a big improvement, and it appears that the 2024 changes are generally improvements as well.

Over 20,000 People Have Complained To The FAA About Attempts To Put JSX Out Of Business

by Gary Leff on October 11, 2023

Oct 11 2023

The FAA is considering a rule to treat public charters the same way as large commercial airlines, rewriting rules going back 30 years. This would mean that co-pilots for carriers like JSX and the proposed SkyWest Charter could only employ co-pilots with 1,500 hours of training (whether in a tethered hot air balloon or otherwise) and JSX wouldn’t be able to fly from private terminals.

JSX emailed all of their customers asking them to comment on the FAA’s proposed rulemaking. Over 20,000 people filed comments to oppose these changes. Does that matter?

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 »