Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

I Just Cried: Southwest Pilot Brings His Father’s Body Home From War, 52 Years Later

by Gary Leff

coffin with american flag being carried off tarmac
Aug 08 2019

On May 19, 1967, Roy Knight, Jr. was shot down in Vietnam. The Air Force major was “attacking a target on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. He was missing in action, promoted to Colonel, and seven years later declared killed in action.

The Southwest Captain, who brought his father back to Dallas where he’d said his goodbyes 52 years earlier, can now close a chapter on a life that was “posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross, Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart and six Air Medals for his actions.”

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Midwest Express Has a Deal to Launch Air Service From Its Hub in Milwaukee

by Gary Leff

midwest express plane
Aug 08 2019

Often investors think that the country needs a new airline, and believe that the best business opportunity happens to be wherever they live. And they think that defunct airlines have great brands that will attract customers because they themselves remember those brands fondly.

There’s no an agreement in place with charter operator Elite Airways to provide aircraft, crew and maintenance under the Midwest Express brand.

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American Airlines Adds Flights to Tel Aviv, Africa, and Eastern Europe

by Gary Leff

american plane
Aug 08 2019

We’ll see a return to Tel Aviv, as well as new service to Casablanca, Krakow, Prague, and Budapest.

There’s still announcements that we’ll see related to the Qantas joint venture, perhaps service changes to Tokyo Narita (since two new slots at Tokyo Haneda may not mean to net new flights and no other shifts), and routes the airline could give up on like Bologna, Italy.

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American Airlines About to Drop a Big List of New Routes and Network Changes

by Gary Leff

american plush airplane
Aug 07 2019

I’ve previously predicted Chicago – Krakow and Philadelphia – Casablanca so I’ll still with those. (They weren’t final by any means when I heard about them.) Since there’ll be several routes announced there should be something from the Qantas JV, it’ll include Europe changes, and also bundle small ball North America stuff. I expect that changes will probably be less heavy in South America – even though airline President Robert Isom just made a trip there – pending the LATAM joint venture.

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When Things Go Wrong With an Airline, It’s the Whole Industry That Suffers

by Gary Leff

southwest plane
Aug 05 2019

David Dao getting dragged off of a United Express flight was a worldwide moment. It focused attention on involuntary denied boardings. It generated outrage. And United, Delta and American all looked closely at their approach. United’s stock recovered quickly, passenger numbers held, and the airline continued to grow. Two years later United suffers no drag at all from David Dao, but it’s the industry that has shifted.

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Paroled Drug Addict Goes to Court to Defend Right to Harass Women Inflight

by Gary Leff

southwest plane aisle
Aug 05 2019

Back on October 16 a man flying Southwest from Los Angeles to Dallas claimed to be flirting, playing footsie with his seat opponent, and even argued that she had come on to him. She asked for a new seat though, and he got up and followed appearing to keep up his romantic pursuit.

The man, who was released on parole days before the flight, had overdosed on heroin three days prior to travel and used used methamphetamine just the day before.

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Can You Fly and Virtue Signal Concern for the Environment at the Same Time?

by Gary Leff

sulfur dioxide emissions
Aug 05 2019

Hotels encourage you to fly out for a stay while they replace single use plastic toiletries with bulk wall mounted shampoo, and offer to let you skip housekeeping, telling you these cost saving measures are out of their concern “for the environment.”

The Dutch government wants to ban flights between Brussels and Amsterdam for the environment since apparently it’s more environmentally friendly to connect at Heathrow or Frankfurt.

Ponder whether you should fly at all, while you continue to have kids and eat meat…

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After United Cancelled a Flight Because of Intoxicated Pilots, They Downgraded a Passenger Too

by Gary Leff

united plane docked
Aug 04 2019

It’s been widely reported that United’s Glasgow – Newark flight had to be cancelled on Saturday morning when two pilots showed up to work intoxicated.

However United’s efforts to inconvenience passengers weren’t limited to two intoxicated pilots, they continued to inconvenience passengers through the decisions they made recovering from the incident as well.

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Uzbekistan Airways is Looking to Sell 18 Aircraft — on Facebook

by Gary Leff

uzbekistan airways plane
Aug 04 2019

Uzbekistan Airways now has Boeing 787-8s and those have 4.7 tons greater cargo capacity than 767s. They may not be able to carry a full cargo payload when full and servicing long flights, that shouldn’t be an issue for Tashkent – London for instance. It makes sense for the carrier to consolidate operations.

However given Amazon’s penchant for growing its cargo fleet I wonder if listing the planes on Amazon Marketplace might turn out to be a more effective platform.

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