Category Archives for Airlines.
The subject of Steenland’s addition to the American Airlines board came up at the end of the carrier’s ‘State of the Airline’ question and answer session with employees following their third quarter earnings call, and Parker explained that Steenland was added for his airline experience – something the board previously lacked – and not for a 15-month mechanics strike where he called management and replacement workers “the dream team” of maintenance groups.
American Airlines courted controversy when they began allowing employees to wear makeshift ‘Black Lives Matter’ pins.
The official Black Lives Matter pin is now available for American Airlines employees. It’s called “Stand for Change” and “celebrates the diversity of our team members and our customers.” It must be ordered by any employee who wants one by November 13.
American Airlines has relented and put its full tariff or ‘terms and conditions’ back onto its website after a Department of Transportation complaint.
They had removed the the legalese entirely in favor of a plain language FAQ-style conditions of carriage page. But the contract of carriage incorporated the tariff by reference, customers effectively agreed to it when they purchased a ticket, but the airline had removed those rules from a place customers could easily see it. That document matters.
Thailand’s Bangkok Airways is selling an ‘all you can fly’ card valid for a year for 100,000 Thai Baht or ~ $3210. It comes with elite status for a year, and the unlimited domestic flights earn miles and status so if you use it enough you may more than pay for it in future rewards.
There’s no ‘security issue’ with a 747 taking off from the airport, which was allowed until Lufthansa brought theirs there to store. In tactics one associates more with New Jersey than The Netherlands, Lufthansa doesn’t want to do dismantling work with the on-site company, so the government wouldn’t let them leave. Now that there’s been public scrutiny however it’s been deemed ‘a mere paperwork issue’ and the supposed safety issues have gone away.
Airline lavatories are usually pretty simple. To be sure some passengers fail to use them, sometimes they’re inoperative and sometimes other passengers stink them up, but for the most part they work the same way. The only thing that confuses passengers is which one are they allowed to use?
This long-controversial question has been settled on United Airlines: to reduce bunching of passengers waiting in line for the loo, they may now use any lavatory on the plane. This is a coronavirus distancing measure.
United has a way for everyone to have confidence that travel is safe from the virus – test everyone on the plane before departure – and believes this can open up travel as well as bring back passengers. So they’re offering it free as a trial on several Newark – London flights that customers can choose to book. Now we’re getting somewhere.
Listening to the flight attendants melt down over this, or celebrate in pure joy, is an act of unrivaled schadenfreude. On your next American Airlines flight it may be the cabin crew brawling, rather than passengers in a mask dispute
Jamie Baker, in a research note for J.P. Morgan Chase, points out that if airlines get another ‘payroll support’ bailout they’d have to spend some of that money on extra payroll. In other words it isn’t all money straight into the kitty.
But will it happen? Baker says a new round of subsidies will happen (“We believe PSP 2.0 is a question of when, not if”). And then expect airlines to come back again for a third round.
One way business class between the US and Europe on Air France and KLM has gone from 75,000 to 95,000 miles. Partner one way awards to North Asia are up to 102,500 miles. And Virgin Atlantic business class one ways booked within 3 weeks of departure can run as high as 195,000 miles. That’s insane.
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 »
