Category Archives for Airlines.
American is working through whether it’s feasible to operate large widebody aircraft – Boeing 777s – from other hubs on their flights to Charlotte. They’d gas up the 777s, which can fly to Asia, with full tanks of fuel in places like Dallas. Then they’d siphon out the gas for flights that need to depart from Charlotte.
Russian hacking group DarkSide appears to be responsible for the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack which caused the shut down of the pipeline which supplies over 2.5 million barrels per day of oil to the Southeast especially but also to the northeast.
We are already seeing scheduled re-fueling stops for the longest flights out of Charlotte. American Airlines has scheduled its Charlotte – Honolulu and Charlotte – London flights with fuel stops for Tuesday.
Today American Airlines introduces new amenity kits with Shinola bags and fragrance items from D.S. & Durga. These are available now on London Heathrow flights (Dallas-Fort Worth; Miami; Chicago O’Hare; Los Angeles; Charlotte; New York JFK; Philadelphia; Seattle) and “will roll out across other long-haul international and transcontinental flights throughout the summer.”
In addition, there are limited-edition MD80 desk clocks for sale from Shinola with the American Airlines logo and without. Shinola wall clocks will appear in some Admirals Clubs this summer.
What’s it like to fly domestically in Thailand right now, where your snacks and water are confiscated before departure (but flight attendants happily nibble away)? And what about connecting in Singapore, where business class passengers are treated to microwave mac and cheese and can’t use the restrooms?
The airline maintained that social distancing on board wasn’t necessary because of HEPA air filtration, downward air flow, cleaning regimens and masking. Yet they continued blocking some seats to maintain distance for flight attendants.
That policy ended, too, on May 1.
An interesting story American Airlines upgrade story – compounded by terrible customer service – tells me it’s worth reminding that American Airlines does not offer any way to upgrade to premium economy before the day of travel and that no American Airlines upgrade instrument will cover the cost of a premium economy upgrade.
This is actually a good thing because it means that all advance upgrades, and upgrades paid for with a certificate, still skip over the premium economy cabin.
One of the more frustrating programs to deal with by phone is Avianca LifeMiles. Fortunately I rarely have to speak to them. However David writes about his experience. He spent seven and a half hours on hold trying to cancel and redeposit an award ticket before giving up.
There are several ways to deal with long airline hold times.
It wasn’t until after TWA flight 800 that the U.S. government began requiring passengers to show ID. President Clinton wanted to be able to announce something to look like he was doing something after the event, since initially there was speculation that the explosion was terrorist-related rather than an accident.
Airlines have wanted customers to show ID for a long time because they don’t want their tickets to be transferable.
American Airlines sent a memo to flight attendants on Monday called ‘Moments That Matter’ which encourages them to be prepared to avoid even slight delays that could stand in the way of exact on-time departures. Unfortunately for employee morale it came off as patronizing.
One tip, aimed at flight attendants who are scheduled to work reserve, has incited a anger – and a response from the union. American told flight attendants that they may need to skip meals.
Beverages and snacks are returning to coach on June 1 but that’s not the only change to inflight service on American Airlines starting June 1.
American will be bringing back first class snack baskets at that time, too – as well as pre-order special meals for New York JFK – Los Angeles and San Francisco flights in business and first class.
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 »
