Category Archives for Airlines.
A Ukranian soldier, injured during Russia’s invasion of his country, was kicked off of a Wizz Air flight from Tel Aviv to Warsaw because of his prosthetic leg. The airline says he either needed to be “fit to fly” on his own or “accompanied by someone” for support. He had reportedly been in Tel Aviv for medical treatment, and was traveling with gifts to visit family.
On Monday my American Eagle flight took a delay for catering after doors close. A crewmember announced to the aircraft that we were delayed “to cater first class.” The glares from coach were palpable.
Last month American Airlines fully rolled out a new tool called AURA, the “AUtomated ReAccommodation” tool to rebook passengers when their flights are cancelled or delayed.
But this tool does so predictively. And it’s causing seats to be given away from passengers that make their flight.
Whether or not a single Orlando and Las Vegas flight can work for Delta is a question, though these are two leisure destinations that are said to almost always work for everyone, or that at least can be filled at some fare by everyone.
A couple was caught reportedly joining the mile high club – on video. A passenger who saw the man and woman enter the lavatory pulled out his phone and recorded their exit – one at a time, without anyone else entering in the meantime.
The woman opens the door first, and has a serious look on her face, while you can see the male passenger still inside the lavatory – with a huge grin. A few moments pass and then he steps out, too – a bit more serious but with an eyebrow raise as he heads back into the aisle of the aircraft.
Many travelers are at the mercy of airlines when things go wrong. They wait in line to be rebooked and curse at how bad their options are. They become, as my grandfather used to say, “farbissen” or mad at the world.
I write a lot about taking control over your own travel destiny. Here’s what that means.
Everyone acknowledges what JSX does is legal from the DOT and FAA who allow it to even ALPA. ALPA argues they take advantage of a ‘loophole’ by using aircraft with no more than 30 seats, never ‘intended’ to support an operation that gives passengers the similar access to convenient terminals as private air travel offers to the wealthy. And One Mile at a Time is sympathetic. He acknowledges that JSX is safe, and the rules ALPA wants to impose are non-sensical, yet wishes “to be balanced.”
Malaysia Airlines is offering 1,348,000 miles for a single roundtrip ticket in business class, Bali – London at a cost of ~ US$4,043 at current exchange rates.
The Kuala Lumpur-based airline is a member of oneworld and partner of American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas and others.
The Air Line Pilots Association, the largest pilot union in the U.S., has filed with the Department of Transportation asking them to outlaw the business model of JSX, which operates 30 seat planes from private terminals.
American Airlines has new technology that’s enabled them to avoid cancelling 1,000 flights in just the past year. It helps them recover quickly during weather events, replacing manual processes with computers. And it changes how we should think about who’s at fault when a flight does cancel.
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 »
