Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

United Flight Attendants Union Gaslights Delta’s Cabin Crew Pay Increase

by Gary Leff

Apr 30 2022

Delta’s decision to pay flight attendants for the time boarding aircraft sent shockwaves through the industry. Traditionally flight attendant union-bargained contracts pay flight attendants a higher wage for the flight itself, and don’t calculate time spent boarding. Thus, many flight attendants feel they ‘don’t get paid’ for that time.

I’ve heard from cabin crew at several airlines envious of their counterparts at Delta, who are seeing this new pay on top of raises that started right before the pandemic, on top of special profit sharing bonuses announced earlier this year, and on top of raises that go into effect May 1.

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Spirit, Possibly Being Acquired By JetBlue, Showcases New Lie Flat Seat

by Gary Leff

Apr 29 2022

With JetBlue looking to acquire Spirit Airlines, trumping Frontier’s offer, many observers have pointed out how different their business model, product, and cultures are – wondering if his acquisition could make any sense. Others disagree, suggesting that JetBlue buying Spirit ‘for parts’ – planes, gates, pilots, – will allow for more rapid expansion.

But are the products really that different? JetBlue has Mint business class, but in the premium category Spirit has more than just the Big Front Seat.

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With A Shortage Of Pilots, Should We Revisit The 1500 Hour Rule That’s Choking Off Supply?

by Gary Leff

Apr 29 2022

We want pilots who know what they’re doing, but the 1500 hour rule itself doesn’t weed out those who don’t. European regulators and Canadian regulators don’t see a need for 1500 flight hours on top of licensing and type-rating. We want to focus on measures that actually improve safety, and so pilot flight hour requirements can probably be greatly improved. Instead we’ve got rules that primarily make it tough to become a pilot, increasing the bargaining strength of those already in the profession.

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Your Flight Has Been Cleaned & Sanitized, But Paper Towels On The Ceiling Are From The Last Flight

by Gary Leff

Apr 27 2022

When we see dirty planes we wonder whether the things we can’t see are being being handled well. When we see broken planes we wonder whether maintenance we can’t see is being handled well. The connection isn’t always true but reasonable.

One of the odder dirty plane photos I’ve seen on twitter lately is paper towels stuffed into the aircraft ceiling on Delta. Condensation was leaking, and this is the airline’s solution to keep it from dripping on passengers. They didn’t want to take a plane out of service and cancel flights, and it wasn’t a mechanical issue that raised safety concerns. But, as the passenger posting on twitter notes, they also weren’t… changing the paper towels between flights.

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The Passengers On This Southwest Flight Decorated The Plane To Celebrate A Crewmember’s Retirement

by Gary Leff

Apr 27 2022

On Monday passengers got into the act, joining other crewmembers, in making a Southwest Airlines flight attendant’s last trip before retirement special.

On the last flight this crewmember was scheduled to work, the “other flight attendants had her hide and literally everyone on the plane helped decorate” the aircraft to celebrate while she wasn’t looking.

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Delta Will Start Boarding Domestic Flights Earlier, Taking Off Early Beginning In June

by Gary Leff

Apr 26 2022

Delta is going to start paying flight attendants for time spent boarding aircraft to coincide with moving up boarding time on domestic mainline narrowbody flights by 5 minutes (although the pay increases apply to flight attendants working all flights).

Starting June 2 Delta will begin boarding for domestic narrowbody aircraft 40 minutes prior to departure. And they’ll take off prior to scheduled departure time more often, too.

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