Category Archives for Airlines.
Delta president Glen Hauenstein—widely seen as the architect of the airline’s premium push, pricing discipline, and SkyMiles economics—will step down at the end of February. Network chief Joe Esposito is being elevated to EVP and Chief Commercial Officer, inheriting the commercial machine Hauenstein built.
American briefly published a 2026 AAdvantage changes page, then pulled it after travelers started circulating screenshots. The leaked update suggests elite status thresholds stay the same, but Loyalty Point Rewards get reshuffled — with the 30% bonus at 100,000 points eliminated and several higher-tier perks swapped for merch credits, AA Vacations offers, and subscriptions.
American just flipped basic economy with no warning: starting today those tickets earn zero AAdvantage miles, zero Loyalty Points, and no status credit for flying. It’s a sharp break from how American has used basic economy as the on-ramp into AAdvantage—and it’s likely to push price-sensitive flyers to stop engaging with the program entirely.
Spirit and Frontier are back in merger talks, and people close to the discussions say an announcement could come as soon as this month — though it could still collapse.
A widely shared video shows a flight attendant stepping out of an airplane lavatory looking awkward and adjusting her uniform. Moments later, a pilot exits the same lavatory with a similarly “caught” expression — and the passenger filming just happens to have the camera perfectly framed on the door the whole time, which is why this looks more staged to me than an accidental leak.
The bodycam “shoulder tap” arrest in Tampa made the rounds, but the story didn’t end there. A former Florida prosecutor tracked down the court record and the key filings, which show what happened to the case months later—and what doesn’t appear in the docket about any deal or diversion.
Frontier just replaced CEO Barry Biffle effective today, naming President James Dempsey interim chief as Biffle shifts into a short-term advisory role. The leadership change comes as Frontier’s cost edge has eroded and its revenue strategy is playing catch-up—forcing the airline to rethink what an ultra-low-cost carrier looks like in 2026.
JetBlue’s long-promised domestic first class (the so-called “Mini Mint”) finally has a credible timeline: a prototype install is targeted for June 2026, with fleet installs beginning that August. The catch is how they’re making room—by squeezing coach and giving up the roomy economy pitch that used to be part of JetBlue’s core identity.
On December 8, a passenger parked their car at Buffalo airport short-term parking. she was only expecting it to be there overnight, for her quick trip to New York and back. The next day she boarded her JetBlue flight home from New York JFK, stowed his backpack in the overhead bin, kept Her purse as her underseat personal item, and then fell asleep before takeoff. A flight attendant removed the backpack from the overhead bin while trying to manage bin space, asks the cabin whom it belonged to, and — getting no response — assumeed it was left-behind item from the previous flight on that aircraft. So the flight attendant had the backpack taken off the aircraft. It seems odd to me that a flight attendant would think a backpack in the overhead bin was…
For some families, the holidays aren’t about reunion—they’re about racing the clock. Give A Mile uses donated United miles to fly people to a loved one’s bedside in end‑of‑life situations. One balance can become one last hug.
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 »
