Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

Singapore Airlines Brings Back New York-Frankfurt And San Francisco-Hong Kong

by Gary Leff

flight attendants posing
Sep 27 2021

Singapore Airlines will re-start it’s ‘fifth-freedom’ routes between New York and Frankfurt, and between San Francisco and Hong Kong, which each flight continuing on to Singapore.  These flights will return beginning November 2.  This will mean bringing the airline up to about two-thirds of its pre-Covid U.S. flying, and the airline has re-iterated its plan to restart other U.S. services including Seattle – Singapore non-stop and Houston – Manchester – Singapore as well.

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American Airlines Pilots Lobbying Against Biden Vaccine Mandate

by Gary Leff

Sep 26 2021

Pilots are already treated differently by government mandates during the pandemic. Pilots aren’t allowed to fly within 48 hours of taking a vaccine shot due to potential side effects. And pilots are not required to wear face masks while in the cockpit.

The Biden administration executive order directing OSHA to introduce a vaccine mandate on companies with 100+ employees includes an expected alternative means of compliance in the form of regular Covid-19 testing. While United Airlines is not permitting this, a fear of losing pilots would seem to be enough reason why American Airlines would embrace this alternative.

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American Airlines Updates Its Contract Of Carriage Again To Further Limit Passenger Rights

by Gary Leff

Sep 25 2021

At the start of the month American Airlines updated its rules to make clear that they would not reimburse hotel stays you book yourself when your flights are severely delayed or cancelled (you have to wait for them to give you a hotel room if you want them to cover it) and to say they don’t have any obligation to get you to your destination – they can just refund your ticket if they prefer.

Now they’re updating their rules again to further limit your right to a refund in the event of delays of over 4 hours.

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Chinese Airline CEO Taken Away By Police

by Gary Leff

hongkong airlines plane
Sep 24 2021

The Chairman and CEO of HNA Group, parent of Hainan Airlines and several other carriers, has been taken away by police. At one point HNA was the largest owner of Hilton and owned stakes in a dozen airlines (like Virgin Australia, TAP Air Portugal) as well as airport catering companies.

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Delta Proposes Banning Accused Mask Non-Compliant Passengers From All Air Travel

by Gary Leff

Sep 23 2021

You might say that airlines, as private businesses, should be allowed to choose not to transport anyone they wish. But this shouldn’t be viewed as private action, it is state action. The proposal comes in response to an FAA threat that airlines had one week to come up with a solution to unruly passengers.

There is a federal regulation in place on masking. That has a fine as a maximum penalty. Pressuring airlines to impose a more significant penalty than provided for in regulation or law is highly problematic.

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United Flight Attendants Union: It’s Unrealistic For Passengers To Expect Clean Lavatories

by Gary Leff

lavatory
Sep 23 2021

When you fly an Asian or quality Middle Eastern airline, you expect that lavatories will stay relatively clean throughout the flight. I’ve seen ANA flight attendants cleaning restrooms between passengers, and Emirates has even had staff on its A380s dedicated to this cleaning.

After a long haul flight on a U.S. airline, though, it’s almost de rigueur to expect that by the end of the trip lavatories look like something out of a post-apocalyptic zombie film where we everyone must band together to rebuild humanity out of the ashes.

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Don’t Let American Airlines Rewrite History On Government Subsidies

by Gary Leff

man speaking on microphone
Sep 22 2021

American Airlines CEO Doug Parker did a live chat with the Washington Post on Tuesday and faced mostly softballs – but since it’s the DC local paper government policy is at the forefront.

So when they’re talking about operational problems customers face, what viewers want to know is whether Congress got its money/s worth for subsidies to airlines during the pandemic.

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