Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

New American Airlines Change Fee Waiver Suggests Leisure Travel May Return Soon

by Gary Leff

May 27 2020

American Airlines is extending its change fee waiver for tickets purchased in June – but only for itineraries to travel by end of September.

American seems to be saying that the lull in travel, while to some extent long lasting, is likely to bounce back. That’s at least true for leisure travel, since business travel wouldn’t be booking past September anyway. At a minimum there’s some chance that they won’t need to offer flexibility indefinitely into the future, so they’d rather offer this a little bit at a time. That makes sense, from a certain point of view.

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South American Mega-Carrier LATAM Files Bankruptcy

by Gary Leff

plane on tarmac
May 26 2020

South American mega-carrier LATAM, which recently left oneworld and entered a joint venture with Delta, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York. This follows a similar move by Avianca.

The bankruptcy filing includes LATAM Chile, Peru, Ecauador and Columbia but does not include Brazil, Argentina or Paraguay. Debtor-in-possession financing totaling $900 million is provided by existing owners the Amaro and Cueto families and by 10% owner Qatar Airways.

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U.S. Airlines Are Now Pawns In The President’s Re-Election Saber Rattling Against China

by Gary Leff

china memorial
May 25 2020

Delta and United are looking to restart flights to China. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is largely under control there. It is home to several important business markets. Delta owns a stake in China Eastern and has viewed Shanghai as a hub, while for United the country is their sixth largest international market. (For American, despite owning a stake in China Southern, the country has mostly been a place to light cash on fire.)

However they’re caught up in escalating tensions between the U.S. and China and the President’s re-election strategy.

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Today I Learned: Colt Manufactured A Special Gun Just For Pilots To Use In The Cockpit

by Gary Leff

May 23 2020

While the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program has had its scrapes and embarrassments, its record remains better than that of the Federal Air Marshal Program. Indeed frustrations with the air marshals are the reason that these post-9/11 efforts to arm pilots were hardly the first time this was considered.

Eastern Airlines commissioned a Colt revolver in the 1970s to combat hijackings. The charge was to develop a special revolver that wouldn’t cause problems for the aircraft if they penetrated the plane’s skin or its windows.

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Airlines Can’t Make Money With Social Distancing, But They Can’t Make Money Without It

by Gary Leff

May 23 2020

Passengers keep complaining on social media that planes are too full. They aren’t subject to social distancing orders. They are, however, caught in a Catch 22. Blocking the middle seat makes people more comfortable, and people need to be more comfortable in order to return to travel. Air travel is a lot safer than people think but they need to feel safe and not all airlines are helping people do that.

Many people will stay away from flying precisely because there’s not going to be social distancing on planes, and they do not feel safe. Airlines can’t make money blocking all middle seats but they can’t make money until we decide we’re done with the need to block middle seats.

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