Category Archives for Airlines.
American Airlines is alone in pledging their frequent flyer program to the federal government as collateral for a subsidized CARES Act loan. Delta and United raised money against their programs on the private market, while Southwest pre-sold points to Chase.
Now American has created a Cayman Islands subsidiary to refinance its AAdvantage mortgage.
Dallas will actually have flights to more international destinations this month than it did two years ago (56 vs. 52), thanks to American Airlines destinations that have been added to Mexico and Central America offsetting losses in long haul.
But the flight that’s most striking to me is the addition of Dallas – Fort Worth to Nagoya, Japan. It’s striking to see a new destination in Asia, a previously unflown route, and while Japan is closed to most U.S. visitors. And it’s surprising to see the flight so full.
American Airlines is offering employees who get vaccinated an extra vacation day and $50 in rewards. Here’s the employee message from CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom about the incentive – something that will become increasingly important as supplies become more abundant and we need to convince vaccine hesitant people to help us stop the pandemic.
Usually it’s fairly cut-and-dried, people don’t dispute the facts or there is a contemporaneous incident with witnesses. Here there doesn’t appear to have been a social media maelstrom, and the family says this came out of the blue. There’s no due process involved. Someone could easily be banned by mistake, maybe a cabin crew member writes down the wrong row number by mistake or the wrong seats (right row, seats across the aisle).
Starting this evening American Airlines will launch an new service to Brazil operated by a Boeing 737 in Oasis configuration, Miami – Manaus, the primary departure point for the Amazon Rainforest.
A frequent flyer program database has been breached, giving hackers access to the name, account number, and elite level of all members in all Star Alliance frequent flyer programs, according to notices provided by Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Air New Zealand. oneworld account data has also been breached, according to notices provided by Cathay Pacific and Finnair.
Delta’s President reported told investors at Monday’s Raymond James conference that the airline will maintain Austin and Raleigh-Durham as focus cities, but will drop that status for Cincinnati, Nashville, and San Jose.
American Airlines has a small business program. It’s designed for companies that aren’t going to have corporate-level agreements with an airline that come with discounts or rebates. Instead they offer points redeemable for travel and services from the airline. It’s a great double dip. And they’re offering new signups a confirmed first class upgrade after taking any flight.
One of the more complicated legal issues I come across is what airline practices states are allowed to regulate, and which ones they aren’t. The Airline Deregulation Act makes issues of price, routes, and service a matter for federal regulation, seeking to avoid a ‘patchwork’ of 50 sets of rules for interstate travel.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled, though, that California’s meal and rest break rules can be applied to airline crew. And that’s true even for crew who spend a majority of their work time outside the state.
A near-disaster was narrowly averted for the February 18 Frontier Airlines Nashville – Las Vegas flight.
The aircraft had to be de-ice prior to departure. The contractor informed the crew this was completed. However a flight attendant noticed a significant amount of snow and ice on the wings, and informed the pilots, who returned to the gate. They found around a foot of snow on the wings.
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 »
