Category Archives for Airlines.
American Airlines stock has gone up substantially more than airline peers over the last 12 months.
CEO Doug Parker highlighted this in an employee meeting following the carrier’s third quarter earnings call on Thursday. However rather than being a testament to the airline’s good works as he suggests, there’s a simple reason for the growth in share price.
American Airlines passengers are complaining about the hotel room that American Airlines assigned to them for an overnight mechanical delay (and also about getting rebooked to a different city than their destination). It seems three people were given just one room, leaving one person on the floor.
The 29 year old has been listed among the world’s highest paid models and as one of the British “makers of the 21st century” but, apparently, had a connection with Irish carrier Aer Lingus that was severed by the pandemic.
Anthony Fauci has said he wants a vaccine requirement for domestic air travel. I don’t think this would be legal, impinging as it does on the right to travel. As a commercial decision by an airline, without government pressure, to offer a vaccinated flight option it seems like a great idea.
So let’s give this a shot, see if the requirement attracts more business and shifts market share. I’d go out of my way, flying at less convenient times and an airline I don’t usually choose, to know that the person in the middle seat next to me is far less likely to have and spread Covid.
This is about government regulation and the bottom line at American Airlines, it isn’t about safety. Sadly, even United Airlines which presents its vaccine mandate as being somehow more noble, imposes no such condition on passengers traveling. I’d certainly choose to fly an airline where I knew the person in the middle seat next to me was vaccinated. No U.S. airline is offering this in a meaningful way.
Prior to the merger with US Airways, American Airlines crew would generally stay together on a trip and even stay on the same aircraft. When a flight delayed, it was only that flight and crew which were affected (and subsequent flights scheduled with the same aircraft).
US Airways management took over and eliminated this practice. When a plane lands at a hub, crew disperse on separate journeys. When a flight delays, that means each flight attendant and pilot going their own way delays a flight. There’s a cascading effect on the operation.
American Airlines has a private check-in for top customers at facility at Chicago O’Hare, LAX, London Heathrow, Miami and New York JFK called Flagship First Check-in. But because this is an airline, the rules around who can use it are complicated.
This summer British Airways doubled its award availability commitment. Each airline opens award space on flights on its own schedule, if they open awards at all. British Airways is unique in promising to make awards available on every flight when the schedule loads.
But they don’t promise first class awards. They used to be good about offering them. Now first class space is almost non-existent.
As President Robert Isom explained it to flight attendants in an internal meeting this week, American Airlines would like to modify Airbus A319s and add more first class seats. Just 8 seats up front isn’t enough to sell on many of the routes where the aircraft gets deployed. He’d also like to add bigger overhead bins. A decision point may come next year.
Brady Byrnes, who is American’s Vice President of Inflight, explained at an internal meeting this week (a recording of which was reviewed by View From The Wing) that the carrier is prioritizing which flights get basic amenities.
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 »
