Category Archives for Airlines.
While nearly all other airlines have ceased operations that Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel’s national carrier El Al continues to operate nearly its entire schedule, every day.
Yet there’s video of an aircraft on approach to Tel Aviv while Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system takes out inbound rockets.
There’s confirmation from internal leaks that American is indeed looking at a narrowbody order and of the specific aircraft under consideration. The airline needs a plan to replace their oldest Airbus A319s and A320s, as well as their oldest Boeing 737-800s.
Air France KLM’s Flying Blue is the best frequent flyer program in the SkyTeam alliance, far better than Delta SkyMiles. And it just keeps getting better. A decade ago they were following Delta’s lead. Now they’re moving in the opposite direction. Lower award prices for business class.
Delta talks publicly about its expectation of generating nearly $7 billion from American Express this year, and that it has a goal to stretch this to $10 billion. And because of this, it’s commonly believed to be the best at extracting revenue from its SkyMiles program. Yet SkyMiles is the least rewarding of the major frequent flyer programs. Its miles are indisputably worth less than competitor currencies. What’s going on here?
Overall the session was probably the most contentious since the head of the mechanics union confronted Robert Isom promising “vicious strike action..the likes of which you’ve never seen” before the 2019 summer meltdown they caused by an illegal job action – but that got them the contract they wanted.
Delta Air Lines has announced several changes to its frequent flyer program for 2024, to replace the changes they had announced to its frequent flyer program for 2024. In the midst of all of the rancor and chaos, there’s a change to who gets upgrades going forward.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian says that SkyMiles changes have only been rolled back temporarily, and his explanation to customers for why they’re making changes is not consistent with what his airline has been telling investors.
American Airlines flight attendants are losing their patience in contract negotiations with the airline. They’ve already voted near-unanimously to authorize a strike. There’s a specific procedure that airline unions have to go through in order to strike, and they’re about to start the clock – on a timeline that could have them walking out over peak Christmas travel.
An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot, riding the cockpit’s jump seat, attempted to shut off the engines mid-flight from Seattle Paine Field to San Francisco. The ensuing cockpit altercation, lasting around 90 seconds, are laid out in the criminal complaint against the jump seat rider. Here’s what happened during those crucial moments, and then once he was sent to the back of the plane.
After a recent employee meeting following the third quarter earnings call, American Airlines revealed delays in the delivery of their ordered Airbus A321XLRs, now expecting the first in December 2024. Senior Vice President Brian Znotins outlined plans to deploy these planes for premium cross-country flights, new transatlantic markets, and potentially year-round routes, while hinting at future ultra-long haul flights using other aircraft.
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 »
