Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

Two Men Netted $550,000 By Claiming Airlines Lost Their Luggage

person pulling lugage
Sep 27 2021

When I was a kid growing up in New York, baggage claim checks were required when leaving the airport with your luggage. I used to only see this at New York-area airports. I helped prevent people from picking up the wrong bag, and also prevent someone from intentionally taking a bag that didn’t belong to them. I haven’t seen that process in a U.S. airport in many years, and of course New York isn’t the city that it used to be when Ed Koch was mayor where this really was necessary.

Maybe that would have stopped two men who have been charged with stealing over $550,000 from U.S. airlines by making false lost luggage claims since 2015.

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Wow: Free Air Canada Elite Status For U.S. Frequent Flyers

lounge
Sep 27 2021

U.S. residents who are airline elite frequent flyers can get free Air Canada Aeroplan elite status for the rest of 2021, and keep that status for the 2022 program with by booking and flying just one roundtrip on Air Canada (or Air Canada Express or Rouge) by January 15, 2022.

This is huge for anyone with elite status and transferable credit card points, or anyone who also flies United.

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Singapore Airlines Brings Back New York-Frankfurt And San Francisco-Hong Kong

flight attendants posing
Sep 27 2021

Singapore Airlines will re-start it’s ‘fifth-freedom’ routes between New York and Frankfurt, and between San Francisco and Hong Kong, which each flight continuing on to Singapore.  These flights will return beginning November 2.  This will mean bringing the airline up to about two-thirds of its pre-Covid U.S. flying, and the airline has re-iterated its plan to restart other U.S. services including Seattle – Singapore non-stop and Houston – Manchester – Singapore as well.

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American Airlines Pilots Lobbying Against Biden Vaccine Mandate

Sep 26 2021

Pilots are already treated differently by government mandates during the pandemic. Pilots aren’t allowed to fly within 48 hours of taking a vaccine shot due to potential side effects. And pilots are not required to wear face masks while in the cockpit.

The Biden administration executive order directing OSHA to introduce a vaccine mandate on companies with 100+ employees includes an expected alternative means of compliance in the form of regular Covid-19 testing. While United Airlines is not permitting this, a fear of losing pilots would seem to be enough reason why American Airlines would embrace this alternative.

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American Airlines Updates Its Contract Of Carriage Again To Further Limit Passenger Rights

Sep 25 2021

At the start of the month American Airlines updated its rules to make clear that they would not reimburse hotel stays you book yourself when your flights are severely delayed or cancelled (you have to wait for them to give you a hotel room if you want them to cover it) and to say they don’t have any obligation to get you to your destination – they can just refund your ticket if they prefer.

Now they’re updating their rules again to further limit your right to a refund in the event of delays of over 4 hours.

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Chinese Airline CEO Taken Away By Police

hongkong airlines plane
Sep 24 2021

The Chairman and CEO of HNA Group, parent of Hainan Airlines and several other carriers, has been taken away by police. At one point HNA was the largest owner of Hilton and owned stakes in a dozen airlines (like Virgin Australia, TAP Air Portugal) as well as airport catering companies.

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Delta Proposes Banning Accused Mask Non-Compliant Passengers From All Air Travel

Sep 23 2021

You might say that airlines, as private businesses, should be allowed to choose not to transport anyone they wish. But this shouldn’t be viewed as private action, it is state action. The proposal comes in response to an FAA threat that airlines had one week to come up with a solution to unruly passengers.

There is a federal regulation in place on masking. That has a fine as a maximum penalty. Pressuring airlines to impose a more significant penalty than provided for in regulation or law is highly problematic.

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