Category Archives for Airlines.
Short premium cabin flights in Europe usually come with lounge access and a decent meal but don’t give you more legroom. In contrast U.S. airlines sell lounge access separately, give you a bigger seat and a bit more room, but the food is often wretched.
I date the beginning of real cuts to domestic premium cabin meal service to early 2001.
Flight attendants respond to emergencies, bear the brunt of passenger frustrations and poor behavior, and staffing levels on some flights have been cut leading to more work. Maybe they’re underpaid.
I want to try out a very unpopular argument: that airlines pay too much for the flight attendants they’re hiring today, but that they should be paying more to attract flight attendants who will provide better service.
One of the commercials in the series, though really resonated for its potential – a businessman reclining into his seat and crashing at the start of a long flight, the voiceover talks about what he’s done on his trip. Now he’s headed home.
The airline understands the business traveler. If it makes every decision focused on how to get the passenger where they need to go, when they need to be there, in the most comfortable way possible that’s a brand purpose. It focuses decision-making around schedule and product and it tells customers who they’re going to take care of and how.
There was a rumor swirling earlier in the year that American Airlines would reverse course and start giving back some space to passengers in coach as well as seat back entertainment screens.
While there’s a report confirming some fixes to American’s new ‘Oasis’ first class, it looks like there’s no reprieve in sight for customers in the main cabin — and the fixes up front may even come at a cost to passengers looking for extra legroom economy.
Frequent flyer programs are really two separate and distinct efforts under the same banner: recognition and reward. Reward is mileage earning and redemption. Recognition consists of the (elite) benefits offered.
In the U.S. airline programs are generous by world standards in offering unsold domestic premium cabin seats as upgrades. However they aren’t as generous with service-oriented benefits.
Ariline Weekly founding editor Seth Kaplan writes at The Points Guy that Southwest Airlines may be doing worse at New York LaGuardia than at Newark, and they pulled out of Newark. He says they shouldn’t pull out of LaGuardia, though, and shouldn’t have left Newark.
The challenge of course is that at this point, given slot controls at two of the three New York airport and shortage of gates, it’s incredibly difficult to re-enter the market if you leave. Do they need to change their business model to succeed?
Most provisions of Canada’s new Air Passenger Protection Regulations went into effect July 15. They lay out new rules that apply to flights to, from, and within Canada – including connecting flights.
One of the rules is that when an airline damages or loses luggage they must refund checked baggage fees they collected. After all, they didn’t provide the service they charged for – prompt transport of luggage from one place to the next, delivering it in the condition it was received (outside of normal wear and tear).
This past weekend a Ural Airlines Airbus A321 landed in a field after a double bird strike drawing comparisons to the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ US Airways flight 1549 ten years earlier.
Captain ‘Sully’ Sullenberger became an American hero as the captain of that US Airways flight, and Tom Hanks played him wonderfully on the big screen. Now he’s being ‘honored’ in a different way.
This week a video went viral of a Delta passenger living his dream as the only on on board his Delta flight from Aspen to Salt Lake City. Even on that 292 mile regional jet hop it’s a cool experience.
Seeing it described in a variety of media as being ‘like a private jet experience’ though reminded me that four years ago Delta announced elite upgrade opportunities to private jets. What ever happened to Delta’s private jet upgrade program?
Star Alliance member Thai Airways, whose President says there’s “never a day without a problem,” has a six point plan to return to profitability.
It involves getting passengers to e-mail in ideas for cost-cutting, sell more services through its mobile app, add a new route to Japan, and partner with a Thai cafe chain that’s found inside of gas stations.
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 »
