Category Archives for Airlines.
Bolivian media is reporting that the South American country’s only non-stop flight to the U.S. is being eliminated. American Airlines is dropping Miami – Santa Cruz, Bolivia at the end of November. This comes after backtracking on putting the Boeing 737 MAX on the more than 3200 mile route.
If American won’t let its employees take flights departing from Heathrow on those days, whether for business or personal (non-rev) travel, that’s a strong indication that you shouldn’t either. We’re starting to see airlines issuing travel waivers, so reconsider your plans accordingly.
This change has been consistent in reports whether confirming a same day change to an itinerary, or swapping flights during irregular operations using the American Airlines app. Presumably because American sees you in R and is simply rebooking you into R, and R is now far more available since it’s been given a dual use as the second highest first class fare class.
Many airlines have offered pre-flight dining in business class. Eat your meal in the airport before boarding, go right to sleep on board. That’s a nice option for short overnight flights.
Of course not everyone want to show up at the airport early to eat. And where this has been tried it’s generally presented either as a choice (eat beforehand instead of on the plane) or a shortened service where the food remains substantive. Not so at Fiji Airways.
Star Alliance member EVA Air has a much underrated frequent flyer program and one of the best business class products in the world.
However the world focused on the treatment of the airline’s flight attendants after a truly shocking passenger incident this year that was so bad it spurred flight attendant activism including demands that the airline hire male cabin crew.
Two years ago American Airlines provided $200 million in funding for the state-owned carrier whose overseas investments are being used to further Chinese government foreign policy interests.
Four years ago Delta made a $450 million investment in China Eastern which has been called China’s most subsidized airline.
A week ago I covered a rumor that American Airlines is considering offering free inflight wifi. Now with additional confirmation from well-placed company sources I can report that the airline expects to offer onboard internet for free.
One consequence of American running a less reliable operation is passengers getting stranded. When the airline blames weather they aren’t responsible for costs like hotel rooms and meals. So airlines have a long history of being less than forthcoming about the true reasons behind operational problems.
This makes little sense from an American Airlines standpoint. The airline has largely walked away from the New York market and has only a limited presence in the Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. It’s unclear why they’d want to reduce their relevance to Bay Area customers even further, as Delta builds up not just Seattle but a focus city in ex-American Airlines hub San Jose.
BA is introducing their first refurbished Boeing 777 with business class suites with doors October 27th flying London Heathrow – New York JFK, The Boeing 777 has first class, and will continue to in the new configuration.
However BA’s current first class seat is wholly uncompetitive. The current first class product has no doors for privacy, while the new business class will offer this.
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 »
