Category Archives for Airlines.
American Airlines has sent a reminder to flight attendants not to go above and beyond for passengers in economy. The airline told cabin crew that they shouldn’t give economy passengers blankets, pillows, or treats from business class. American framed this as consistency, which is to say making sure that there are no occasional surprise and delight moments in the coach cabin.
A mother is suing American Airlines for negligence after her two children, flying as unaccompanied minors, were stranded overnight in Charlotte without proper care, being placed in a cold, bare room without food or water. The lawsuit claims the airline failed to provide the promised amenities for the children, and although the airline refunded the unaccompanied minor fees, she is seeking damages for their alleged recklessness and failure to adhere to their own procedures.
Gave a Mile’s year-end campaign to raise United Airlines miles and MileagePlus is offering a 50,000 mile match.
Would you make a year-end donation of United miles for a good cause? I’d appreciate it. No need to do so, but please share in the comments if you’d like. And thank you.
JetBlue’s consideration of a merger with Alaska Airlines before proceeding with Spirit Airlines, as revealed in an anti-trust trial, raises questions about strategic fits and anti-trust issues, given their respective strongholds on the East and West coasts. The complexities of airline mergers, such as fleet commonality and culture integration, along with the current administration’s stance against mergers, make the JetBlue-Spirit deal contentious, despite potential benefits to competition and market growth.
Air Canada refused to divert during a passenger’s medical emergency. The airline says that they followed proper procedure. The man died. Clearly they bet wrong. What obligation does an airline have to incur costs and inconvenience passengers and their operation in an uncertain medical situation?
JetBlue’s award travel has been restricted, offering low value for their points and making transfers from credit card programs unattractive. However, the partnership with Qatar Airways now allows for point redemption for JetBlue flights, with a distance-based award chart and wide availability for transatlantic business class bookings.
The airline is required under its pilot deal to have 85% of its regional flying in and out of hubs (defined as the legacy American Airlines hubs, plus airports where they operate 100 or more flights). Austin isn’t a 100-plus flight city. American runs a peak of 78 flights (low 50s on Saturdays, 60s on Tuesday and Wednesday). They don’t have the gate space for more than that, and even if they did that would likely mean more losses. So Austin regional flying to non-hub cities falls under the pilot contract 15% of total regional flying cap.
American isn’t allowed to build an operation which doesn’t support mainline pilot union jobs, and given passenger demand and gate limitations in Austin that means they aren’t allowed to build an Austin focus city as they’ve been doing.
One of the most common complaints I see about airlines in social media, paired with photos, is overhead bins with plenty of space after a passenger is forced to check their carry-on bag because, the gate agent had said, ‘the bins were full’.
This is frustrating for customers, who aren’t just inconvenienced (separated from their belongings, they have to wait at baggage claim – and risk getting lost). It’s also perplexing. Why was the gate agent lying to us? The reason is actually simple.
American Airlines has loaded a schedule that pulls down about half the routes from its Austin focus city, as first reported by Adrian Waltz based on data available in Cirium’s Diio Mi. Eliminated in the schedule load were 21 out of American’s 46 destinations from Austin.
The Asiana-Korean Air merger is set to consolidate the two major Korean airlines, potentially affecting competition on key international routes, despite concerns from US and European regulators. Virgin Atlantic’s proposed Seoul route hinges on the deal’s approval, underscoring the complex interplay between airline alliances and market competition.
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 »
