Category Archives for Airlines.
Since yesterday Southwest has increased how much they’re charging for upgraded boarding. Pricing is still dynamic, but has become more so, with a higher potential price than before, according to an internal memo reviewed by View From The Wing.
Aviation watchdog JonNYC shares internal slides on United’s plan for refreshing its fleet.
Back in October I wrote that, while it wasn’t public at the time, Delta was looking to buy Airbus A350-1000 widebody aircraft. It seemed like a deal could be announced soon, but crickets.
Now the story is heating up with attention by major media that the airline is looking to purchase both Airbus A350-1000s and A330neos.
The pilot union has taken a strike authorization vote, but isn’t legally permitted to strike because they haven’t received federal permission to do so (and that would only come after a 30 day ‘cooling off period’). Pilots are getting frustrated over the time it is taking to get to a contract, though the airline has publicly committed to substantial raises.
Some pilots do not want to wait, and are suggesting taking matters into their own hands. The mistake they’re making, though, is putting this in writing – and the union, therefore, has taken steps to disavow it.
It’s taken two full years but the first plane with their new interior – a 25 year old Airbus A319 – is now flying. Courtesy of United’s Chief Customer Officer Lindo Jojo here’s a peek at first new ‘Signature’ interior that’s been completed.
The attire on this Spirit Airlines flight attendant haunts me. I can’t stop watching it, and I can’t look away. She parades down the aisle dressed in concert, while another crewmember makes an announcement about it. She’s apparently promoting her Philadelphia-based cleaning services business that she runs on the side.
When your flights are cancelled or substantially delayed, and the airline can’t get you where you’re going, sometimes you’re willing to… fly somewhere else. If you’re flying cross-country, you might even take something hundreds of miles away from your destination, if the trip is important enough. Maybe you’d fly to Los Angeles instead of San Francisco and drive.
An interesting question is, what if anything does an airline owe you if you do actually fly – but don’t fly where you were trying to go?
Say what you will about the business logic of providing United pilots with a richer contract, these aren’t traditional blue collar workers. They aren’t working 80 hour weeks to make ends meet and slowly falling behind, they fly 80 hours a month, and are well-paid, and many of them have side businesses – hardly the image of Cesar Chavez standing up with grape workers, “We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure.”
The customer thinks they’re dealing with the airline. They’re told they have no other options but to pay. And travelers, desperate for help, clearly agree to be charged.
99% of pilots casting a ballot voted to authorize a strike. This was largely pitched to members as negotiating leverage: vote to strike so you don’t need to strike. It’s a threat to the company to get them to give more in negotiations.
Once a union calls for strike authorization, members have to go along – otherwise the union’s credibility implodes and the company knows there isn’t a strike threat looming in the background.
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 »
