Category Archives for Airlines.
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.
American Airlines is making it cheaper in some cases for passengers to change their flight on the same day of travel, for instance to fly home earlier after meetings are over or move to a later flight if things come up.
They used to charge $75 to do this, waiving the fee for their top Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum status members. Now they’ve introduced dynamic pricing, offering same day changes starting at $50.
Cathay Pacific has announced a devaluation which goes into effect October 1. Unlike U.S. carriers they still have a true award chart, which means that when raising award prices they have to tell you. And they’re giving three months’ advance notice.
Make no mistake, though: Asia Miles will be worth less. The FAQ for the changes even has a question “Are you devaluing Asia Miles?” And even they do not say no.
Air Canada Aeroplan is offering a 75% bonus on purchasing points through July 12, 2023 – with a kicker. Buy points through this offer and get up of 15% bonus points when Aeroplan runs its next two purchase promotions later in the year. Creative!
JetBlue’s prize remains its acquisition of Spirit Airlines, which they’re still pursuing against government objections. If JetBlue were to walk away from the merger they’d owe American a breakup fee. This ruling takes them off the hook for that.
So not entirely unexpectedly JetBlue says they will not appeal, leaving the partnership dead.
There are certain sounds, sights, and flavors that evoke travel. It wasn’t originally intended this way, but George Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue means United Airlines.
One neglected area of branding – outside of United – is music. So kudos here are noteworthy, in this case for Delta’s landing music.
They got onto a single operating certificate. They merged US Airways Dividend Miles into American AAdvantage (while following US Airways plans for a revenue-based program). They combined pilot and flight attendant seniority lists, and transitioned to a single maintenance platform.
But that’s not all of the work that had to happen. Going into 2023, a decade later, it still wasn’t done. American Airlines and US Airways had separate airport operations, and different gates, in 140 locations. Atlanta was the final station to consolidate gates and that’s just happened.
Honestly I haven’t been to Tahoe in a dozen years. But I have a soft spot for it owing to the 1988 David Mamet film with Don Ameche, Things Change. Far less flash but far more beautiful than Vegas. And I hope to meet several of you there.
There are some nuances of their security program that still come as a surprise to me. El Al doesn’t just have missile defense systems to protect its planes against surface-to-air missiles. They have cameras in the cabin now. Is this only on some 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 »
