Category Archives for Airlines.
In an update from the head of the American Airlines flight attendants union, crewmembers were briefed on the union’s priorities, reflected in their discussions with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
This includes a third airline bailout, vaccine priority, and a “a comprehensive ‘No-Fly List’ to further address threatening and abusive behavior on the airplane”
JetBlue flight attendant Kalina Collier reported on social media that she was being held hostage inside of Jamaica hotel. She had arrived on the island on January 28, and was supposed to be on a flight back February 1. First she had to take a Covid-19 test, which came back positive.
Collier took a second test, which came back negative, but a PCR test sent her to quarantine where she took to social media claiming she was kidnapped and held hostage. She’s been fired – and JetBlue’s CEO has even had to apologize to the government of Jamaica.
Pilots at JetBlue rejected an agreement with the airline that would have allowed them to move forward with their new American Airllines partnership. Ironically it’s probably JetBlue pilots who benefit most from this deal.
JetBlue will ban basic economy customers from bringing full-sized carry on bags on board, and will finally eliminate change fees on other ticket types, which their competitors did last summer.
Elites used to get waived change fees, but the airline says they aren’t contemplating any new elite benefits in exchange – what they do for members is already enough.
Alaska is no longer blocking seats in first class, or in regular coach. And they’ve taken baby steps at re-opening first class confirmable upgrade (“U” bucket) inventory. Here’s the current upgrade philosophy at Alaska Airlines.
The federal government committed $65 billion in grants and subsidized loans to airlines in 2020, and is now considering a third bailout. While the funds were marketed as protecting jobs, only about one eighth of the second bailout actually went to pay workers who had been furloughed (and airlines that never furloughed anyone received billions).
After bailouts during the Great Recession there was a national conversation recognizing that bailed out companies weren’t really private enterprises and the need to make sure bailouts never had to happen again.
Lavatory ice (‘blue juice’) isn’t the only snow that planes cause to descend from the sky. When aircraft descend through below-freezing temperatures and high relative humidity (saturated air), they can create snow. Planes aren’t causing snowstorms – just a localized event – but under the right conditions they do cause snow to form and fall to the ground.
This requires water vapor that’s below freezing but that doesn’t form ice crystals because it lacks the particulates on which to freeze.
Confirmed cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from Covid-19 are declining. Vaccine supplies in the U.S. are growing. Though more infectious strains of the virus are spreading, we may be entering a lull in the virus due to seasonality. Summer was a peak in the U.S., but in areas where it gets hot and people head indoors, and the U.S. population hadn’t been exposed to the virus before so there wasn’t much background immunity.
We should be on the cusp of beating the pandemic, with enough vaccines for everyone in the country (there should even be approved this fall for tweens and teens). It’s time to get excited about a return to normal life, right? Not so fast.
American Airlines is launching Miami – Tel Aviv in June. This is a route I’ve been expecting ever since they announced the end of their frequent flyer partnership with El Al in 2014.
The new service will operate three days a week with a Boeing 777-200. And they’ve chosen to fly to operate one of those flights on Shabat.
American Airlines is considering selling debt to the public backed by its frequent flyer program as soon as March. You’ll be able to own a piece of the income flow from AAdvantage. They’d do this in order to refinance their government CARES Act loan against which they’d pledged the loyalty program.
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 »
