Category Archives for Airlines.
It’s not ‘unfair’ of Delta, they can reward whatever they wish. There’s no bait and switch here. In that sense it’s “reasonable.” But defenses of Delta complaint ‘not baiting and switching’ with a recommendation that consumers accept the move.
Realize the bundle of value that Delta is offering on the cheapest fares is falling, and factor that when comparing their alternatives
Nigeria has banned Emirates from flying to Lagos and will only allow the Dubai-based carrier to fly to Abuja once a week. This is protectionist retaliation against the U.A.E. because Nigeria’s own Air Peace is not being granted its requested slots at Sharjah airport.
Delta devalued SkyMiles awards twice during the pandemic and now calls it a sale when they offer 350,000 and even 400,000 mile-plus business class roundtrips to Europe. They’ve also gutted international upgrades with top elites getting confirmed from coach to premium economy only and no longer business class.
The other shoe has dropped at the reverse end of the spectrum, mileage-earning on the cheapest fares. For new tickets purchased (as of December 9, 2021) and travel starting January 1, 2022, Delta’s basic economy fares will no longer earn miles or elite status credit. Period.
New long haul routes are exciting! American Airlines will fly from New York to Doha this summer. That’s great for AAdvantage elites looking for an upgrade. For most others, Qatar Airways remains the better airline of choice.
They’re adding this flight at a time they’re announcing they lack enough widebody aircraft to fly their summer Europe schedule, so they’re cancelling plans for many flights. They’re blaming Boeing’s production problems, and ignoring the decisions they made during the pandemic that put them in this bind.
The British Airways Executive Club website was supposed to be down for maintenance from the evening of November 13 through the morning of November 17 (GMT). They’re still having problems with it. And getting help by phone is almost impossible due to a weird glitch in their phone systems.
`Southwest did a head fake as it renegotiated its card deal last time. But brands always do this, use other banks as a stalking horse to get a better deal. The card is integral to its strategy in fact offering customers Hawaii flights as an inducement to rack up Rapid Rewards has even been a piece of their network strategy.
Those who aren’t redeeming will be interested in watching the new fare product Southwest plans to introduce in 2022.
On October 22nd American Airlines CEO Doug Parker received the Wings Club’s Lifetime Achievement Award. I shared the video American prepared for the event, and Parker’s acceptance speech, earlier today in my coverage of his retirement announcement. Parker will stay as CEO through March 31 when he becomes Chairman and current airline President Robert Isom becomes CEO.
The real star of the Wings Club event, enjoyed by around 1300 guests at the New York Hilton, was Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly’s music video tribute. It’s been held close to the vest since that night.
Mid-year Spirit Airlines announced a big expansion in Miami, an American Airlines hub, becoming the second largest airline there. Traditionally they had stuck with lower-cost Fort Lauderdale.
Now they’re making a run at American’s hub in Philadelphia. They’ve just announced 7 new routes, increased service to another and flights to 20 total destinations. Spirit and Frontier together are the next two largest airlines in Philadelphia after American.
American Airlines announced that Doug Parker will step down as CEO on March 31, 2022. He will remain chairman of the board. Current airline President Robert Isom will become CEO and join the airline’s Board of Directors.
Robert Isom becoming CEO points to a more or less a status quo future. And David Seymour was elevated to Chief Operating Officer at the airline after overseeing its disastrous summer 2019 operational meltdown.
Mandy Moore’s father just flew his last flight as a Captain for American Airlines. After 42 years of flying Captain Don Moore reached age 65 and mandatory retirement for a commercial airline pilot.
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 »
