Category Archives for Airlines.
At an employee question and answer session last week, a flight attendant asked American Airlines President Robert Isom what the airline’s brand identity is now, expressing some confusion between being a low cost carrier and also trying to compete against Delta.
One of the most common questions I’ve gotten over the past couple of months is whether airlines will add more flights to Europe this summer, with countries opening up and vaccination rates rising.
American Airlines Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning Brian Znotis addressed this head-on with employees last week, explaining that American won’t add more Europe this summer because they can make more money flying to Cancun than Athens and they no longer have spare aircraft to add flights – so each potential long haul flight trades off with flying they’re already doing.
Aer Lingus is warning flight crew not to get vaccinated while in the United States.
And to think, some airlines actually want their employees to get vaccinated. One entire airline flew to Serbia to get everyone vaccinated and then flew home.
American Airlines has a plan for first class meals. They are going to be smaller, with fewer items heated. And expect the bread to be served room temperature, though I’m not sure how they expect you to spread butter on rolls that haven’t been warmed. That’s according to explanations that were given to employees at question and answer sessions held last week by airline President Robert Isom, recordings of which were reviewed by View From The Wing.
The introduction of ‘Virgin Red’ branding and add-ons to Virgin Flying Club means that Virgin’s miles can be used in new ways – like spending 200 miles for a sausage roll. At least they admit it’s not a good deal,
Last week four American Airlines passengers were downgraded on a flight from Charlotte to Honolulu because they ‘arrived at the gate too late’ even though they were there 25 minutes prior to departure. Their seats were given to employees or relatives or employees to enjoy instead.
The gate agent who did it was wrong, but there’s a confusing rule that should be clarified.
Lending Tree is pitching a report that begins with some anodyne claims about customer behavior towards frequent flyer miles and jumps to the unsupported conclusion that mileage redemptions this year are going to crowd out paying customers, who won’t be able to find seats for sale. This is literally insane.
Delta announced that all new employees will have to be vaccinated against Covid-19, but isn’t saying there will be any requirement for current employees to get a shot.
They suggest this is a great way to protect their already-high level of vaccination within the workforce and to protect customers, but they also make an odd claim about herd immunity in the process.
The federal government just extended its public transportation mask mandate two weeks ago, to run through September 13th. Yet today the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks.
Leisure travel isn’t just vacation, it’s also “visiting friends and relatives” or ‘VFR’ for short. And those passengers tend to check a lot of luggage. What’s more, the mix of passengers traveling has changed. Business travelers don’t tend to check nearly as much luggage. So the same number of passengers as before on a plane comes with more luggage now than it used to.
American Airlines has adjusted some baggage fees in the Mexico, Caribbean, and Latin America market, perhaps most notably increasing third checked bag fees to $200.
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 »
