Category Archives for Airlines.
Since delays have increased since European EU261 compensation, the airline industry argues that the financial incentive in imposing costs for delays doesn’t reduce delays. That’s a bit rich, though, to argue that an increasing number of passengers needing compensation for airline flight delays proves it’s unnecessary to pay? The incentive isn’t the only reason!
Starting June 9th American Airlines is making some minor changes to how complimentary upgrades work that most AAdvantage status members are going to like. Upgrades when traveling on an award ticket will now be available to all status members and will come with higher priority than before.
Last year former APFA President Bob Ross was found to have misappropriated funds while running the union. An arbitrator’s award covered charges he billed a family vacation to the union credit card, improperly billed his personal furniture (and bedding and even toilet paper) to the union, and of having the union pay for a personal office he wasn’t entitled to among other alleged misdeeds.
Ross filed suit to overturn the arbitrator’s judgment, arguing first that he shouldn’t be singled out among past union Presidents for financial impropriety, and then that the accusations against him are all part of a plot for Sara Nelson’s AFA-CWA to take over the union.
A senior American Airlines pilot has filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas over the 100,000 member, $26 billion airline pension, arguing that it is pursuing “leftist political agendas” by making investments that follow ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) guidelines.
He argues that the plan breaches its fiduciary duty by privileging activism on issues including race, LGBTQ+ rights, and environmentalism over financial returns.
Long-term the Airbus A380 will retire. And rather than add a new, top-end first class along the lines of something that might compete with Gulf rivals like Emirates, Etihad and even Saudia, or even like European carriers Lufthansa and Air France, Qatar is planning to eliminate long haul first class.
United Airlines pilots haven’t just voted to authorize a strike vote, they have done so unanimously according to their union. Here’s what to expect.
It’s clear when American is obligated to provide this. But how do airport agents know this?
Simple (or not so simple): the computer at the gate now tells them, but they need to know what to look for. They need to check whether the flight is “E”ligible or “I”neligible, and how long the posted delay is for.
A passenger reported that their American Airlines flight made an emergency landing on Sunday “after a potential brake failure.” Everyone had to assume the crash position. Watch the video starting around 18 seconds in and you’ll hear “Head down, stay down, brace, brace” being chanted as the aircraft diverted to Philadelphia.
Throwaway ticketing is a practice that’s gone on for decades. Airlines often charge more money for non-stops than they do for connecting itineraries. So people book a flight with a connection through the city they want to travel to, and just don’t take that second connecting flight. As a result, they can often save money, but there are risks you should know about.
The judge’s decision, rather than considering whether consumers would benefit overall, looked at individual markets and saw fare increases – when fares were rising everywhere due to inflation, supply chain issues and strong demand. The judge discounted expert witnesses for the airlines because they were working with airline data while giving weight to government experts. And the judge argued that the combination was per se illegal, since it reduced competitors, rather than looking at its effects to see more actual 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 »
