Category Archives for Airlines.
On Tuesday I wrote about the American Airlines plan to reduce labor costs with ‘single agent boarding’. Airline CFO Derek Kerr brought up the plan at an investment conference after saying that employees just “have to work harder in certain areas.”
This is going to be a disaster for customers, and tough on employees.
Reciprocal mileage and status-earning on all flights operated by either airline is now available to members of both the TrueBlue and AAdvantage programs. Codeshares – which can be challenging for consumers – are no longer required.
Presenting at the Wolfe Research conference on Tuesday, Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein shared that traveler confidence is up because “people booking further out” than before. Instead of just making a last minute flight reservation, they’re willing to plan ahead, confident in the direction of the global pandemic.
People are buying more premium seats than they used to, they’re promising to change policies if necessary to ensure as many people have status going forward as did in 2019, and they plan to keep investing in club lounges because their clubs sell credit cards.
On Tuesday’s American Airlines flight AA2547 from Phoenix to Orlando a passenger barely made it on board before the doors closed. He apparently was in a rush to make the flight and didn’t manage a needed stop at the restroom while enroute, according to the flight’s notes.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby reported at the Wolfe Research conference on Tuesday that leisure demand is back over 100% of pre-pandemic levels, and business travel is going to fully recover too. He’s seen a spike in people using MileagePlus credit cards. And United will win customers with technology, soft product, and lower costs rather than investing in hard product.
Top American Airlines executives presented at the Wolfe Research financial conference Tuesday, and revealed that people are buying more first class seats than before because they want to distance on board – and no one is blocking middle seats anymore.
While the airline industry is recovering, led by leisure traffic, that could come to a half in the fall as kids go back to school and employees return to offices, with business travel not yet recovered enough to make up the slack. As a result, their cost-cutting is important and they expect employees to work harder than before – in ways that won’t be good for the customer.
The true test of character comes when you’re staring into the abyss and you see what stares back at you. Ethics rarely come into play when they don’t cost you anything.
Airlines revealed their true character during the pandemic. Many airlines around the world stole their customers’ money, and argued it was justified because they needed it.
United Airlines MileagePlus members can win free flights by uploading their proof of vaccination to its mobile app by June 22. They call it “Your Shot To Fly.” Ha ha ha.
This helps build excitement around vaccination, which we need to reach incremental arms, and even includes cash to help with the tax liability for winning the prize.
Belarus used a fake bomb threat to justify sending a fighter jet to intercept Ryanair flight FR4978 from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania – and force it to land in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Once on the ground, they entered the aircraft to grab an opposition journalist that had been living in exile.
And Ryanair did not even show outrage. Instead they whitewashed the incident, claiming there was little inconvenience to passengers.
Luggage sizers are the bane of many flyers’ existence. We bring a carry on bag to the gate, and the agent there says it’s too big. But we’ve carried it on the last 20 flights we’ve taken without an issue, we protest! Put it in the sizer, they say.
One passenger did just that. His bag fit in the sizer. He just couldn’t get it out. Technically then it must be ok to bring on board, right? But he can’t – unless he can reclaim it from the evil bag sizer.
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 »
