Category Archives for Airlines.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, who was smart enough to take a private jet rather than his own airline when he needed to travel from New York to Denver this week, shared an internal letter with his company’s employees explaining what happened as their operation melted down over the past week.
Kirby blames bad weather, FAA air traffic control staffing, and… Canada (yes, really).
Most U.S. airlines commit to covering the cost of hotel and meals during long delays that they are responsible for, like mechanicals and lack of crew to operate the flight.
Generally meal costs of some kind will be covered on delays of 3 hours or more, with $12 being a common amount.
A Philadelphia-based American Airlines flight attendant named Jace was diagnosed with testicular cancer less than a year into his job. While his doctors wanted him to get surgery and chemotherapy right away, taking the full time off for treatment might mean losing his job.
According to the flight attendants union at American, he “shared his diagnosis with his manager [who told him] he didn’t qualify for FMLA” back in December when this happened.
Emirates flight 176 from St. Petersburg, Russia to Dubai caught fire while still on the ground prior to departure. It’s being reported that the fire was in an engine of the Boeing 777, and that passengers were evacuated. The flight currently shows a 3 a.m. estimated departure time, four hours late, but that seems.. optimistic?
Judging from video of the incident I’d have to speculate that it’s not one of the plane’s engines but its auxiliary power unit.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby himself gave up trying to fly United when he needed to go from their Newark hub to their hub at Denver. He flew private out of Teterboro.
The airline says that United “did not pay for his flight.” However Kirby apologizes for abandoning solidarity with his employees and customers trying to get through the morass.
United Airlines sells a burger in coach that’s hugely controversial. Some passengers swear by it, and think it’s the best $10 they could ever spend in coach. They’ll even order it up in premium cabins. I wonder if that’s more a matter of individual taste than a statement of quality.
In mid-May United started offering a first class burger, and trying something bold: serving fries with it. That may be a traditional pairing, but it’s something tough to do as a re-heat on board.
The National Mediation Board’s purpose is to avoid disruption in transportation so they do not have to immediately grant a request for release from negotiations. They can keep the parties at the bargaining table.
Flight attendants union head Sara Nelson took to social media to claim that United Airlines flight attendants are being forced to sleep on cots in the airport amidst disruptions. But the photo she shares doesn’t appear to support that allegation.
A U.S. partner is helpful to El Al, however, in earning connecting business for its flights rather than just origin and destination traffic from cities with heavy travel to and from Israel. The U.S. market is important for El Al, and finally having a partner here after 9 years is significant for them.
Southwest Airlines is a government contractor. That imposes myriad rules. One of those rules now involves use of TikTok. As a result, starting today, Southwest Airlines prohibits use of TikTok on its network. However the airline will still continue to engage customers over TikTok – they’ll just require employees to use personal devices to do it.
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 »
