Category Archives for Airlines.
The new American Airlines configuration for the Airbus A321 will have 20 first class seats (one more row of first class) and 176 coach seats.
American will begin taking delivery of Airbus A321neo aircraft in January (‘new engine option’) and they’ll have this new configuration. Then, as I reported back in August, American will begin to retrofit existing Airbus A321s (A312ceo or ‘current engine option’).
Although London and Hong Kong are two of the most premium traffic heavy cities in the world, British Airways recently disclosed that their London – Hong Kong twice daily service lags in performance. They’ve pointed out that it suffers in comparison to Cathay Pacific’s (better, more frequent) flights.
British Airways is closing its Hong Kong crew base at the end of October. And today they’ve pink slipped all 85 Hong Kong-based flight attendants.
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker spoke at the Airline Passenger Experience Association event in Boston, and his airline was awarded the distinction of being a ‘Five Star Global Airline’ at the APEX event.
American Airlines is raising the price of beer, wine, and liquor in coach by $1 effective October 1.
I think there are several ways to understand American’s latest ancillary fee increase.
Doug Parker used the opportunity of a friendly interview to defend his new standard domestic product and argue that cramming more seats into their narrowbody fleet is actually good for the customer.
American had 31 inches as their standard domestic distance from seat back to seat back in economy. They considered squeezing to 29 inches before settling on a 30 inch standard. But, they tell us, not to worry about seats being closer together because less padding in the seats means you have just as much room.
It’s been quite some time since American Airlines refreshed their buy on board offerings in coach. Today they announced a new partnership with Zoës Kitchen. New items will be available for purchase starting December 1.
South African received a bailout a year ago to help with a new CEO’s plan to stabilize the airline by convincing banks they would continue to exist. Despite government cash infusions the airline’s debts now exceed their assets.
A report to the company’s board says the airline faces “rampant corruption, low pilot productivity, a significantly weak balance sheet, liquidity problems, loss of confidence from suppliers, a lack of critical skills and fragmented IT systems.”
Singapore Airlines usually makes premium cabin awards available only to their own KrisFlyer members. You can transfer points from Chase, American Express, and Citi into the KrisFlyer program, so their miles are relatively easy to get.
If you want to fly Singapore’s business or first class on more than an intra-Asia flight you aren’t going to be able to use miles from United, Aeroplan, or other Star Alliance programs — most of the time.
Six years ago there was a brief window where Singapore Airlines awards were bookable by partners but there hasn’t been anything like it since.
Three years ago American Airlines and Qantas announced an expanded joint venture. American was launching Sydney and Auckland service, Qantas Sydney – San Francisco. And they indicated there would be more new routes in the offing as a result of the partnership.
They proposed to extend their partnership to coordinate schedules and pricing and share revenue on Pacific flights (but not Hawaii routes). The Obama administration said no.
At an employee Crew News session this past week a pilot asked American Airlines President about weight restrictions flying Hawaii back to the mainland of the U.S. using Airbus A321 aircraft. American cannot fly as many people back to the mainland as they fly from the mainland to Hawaii.
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 »
