Category Archives for Airlines.
American Airlines wholly-owned regional carrier Piedmont has come to an agreement for more pay with its pilots union.
I’ve heard from flight attendants at Piedmont none too happy, because they’ve waited several years for a new contract. Of course pilots are in much greater demand by airlines and harder to replace, and unhappy pilots directly affect an airline’s operation (while unhappy flight attendants ‘merely’ mean unhappy customers).
United Airlines is beginning to roll out cash and points (‘money + miles’) awards on a limited number of domestic U.S. markets. They want to make it possible for customers to redeem a small number of miles and get some value quickly from the program.
Cathay Pacific is currently making business class awards widely available between the U.S. and Hong Kong for up to four passengers, from several gateway cities, in late spring and summer 2022. This allows you to connect beyond Hong Kong to much of Asia. And if you’re uncertain what the future holds, American AAdvantage no longer has award cancellation/redeposit fees.
United Airlines has told employees they must get vaccinated if they want to keep their jobs. There are certain legally-mandated exceptions, but flight attendants were told that their union wouldn’t help them obtain these exemptions.
No other major U.S. airline has gone as far as United. Delta had required vaccination for new hires. Now they’re doing a lot more.
Early in the Trump administration the U.S. banned electronics like laptops on board flights to the U.S. from certain locations. It was a dumb move that compromised airline safety, because when electronics in the cargo hold catch fire, that’s dangerous. When it happens in the passenger cabin it’s easy to contain.
That’s what yesterday’s Alaska Airlines flight 751 from New Orleans to Seattle reminds us as a cell phone caught fire in the cabin upon landing.
As of today Gulf Air is a new mileage earn and burn partner of Air Canada Aeroplan. Gulf Air is Aeroplan’s 8th new airline partner in the last 14 months and the program says to expect “additional airline partners in the months ahead.” Those Amex and Chase points are getting more valuable thanks to Aeroplan transfers.
Two professors from Northwestern University attempt to determine “the value of space during a pandemic” by looking at the revenue premium earned by Delta Air Lines for blocked middle seats. They put it at $23.
While BA isn’t going to be mistaken for Qatar Airways business class, ANA’s new business class, or EVA Airways, it’s much improved. Whereas a couple of years ago it made sense to avoid British Airways even in favor of its joint venture partner American Airlines (for better seats and semi-functional internet on long haul) that’s no longer the case on many routes. British Airways is becoming flyable again.
United has been paying a guy to hold up a sign at its hubs, thanking passengers. But labor is tough to come by these days, and it looks like they’ve figured out how to to leverage underutilized space to get their messages across to customers:
American Airlines accidentally filed $0 fares in 31 different domestic markets on Tuesday. They caught it quickly, and didn’t ticket the fares. Here’s American’s internal memo on how the fares are being handled.
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 »
