Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

American Airlines Launching New Service To New Zealand, Dropping Israel And India Routes

by Gary Leff

May 27 2022

American Airlines is launching a new long haul Pacific route, Dallas to Auckland, complementing Qantas Dallas – Sydney service. They won’t restart Los Angeles – Auckland, though, and they’re dropping the idea of Dallas – Tel Aviv. The long-expect Seattle – Bangalore flight, which was supposed to be American’s first return to India, won’t happen until (at least) summer 2023 if it comes to fruition.

There are several more route changes as American adjusts its international strategy as well.

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A Loss Of Reliability Has Far-Reaching Implications For Delta – And American Express

by Gary Leff

May 26 2022

Delta Air Lines used to have a reputation for almost never cancelling a mainline flight. Their unique selling proposition was their reliability. They accomplished this with a fleet of generally older aircraft, and built a maintenance capability so effective that it became a profit center.

Reliability isn’t a new problem for Delta, in fact Delta was first to begin having operational meltdowns in the Covid world. But as the halo wears off the wheels could begin to fall off of the SkyMiles program and have implications far beyond Delta too.

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Warning: Delta Cancelling Flights In Advance, To Reduce Cancellations On Day Of Travel

by Gary Leff

May 26 2022

Last weekend the Delta Air Lines operation melted down. On Monday they cancelled 10% of their flights, and that’s with a bias towards delays – even overnight delays – to keep from running up their cancel statistics. They delayed many flights on top of this. Beset by confusion they even assigned a pilot to fly a Boeing 757 to Hawaii who wasn’t qualified to do so.

Now they’re cancelling more flights in advance, in order to reduce cancellations on the day of travel. And they’re starting now – for this weekend.

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US Government Plans To Require Larger Bathrooms On Planes – But Starting 20 Years From Now

by Gary Leff

lavatory
May 26 2022

Since narrowbody aircraft are used on the vast majority of domestic flights, and even the vast majority of domestic flights over 1500 miles (American Airlines uses Airbus A321s for its ‘premium’ cross country flights between New York and San Francisco, Los Angeles and Orange County) it’s a major challenge.

And it means that non-stop flights are generally off the table for a subset of passengers unable to use modern narrowbody bathrooms. They have to connect using flights no longer than they’re able to ‘hold it’.

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United Airlines Is Restoring Hot Meals In Domestic First Class

by Gary Leff

airline food
May 25 2022

Nature is healing. Food matters. Customers may not have time to eat before a flight, or buy food on connections. The point of first class isn’t just “the Big Front Seat” unless you’re flying Spirit Airlines. It’s buying a less stressful and more effortless experience. Earning a revenue premium for the product means delivering things that make travel better for passengers, and time and again customers have stated that inflight meals matter.

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Delta Flight Delays 17 Hours Because The Pilot Wasn’t Qualified To Fly The Aircraft

by Gary Leff

May 25 2022

Saturday’s Delta flight from Seattle to Kona, Hawaii – Delta 565 – was delayed over 9 hours and then – as the flight boarded – the airline realized that one of the pilots was not qualified to operate the flight, as relayed to passengers by the gate agent. It took an overnight – another 8 hours – before passengers were able to fly.

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A Warning About Tight Connections In Charlotte

by Gary Leff

Why Charlotte Needs Another American Airlines Admirals Club
May 24 2022

I’ve had passengers tell me they’ve arrived at their boarding gate in Charlotte more than 15 minutes to departure only to find their boarding door closed. And I’m told by employees on the ground there that at least some managers are enforcing 20 minute door closes when no more passengers are boarding (even if checked-in passengers haven’t yet boarded).

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The United Employee Who Fought An Ex-NFL Player Has Been Fired

by Gary Leff

May 24 2022

We know know that the passenger was former NFL player Brendan Langley (who was a third round draft pick as a cornerback by the Denver Broncos in 2017). He currently plays for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League. Langley was arrested and charged with assault. He appears to have swung first, at least based on available footage.

The employee should have de-escalated, not exacerbated the incident, and shouldn’t have engaged in the brawl beyond defending himself. He was employed by United Airlines subsidiary United Ground Express and has been terminated.

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