Category Archives for Airlines.
Former American Airlines Chairman and CEO has waged a public and disingenuous campaign to cajole and scare TSA into quashing competition.
He called operating out of private terminals a “national disaster just waiting to happen” that is “hopefully not being ignored, but not as urgently addressed as I think it should be.” But the safety arguments he makes apply more to his own former airline than to the ones he wants to shut down.
Cathay Pacific is surveying customers on what sustainability practices they’d be willing to accept when they fly.
Within the confines of what American Airlines is going to be willing to do – space on the aircraft comes at an incredible premium, so I while I wish the space for midflight snacks was larger I accept certain tradeoffs – they’ve clearly gone much further in working on the details of this product.
Of course I haven’t seen it in person yet. The first plane hasn’t been delivered, and we’re a couple of months until the first Boeing 777-300ER goes in for retrofit to create a model for future work. But the imagery that’s coming out is exceeding my expectations.
American Airlines is the last remaining U.S. carrier to sell a true ‘first class’. Ever since Continental Airlines began selling a ‘premium business class’ that they called BusinessFirst, and dropped first class, the trend has gone in that direction. Delta has had a first class cabin in years, and United’s top product is now business class.
Now American plans to eliminate first class, too. Or do they?
A year and a half ago I revealed that new amenity kits, bedding, and meals would be introduced when American Airlines rolls out business class suites that will be arrive with new delivery Boeing 787-9 aircraft, and eventually be added to Boeing 777-300ERs.
The idea is that an elevated business class seat would be accompanied by new investments in other elements of the product. And it turns out we’ll see this new business class soft product Memorial Day weekend – even before the new seats arrive.
United Airlines has seemed to struggle. After a number of high profile incidents, the FAA if auditing safety practices. They’re unable to open up flights to new cities, and have had to defer already-announced service.
And winter is always a struggle to begin with. Delta barely eked out a profit.
Michael Trager, who runs frequent traveler and casino loyalty site TravelZork, had one of the most interesting “bump” stories I’ve heard in a long time. He was involuntarily denied boarding on an American Airlines flight last week, and airport staff refused to provide him any compensation saying that they “do not care about DOT Rules.”
Flight attendants union head Sara Nelson, who is trying to organize at JetBlue founder Dave Neeleman’s startup Breeze Airways, took to social media to blast the airline’s employee handbook as antiquated and outdated. She compares their conflict of interest policy to a “pregnancy and the weight program” from 1952. Except the airline’s policies seem… downright reasonable?
Virgin Atlantic flight 26 from New York JFK to London Heathrow was cancelled on Monday after a Gate Gourmet catering company SUV ran into the engine of the Airbus A350.
JetBlue is looking for revenue anywhere it can find it. Not only are they struggling, and their business plan scuttled by back-to-back anti-trust rulings, but corporate raider Carl Icahn is breathing down their neck. He’s taken a 10% stake in the carrier, whose stock has cratered, and he controls two board seats. He could acquire more of the company.
That has had some readers worried about their miles.
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 »
