Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

Managers Delayed An Ethiopian Airlines Flight In Houston For 8 Hours – So They Could Scalp Tickets

by Gary Leff

Aug 18 2020

Ethiopian Airlines ran a repatriation flight this weekend from Houston to Lagos, Nigeria. There were more people who showed up at the airport than seats. The $1500 one-way flight had a waiting list, and numerous people were looking to get on.

After boarding local Nigerian officials identified no shows and empty seats and started to auction those off, reportedly pocketing an extra $250 apiece for themselves. But it took six hours to get the seats sold at the higher price, especially since the delay meant some of the passengers started getting off the plane – more seats for the officials to sell at a markup.

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The Math On Another Round Of Airline Payroll Bailouts Is Insane. Has Nobody Done The Math?

by Gary Leff

woman using ATM
Aug 16 2020

Airlines and their unions have asked for a ‘clean extension’ of the payroll support money, another $25 billion. However if that’s to save 75,000 jobs through March 31, 2021 that amounts to $333,333 per job and come April 1 we’ll see job losses again (when it’s not election season).

Seriously, has anybody actually done the math here?

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Air India Pilot Was Forced To Fly Passengers To Bangalore – After Being Fired

by Gary Leff

Aug 15 2020

Air India fired 48 pilots effective Thursday at midnight. The pilots union says the move is illegal. Air India says they’re relying on a Supreme Court ruling from last year that allows the move.

Apart from Indian labor law what’s striking about the story though is that after the pilots were terminated effective August 13, one of them continued to fly passengers.

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American Airlines Warns Employees Not To Skip TSA Security When Traveling

by Gary Leff

Aug 15 2020

Last month American Airlines fired their Cleveland airport General Manager for using his security badge to bypass TSA screening and board a flight, and having someone else skip security to bring him his laptop charger.

Recently American reminded all of its employees not to skip TSA screening checkpoints when traveling. But the requirement for vetted people to go through regular security is dumb.

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Why You Need To Wear A Mask On A Plane Even If You Have Covid-19 Immunity

by Gary Leff

Aug 14 2020

The only way to have a mask mandate is for the mandate to apply to everyone, and that mandate is in many cases the only alternative to stricter measures. Whether you agree with that scientifically or not you need to at least acknowledge that as the political reality. And that’s why an anti-masker should, I think, support mask wearing because it’s less intrusive than the policies that would happen otherwise.

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Delta Now Takes Passenger Temperatures at LAX, Denies Flying To Anyone With A Fever

by Gary Leff

Aug 13 2020

Delta Air Lines is now doing temperature checks of passengers at LAX. Anyone departing from their terminal 2 (but not those making a domestic connection) will have their temperature scanned via thermal imaging camera. This is a test that Delta could roll out across other airports.

If the airport were doing this, it would be illegal. And it does very little to catch anyone with Covid-19. There are better alternatives.

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Union: Time Is Running Out To Pass The Most Expensive Unemployment Deal In History

by Gary Leff

Aug 12 2020

Why are airlines calling for a ‘clean extension’ of payroll support? It’s the most expensive unemployment program there is. While Congress and the President wrangle over how much to cover in additional unemployment for laid off workers, airline workers would get 100% of salary not to work and the government would effectively be paying airlines a 100% premium to do it.

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The Next Evolution In Airline Mask Policy

by Gary Leff

Aug 12 2020

It wasn’t enough just to ask customers to wear masks. Part of the reason is how political masks have become, although I wonder if they’re getting less so as people become used to the requirement, the President wears one in public, and Red States are requiring them too.

There are subtleties in airline mask policies, but largely there’s been a six-part progression to airline rules. The latest is to define what kind of mask is acceptable. There’s an exception to the ‘no masks with valve’ rule, though.

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