Category Archives for Airlines.
U.S. airlines are going to announce today that “they will back a voluntary industry target of using 3 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel in 2030” as part of a White House event. This new goal is 50% higher than one announced 18 months ago.
While United legal concluded they had to offer these vaccine exemptions, they’ve decided that anyone obtaining one cannot work in some cases “he pandemic meaningfully recedes” and in other cases (such as non-customer facing roles) when new health procedures are in place for weekly Covid testing and masking.
American Airlines rolled out live TV three years ago but it was cut at the start of the pandemic. They explained it away as there being no live sports on offer, but of course channels included news and entertainment too.
Starting tomorrow live TV is back on domestic narrowbody aircraft.
A JetBlue passenger learned he was exposed to Covid-19 and was supposed to fly the next day. Many airlines have dropped change fees from some fares, but this passenger was on a ‘Basic’ fare. He called JetBlue to find out what to do. He had taken a Covid-19 test, but wouldn’t get the results before he was supposed to fly.
He asked to reschedule his trip a couple of weeks into the future. He was told he’d have to pay a difference in fare and also a $100 change fee. JetBlue wouldn’t waive the change fee without presentation of a positive test.
American Airlines is offering old US Airways first class service now: poor legroom, no seat back video, no power (at least on my flights), and real meals on only a handful of routes. They can’t generate the revenue premium they need – given their cost structure and debt – with a product that customers won’t want to pay for.
Register by September 9 and then travel on Southwest Airlines by November 18, 2021 and you’ll earn a Companion Pass that will be valid January 6, 2022 through February 28, 2022.
That’s two months of companion pass for two one-way flights (that can be a roundtrip, of course). That companion pass means being able to take someone with you on your travels (whether paid or award) for just the cost of security taxes.
Etihad doesn’t have a first class cabin on its Boeing 787-10 aircraft, though it still has these suites on some 787-9s. According to Etihad’s CEO this isn’t the end of first class on the airline but it’s being limited and de-emphasized. They’ll still operate planes with a first class cabin on routes where there’s historic paid demand for the cabin, though we’re already seeing last minute aircraft swaps where it’s scheduled for planes that do not offer the product.
Air India has had several rat incidents and recently a bat was found in business class.
Now an Air India Delhi – London flight had to be delayed as a swarm of ants were found in the business class cabin.
Amazon is now shipping packages for the US Postal Service and starting to roll out “logistics as a service” to companies in the U.S. and rolling out its lower-cost competitor to UPS and FedEx over the next year and a half.
There’s a new Chinese airline forming out of Hong Kong, expected to partially launch in four weeks, with an explicit aim of celebrating – and fostering – the turn of Hong Kong away from the west and towards the Chinese Communist Party.
Greater Bay Airlines plans to make its inaugural flight – a charter to Beijing – on October 1, the 72nd anniversary of the Community Party takeover of China.
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 »
