Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

United Airlines is Giving Away Three Perfect Days in… Newark

by Gary Leff

Aug 21 2019

With as full as flights are these days, if your United transatlantic flight out of Newark cancels I could easily see the airline not being able to get you out for three days. Then you’d be stuck spending three days in Newark. I’d say you could pitch the story to the airline’s magazine, but somebody already did that.

For as long as I can remember United’s Hemispheres inflight magazine has included a feature “Three Perfect Days” Well, now you can win three perfect days in… Newark.

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Does United Basic Economy Mean Having to Clean Your Own Seat? (What’s Grosser Than Gross?)

by Gary Leff

fake barf
Aug 21 2019

Airlines don’t do enough to clean planes between flights. I feel especially bad for the cleaners who have to deal with the mess passengers leave behind.

When a customer is faced with a seat that hasn’t been properly cleaned, and can’t be prior to takeoff, I view the seat as inoperative or out of service — if the airline can’t move them, it’s tantamount to an involuntary denied boarding. Cash compensation should be due.

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Weighs in on the Dispute Between American Airlines and its Mechanics

by Gary Leff

american airlines hangar
Aug 20 2019

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and 26 other New York-area members of Congress sent a letter to American Airlines CEO Doug Parker and to the heads of the Transport Workers Union and the International Association of Machinists.

American’s mechanics and ramp workers have maintained their separate legacy US Airways and American unions, and they’re negotiating as part of an ‘association’ however each work group has different interests. Negotiations have gone badly. And the New York congressional delegation has waded into this thicket.

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Are Flight Attendants Significantly Overpaid?

by Gary Leff

Aug 19 2019

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.

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Airlines Need a Brand Purpose (Not a Social Cause)

by Gary Leff

Aug 18 2019

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.

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Report: American Airlines Tinkering With First Class, Won’t Fix Oasis Coach Seats

by Gary Leff

back of airplane seats
Aug 18 2019

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.

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