Category Archives for Airlines.
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker told employees at an internal question and answer session this week that historically they’ve started each day with an average of 35 aircraft out of service, but recently they’ve been starting out with 65 planes out of service thanks as a result of conflict with the carrier’s mechanics.
Later on he talked about how the airline’s operation is taking a toll on airport staff.
At an employee question and answer session this past week an American Airlines flight attendant asked about customer surveys after a flight. The flight attendant had recently flown business class on both American and on Air France between Santiago and Shanghai.
Despite a business class seat that dates to 2011, it’s ultimately good to see Cathay continuing to invest in its premium product. They can’t compete on cost with low fare rivals and need to leverage the premium market at their Hong Kong base. When the airline takes delivery of its first Boeing 777-9 we’ll see a new first class seat as well.
At this past week’s Crew News employee question and answer session, airline CEO Doug Parker asked Vice President of Network Planning Vasu Raja to weigh in on where they’ll fly the XLR.
Since the airline needs to put together schedules that their employees will bid to fly in September in early July they may push out the scheduled return of the 737 MAX again soon so they don’t put out “bid schedules that don’t reflect the actual flying we’re going to do.”
As a result, Parker says, “If we’re not much more certain than we are today that..it’s going to be ready on September 4, you may see us push it back another month…sometime early- to mid-July.”
Korean Air is considering removing first class entirely from their fleet. Before the end of the Chase partnership I transferred a bunch of points to the Skypass program. I’ll still get use out of them but my intention was as a backup way to get to Asia in first class when needed. That plan could… change.
United pajamas are given out in business class on flights over 12 hours. Now United is introducing new pajamas that are tighter (smaller size, odd for an airline primarily serving Americans) and that – in a leaked internal United photo – look horrible.
Domestically Delta works to earn a revenue premium by leveraging its two advantages: non-union mechanics and front line employees. Delta’s TechOps drive an on-time operation less likely to cancel flights, and acts as a profit center doing maintenance for other carriers. Delta customer service is generally friendlier than competitors. However the U.S. market is mature and domestic aviation is not a growth business.
Delta owns stakes in Aeromexico, China Eastern, Gol, Air France KLM and Virgin Atlantic. These investments both help Delta align the interests of those carriers with their own, and diversify their exposure beyond the U.S. market.
There’s been a trend towards airline-hotel chain tie-ups, where each loyalty program tries to capture the business of members of the other program. These are expensive to offer, granting points and frequently privileges, but they’ve expanded because their proponents have reported that they work.
Now we’re seeing the first Crossover Rewards-style offering in Europe, with the launch of a dual points-earning offer and points conversion between Air France KLM and Accor Hotels.
Headlines blare “American Airlines offers satellite WiFi to its entire mainline fleet” and therefore “You Shouldn’t Have to Struggle for a Good Connection”.
I think it’s great that American Airlines has invested in faster satellite internet for most of its domestic narrowbody aircraft. However coverage of American Airlines completing its project to add satellite wifi to planes is being overclaimed.
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 »
