Category Archives for Airlines.
This is a tale of two travelers. They both started out making a smart decision about their flying during the pandemic. They’re both flying Delta first class, but they look very different.
Is it just the guy who’s in the wrong here, are these two passengers illustrating both ends of the spectrum of American reactions that helps to explain why we’re so polarized and cannot seem to get anywhere?
Kayak.com publishes daily data on consumer flight searches and this has been a reliable early indicator of future load factors, though of course people do book tickets and cancel more often now given the uncertainty in the world and greater flexible change policies that airlines have offered.
Something strange happened yesterday. On July 21 people searched for international travel 15% more than last year. What in the world is going on?
American Airlines has been one of the most aggressive in restoring its schedule. As Senior Vice President Vasu Raja has explained, with the federal government picking up payroll costs through September, at $35 oil their break-even load factor is 25%. So they added a bunch of flights to the schedule, restoring 55% of 2019’s capacity.
A month and a half ago I said to expect that travel wouldn’t rebound as quickly as some expected. Even at low break-even levels American is finding they need to scale back their flying again.
Over the next month 7 airlines are launching the ability to buy multiple seats for yourself online as part of buying a ticket, and pick those seats off the seat map to guarantee you as much space as you wish.
Many airports already require face masks, but United is imposing the requirement now at airports themselves starting this Friday, July 24. They’re putting the same teeth of a potential travel ban in place for customers not wearing masks in areas of the terminal that they control.
The airline will also be requiring that masks be worn by all children two years old and older.
Air Canada is running a duo of rich promotions. These aren’t going to move the needle to get most Americans to travel since actually visiting Canada isn’t feasible right now given quarantine requirements and connecting on Air Canada is of limited use given the number of countries that are closed to those carrying U.S. passports.
Nonetheless these are offers to watch, because they underscore what a loyalty program can do to help get members excited and because they’ll be gathering strong data on how much promotions can move the needle right now on travel in places where the virus seems under control.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit Monday against United Airlines arguing that they violated a pilot’s religious liberty by insisting he attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, arguing he should be permitted to substitute a Buddhist alternative.
In 2018 the entered an alcohol treatment facility and lost his pilot’s license. There’s a process to regain his license. This includes completing a substance abuse treatment program geared towards pilots. At United Airlines that includes attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and completing “at least the first five steps of AA’s 12-step programme.”
These are user-friendly changes and also makes it easier for Americans (and others outside of Canada) to participate in the program on an irregular basis. I especially like the fee-waived mileage reinstatement options.
With United warning of possibly furloughing up to 40% of employees and doing something similar it’s worth underscoring just how successful it appears Southwest Airlines to be as it works to reach a goal of not furloughing anyone at all.
Southwest Airlines has made the most generous offer to its employees to take an ‘early out’ or an extended leave.
Airlines are differentiating their approaches to the pandemic. Offering a better experience is a key strategy to winning business away from other airlines.
For U.S. consumers who do not live in an international gateway city, a connection is required. And as Air Canada brings U.S. flights back online, this matters because they’ve historically been the foreign carrier serving the most U.S. destinations – making the one-stop required for an international trip just as easy via Canada as via many U.S. cities. Air Canada is a direct competitor of U.S. airlines for U.S. passenger international trips.
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 »
