Category Archives for Airlines.
American only just introduced online redemption of Etihad awards in May and it was a surprise to see at the time, since American has been in a political war with those two airlines, despite their partnerships, for the past four and a half years – and even terminated codeshares with both. I’m glad to see American continuing to invest in getting online redemption for Etihad and Qatar right.
In the echo chamber of the American Airlines C-Suite no one can hear the passengers scream. That’s why, after a horrible 2019 operationally and financially, the American Airlines strategy is to stay focused on doing the exact same things.
Emirates President Sir Tim Clark will leave the role in June and remain as an advisor. He’ll have been with the airline for 35 years, having joined the Dubai-based carrier as part of its founding in 1985. He initially served as the carrier’s head of planning and became airline President in 2003.
I like the bar and buffet areas more in these renderings than I do American’s other Flagship lounges. It strikes me that wall the main lounge area design is straight from the pallet of the other lounges, the dining room is darker and a bit more modern. In some ways it feels more like a Cathay Pacific lounge in those areas. This could be their most attractive Flagship lounge.
American Airlines is close to revealing its new brand purpose. It was supposed to be revealed by the end of the year but they didn’t make that deadline.
However the airline appears to have filed for trademarks on four slogans in September 2019.
Alaska Airlines had twice the usual number of baggage handlers call in sick since Friday morning, though the airline says this is not part of a coordinated job action. As a result many bags didn’t make it to their destination. That’s frustrating for customers, of course.
What’s notable to me, though, is the Alaska Airlines apology. There’s nothing mealy mouthed about it. There’s no hedging. It’s not offered in the third person.
SkyTeam member and Delta partner Alitalia has been a basket case for years. It’s poorly run, and indeed has largely been run for the benefit of its unions with the help of the Italian government.
One financial backer after another has lost their investment. The government is anxious to find its next victim to take over Alitalia. Who will take the bait?
They say that Delta has improperly used the term flagship in some press releases – confusing consumers into thinking Delta has American’s great Flagship product.
An airport dining facility needs to be fast. A first class dining facility needs to be properly staffed to attend to first class passengers. This visit to American’s Flagship First Dining was neither.
Now take a look at the vegetable ramen they served and see if you can spot anything wrong with it?
British Airways has a strangle hold on London’s Heathrow airport. A third runway at Heathrow would expand the airport’s capacity, and BA doesn’t want competition. However if a third runway does get built they believe that the majority of the extra capacity should be assigned to them (in the form of takeoff and landing slots).
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 »
