Category Archives for Airlines.
The Air Line Pilots Association negotiated a new contract with the airline. Seeing pilots at other airlines getting more than they had negotiated they ripped up the agreement rather than sending it to their members. And many United pilots now want a fight with the airline.
But just-elected Captain Neil Swindells is the wrong person to lead them, because he cannot represent the full membership of his union with racist and misogynistic commentary.
You have elite benefits, or credit card benefits, and those are often designed to make travel easier not just for yourself but travel companions as well. Nowhere is it written that you had to know someone traveling alongside you before you got to the airport. Have you ever befriended a fellow traveler and let them piggyback off of your benefits? Would you?
There’s no real obligation to cram into the aisles immediately (though try to make room for the passenger in the middle seat to stretch out). But it’s not reasonable to criticize passengers for getting up to stretch, and to get their carry on bags down in order to deplane efficiently.
Surely the seat next to you, if left empty, is fair game for use right? You can spread out a bit. Not everyone shares this view, including an American Airlines flight attendant who reportedly scolded a new mom for putting her 4 month old in the empty middle seat beside her while pumping breast milk.
United dropped Air Wisconsin and gained more Mesa. Neither is a great experience, but the trade seems to align with United’s network strategy and American’s cost strategy. The Mesa bankruptcy stalking horse that had been much-discussed likely played a role in the ability for Mesa and American to terminate, since if they didn’t Mesa wouldn’t be able to continue ‘losing $5 million per month’ and therefore American’s ability to insist on either specific performance or penalties wasn’t sustainable indefinitely.
American Airlines dropped Los Angeles as its gateway to Asia. The remaining long haul flights American operates from LAX are to joint venture partner hubs – Tokyo, Sydney, and London.
American Airlines was losing money on it’s Los Angeles – Asia flying before the pandemic because, they believe, these markets were too competitive. And South America doesn’t work for them out of LA, either. So they’re focused on domestic flying. That makes their LA-based pilots, who don’t have the opportunities to fly widebodies, unhappy.
Reader GrumpyToTheLeft, an American Airlines Executive Platinum and British Airways Gold Guest List member, shares his story in a guest post about phantom award availability and Alaska Airlines and it’s a great reminder as you go about booking your own awards.
To the extent that American keeps the 777-200s over the long-term they may retrofit the interiors of these aircraft. There’s some chance that United’s big order for 100 firm and up to 200 widebody aircraft from Boeing could take delivery slots that leads to American keeping its 777-200s longer. There’s less opportunity for further replacement.
And already American is talking about keeping (at least some of) its Boeing 777-200s over the long term. At the same time, I’d expect some of the fleet to be retired and those aircraft never to be reconfigured.
Point.me lets you search award space across pretty much every airline. It shows you the best way to book a flight, with the lowest prices, and which points to use. And it even walks you through the process – click by click.
They’ve shared the opportunity to let readers try their service for free.
American still has an international (“Flagship”) first class. It’s not a competitive product. And they’ve basically already given up on it. American no longer even sets the table for first class passengers and now just delivers trays with flatware already on 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 »
