Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

American Airlines Knows Their Lifetime Status is Weak, Considers How to Fix It

by Gary Leff

american airlines
Jul 16 2019

American AAdvantage used to have one of the most generous lifetime elite status programs, but three changes to the program have made it less valuable. Meanwhile Delta and United have improved their offerings over the years. Both airlines are now more generous with lifetime loyalty than American, and when a program is less generous than Delta that’s saying something.

One well-regarded source, however, suggests that the airline recognizes this and is considering solutions to improve lifetime status.

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American Airlines is Right, Passengers Don’t Deserve Seat Back Entertainment

by Gary Leff

airline cabin
Jul 16 2019

Many customers think that American is wrong, watching entertainment on their phones isn’t the same as a seat back screen if they even know they have to download the American Airlines app prior to takeoff in order to do so. Planes with seat back video look newer and fresher, while even brand new aircraft without screens look old and cheap — there’s a reverse halo effect that can drag down premium revenue too.

However I’ve finally been convinced that American was right. Passengers don’t deserve seat back entertainment. And all it took was one short video going viral on twitter to show me that was the case.

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Lufthansa CEO: Only the Wealthy Should Fly

by Gary Leff

airplanes on tarmac
Jul 14 2019

Lufthansa’s CEO is attacking low cost carriers easyJet and Ryanair, calling the cheapest flights they offer “economically, ecologically, and politically irresponsible.”

Airlines prefer to be protected from competition by government regulation and that inures to the detriment of the flying public.

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The Worst Airline in America is Making a Comeback This Fall

by Gary Leff

via air plane
Jul 14 2019

Back in May Via Air effectively threw in the towel. First they didn’t show up when they were supposed to start air service at an airport. They stopped paying the airports they were serving. They started cancelling flights. Customers were showing up at the airport but there weren’t staff. Comments left on this blog suggest they may not have been paying their employees.

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The CEOs of the 3 Biggest Airlines Wrote an Op-Ed and Every Paragraph is Misleading

by Gary Leff

man speaking on microphone
Jul 13 2019

The U.S. airline industry was born in subsidy from the post office and American Airlines received a federal loan to pay for its first big aircraft order. The U.S. airline industry has more government involvement than most countries — the U.S. model where airports are owned and run by government agencies, and air traffic control is managed by the government is unusual.

Big U.S. airlines like Delta, American, and United have all benefited from major government subsidies, like moving pension obligations off their books and onto the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in bankruptcy while retaining tax loss carry forwards so that they wouldn’t have to pay taxes once they started earning profits.

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Etihad First Apartment Awards Wide Open (and Business Class for Up to 9)

by Gary Leff

airline bed
Jul 12 2019

One of my most frequent and best uses of American AAdvantage miles over the past 7 years has been booking first class awards on Etihad. I’ve used them to fly to the Maldives four times, to India, to the Gulf region and from the Mideast to Australia to name just a few.

And they offer an excellent hard product in first class – on their Airbus A380 the ‘First Apartment’ with an on board shower.

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