Category Archives for Airlines.
American Airlines has a new internal video for employees explaining that cramming more seats onto planes is good for business and good for customers too. Vasu Raja, the airline’s Senior Vice President of Network Strategy, says that densifying “both for our customers, for our team, and for the future of american airlines that’s an amazing thing.”
There are four basic arguments American makes. I don’t think they hold up well to scrutiny.
American and Alaska are partners again. The previously-announced March 1 breakup isn’t happening. Alaska Airlines is joining oneworld. And American will fly from Seattle to Bangalore, India (and Seattle – London).
United’s CFO left two years ago, put together $125 million in capital, and bought tiny XTRA Airways which had just one old Boeing 737-400 left but which had something a lot more valuable: an operating certificate. They’re already allowed to fly scheduled service.
Their first Boeing 737-800 arrives next week.
An American Airlines flight attendant asked a community of frequent flyers about the value of ‘thank you notes’ written to passengers. Unanimously everyone loved the idea. But the flight attendant reported that several passengers just tossed their notes.
I wonder if this is something that people love in theory but don’t actually appreciate in practice?
American Airlines is the only remaining U.S. airline the claims to offer international first class. The top cabin on both United and Delta is business class. However there’s good reason to think American Airlines may eliminate the product, too. And there are clues in the new business class seat focus groups that support this conclusion.
Here are 7 things Chinese airlines are doing on the aircraft to reduce the spread of coronavirus. It comes down to don’t eat, don’t drink, don’t speak, don’t use the lavatory and use a mask – but there’s more.
This morning I wrote that Air Italy faced an uncertain future – and possible liquidation – after losing 200 million euros in 2019, up from 164 million the year before. The carrier needed more cash, and Qatar Airways which owns 49% of the airline was blocked from taking an additional stsake in the airline by foreign ownership restrictions.
And in fact a decision has been made today to shut down the airline.
American Airlines Concierge Key and Executive Platinum customers entering the Dallas Fort-Worth Flagship lounge have an option to buy access to the more exclusive Flagship First Dining room when traveling long haul international or on eligible transcon flights for $150 per person. This is a test scheduled to last three months.
All of the reporting about Southwest Airlines employees receiving 6 weeks of extra pay in their paycheck next month turns out to be inaccurate since most of the money is required to go into a retirement account that is separate from employee 401(K)s. That’s good for employee retirement, but not as valuable as cash for those who want access to the funds today.
American has an amusing commercial about how much we’ve come to rely on inflight wifi. And American does a great job with domestic wifi, as Delta does and United does not. In fact the major reason I’ve continued to fly American Airlines is because United’s connectivity is so poor (and because Delta’s route network doesn’t work super well for me in Austin).
This new ad could have just as easily been made by Delta, and there it would have been even more persuasive.
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 »
