Category Archives for Airlines.
Speaking to a group of pilots at the end of last week, a recording of which was reviewed by View From The Wing, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker laid out plans not to cut flights further during the winter this year and to grow the schedule for next year even in advance of passenger demand.
With all of the employees that have taken early retirement, that should mean recalling everyone that’s being furloughed.
United Airlines is offering free same day standby starting January 1, and eliminating change fees on domestic tickets (including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands but not other territories) effective immediately though this excludes basic economy tickets. A waiver of change fees for basic economy and international ticket purchases is being extended through the end of the year.
All MileagePlus elite members can confirm same day changes at check-in provided the same fare class is available. Currently complimentary same day changes are only available to Gold members and above.
In a meaningful sense U.S. airlines are no longer private businesses, they’re vassals of the state. And that’s not surprising. While the largest carriers have given only a small potential ownership stake to the U.S. government in the form of warrants in exchange for subsidies this year, they’ve been effectively converted from commercial enterprises working to satisfy customers into political creatures working to satisfy “the powers that be,” as American Airlines CEO Doug Parker calls them.
Speaking to a group of American Airlines pilots at the end of last week, a recording of which was reviewed by View From The Wing, Parker said lobbying in DC is “frankly where I’ve been spending all of my time.”
This week we learned that Abbott Laboratories received an FDA Emergency Use Authorization for a faster and cheaper Covid-19 test than anything currently on the market.
Fast and cheap testing is one of the ways to bring travel back to normal. It would allow customers to travel with confidence, knowing that those around them are virus-free. And it would allow destinations to open up, knowing that people shedding the virus weren’t entering.
United is selling flights at specific times, earning customer business on the basis of that schedule, and then reneging – not because they’re unable to operate the flights, but because they decide it’s cheaper not to deliver what customers purchased.
Selling flights and then cancelling them for reasons entirely within the airline’s control, for their own benefit, while 23% of rebooked customers are impacted by more than four hours is an unfair and deceptive practice. Customers whose travels are adversely affected to a significant degree should file a complaint with the Department of Transportation.
On August 20th American Airlines announced plans to drop air service to 15 cities unless the government forked over another $6 billion in subsidies. The cities were spread across 14 states (28 Senators!) and many of the airports slated to lose service October 7 are represented by members of the House Transportation Committee.
However the plan was too clever by half. No one at American Airlines realized the problems dropping service to 3 of the cities on the list, and just as I’ve predicted they are now backtracking.
Furloughs shrink the union budget, but non-paying union members can’t vote. Taking the newest hires out of the equation protects old guard union leadership. The union was already weakened, having squandered its cash, and has been downright docile during the Covid crisis. But the company has lost all of its leverage by furloughing flight attendants, rather than holding out the potential to minimize furloughs in exchange for a concessionary contract.
This is a major move that’s unlikely to get the coverage it deserves. United Airlines now has a system to cancel flights that don’t have enough passengers, and a quarter of passengers are being delayed over four hours to save them money. When you buy a United Airlines flight, then, you’re no longer guaranteed they have an intention of operating it.
Highlighting the investment in hand sanitizer stations is cool, it’s more than others are doing – although perhaps others will feel the need to copy. And they should be applauded on that alone, along with sanitizing efforts between every flight. There’s really no need for the rest of the Delta-style exaggeration that seems to come with the news..
Like American, United set a goal of reducing management head count by 30%.
Yet United Airlines is actually hiring – just in Gurgaon, India. And they aren’t offshoring the way you normally expect, looking for cheap coders or call center employees. They’re hiring for more analytical, and traditionally white collar, positions. This includes Senior Analyst, Manager, and Senior Manager roles
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 »
