Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

Federal Air Travel Mask Mandate Extended One Month

by Gary Leff

Mar 10 2022

The Biden administration wasn’t quite ready to let the federal transportation mask mandate lapse, out of fear they’d look stupid if Covid-19 cases surged again. But they know the mandate is on its last legs. Every state is eliminating its indoor mask mandates (or has already done so). Even if cloth masks were effective against the Omicron variant, this mandate would do very little on its own.

The federal mask mandate for commercial airlines, airports, trains and buses was set to end March 18. It will be extended through April 18. That one month extension, announced a mere 8 days before the rule would have lapsed, is the shortest extension yet. And, barring unforeseen events, is likely to be the last.

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With Only 9 Days Left For The Federal Mask Mandate, Disarray Over Whether It’s Extended

by Gary Leff

Mar 09 2022

The fact that the transportation mask mandate is set to end in nine days and no decision about its future has been announced yet – or even leaked – tells me that the administration has had internal disagreement and uncertainty on what to do with it.

While I anticipated Russia’s invasion of Ukraine I didn’t anticipate that it could play into the decision over whether to extend the federal transportation mask mandate. But the decision is ultimately a political one, and current politics could move up when the mandate gets lifted – no longer having to wait until close to the midterms.

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Lufthansa Will Introduce New First And Business Class Next Year

by Gary Leff

Mar 04 2022

Lufthansa sees first class as crucial to their brand positioning, but they quite correctly don’t see a market for it on all of their flights. They’ve offered the cabin on more routes than where it made sense because they didn’t want multiple configurations of the same plane, and have wanted the flexibility to deploy an aircraft across different routes.

I wrote three years ago that I expected them to continue offering first class, just with fewer seats, and “could imagine offering just one row of first” on new Boeing 787s and Airbus A350s. The A350 is getting first class, will debut next year, and is expected to be just one row.

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Will The Federal Mask Mandate Be Lifted This Month (And Will American Airlines Bring Back Booze)?

by Gary Leff

Mar 03 2022

JetBlue is bringing back fresh food to its premium cabin, and bringing back liquor to its flights starting March 15. American Airlines already brought back food to domestic first class, but its coach cabin remains dry. The airline has said it won’t bring back alcohol until the federal mask mandate is lifted.

When Southwest Airlines starting serving drinks again last month, that seemed like it would mean more pressure on American than JetBlue’s move. After all, both airlines are Dallas-based and Southwest is the traditional largest airline in the U.S. domestic market.

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