Category Archives for Airlines.
Right now one of biggest social experiments in the history of corporate America is playing out. There is over a billion dollars behind it.
If it works we all win. If it doesn’t investors burn through cash. But I don’t think many people even realize it’s happening. And the results either way have the power to reshape how we think about labor relations in this country (including how we think about unions).
Back in the day frequent flyers and road warriors used to drive past half a dozen gas stations and ten extra miles to the Shell that accepted Diners Club even though the “low fuel” light had been on all day. We do crazy things for points.
A signup bonus and up to 3 miles per dollar is great. And both earning and burning points are a decent way to keep miles from expiring, buy gas at BP once every 18 months. At the margin it makes BP competitive with Shell (although neither gas is usually cheapest).
A month ago I wrote that Saudi Arabia would allow Air India to fly through its airspace to operate Mumbai – Tel Aviv. There was much handwringing at the time and even a denial from the General Authority of Civil Aviation in Riyadh.
However there’s clearly crack ups in the old order within the Mideast. And now the move has been confirmed by Israel’s Prime Minister.
Malaysian Airline Malindo Air requires women to remove their tops for flight attendant interviews. However they aren’t required to do that for passengers, and passengers are supposed to stay clothed while inflight.
That message wasn’t clear to one passenger onboard flight OD162 from Kuala Lumpur to Dhaka, however. He stripped naked and started watching porn inflight. Then the moment reportedly overtook him. And the flight hadn’t even taken off yet.
American Airlines now uses brown paper bags to hand out food to passengers in coach on international Boeing 757 aircraft and they’re looking at using them more broadly, too.
Eva Mozes Kor is a holocaust survivor. She and her twin sister were experimented upon by Josef Mengele at Auschwitz. She lived long enough to have a son who battled cancer, and to donate a kidney to her sister later on.
I’ve got a hint for the TSA: Romanian Jewish holocaust survivors probably haven’t been radicalized by ISIS, and have probably been humiliated enough.
United is going to pause to consider employee feedback on its place to replace quarterly bonuses with a much less expensive lottery program.
CNBC says United is shelving the lottery program. They’re not. Here’s the United memo to employees:
A little over a year ago British Airways laid out their plans to offer a product that’s a close as possible to economy on Norwegian’s Boeing 787s. Their London Gatwick-based 777s would get 10-across seating in coach and in total add 52 seats.
The plan is to offer a product that won’t be better than a low cost carrier, so they don’t appear to be going for a revenue premium. They want to push cost per seat as low as possible and just compete on price.
American’s Flagship First Dining is the best lounge offering in the United States. I used to argue that distinction went to the Qantas first class lounge at LAX, but all three American spaces open so far are more peaceful and JFK especially but also the others have better views.
There are really just two shortcomings, in my opinion.
The airline gets a lot of buzz out of its flashy first class products, a halo effect that convinces people they’re a premium airline. But the truth is somewhat more complicated. Their business class lags most of the world on the majority of their fleet.
Emirates has unveiled a new new business class. Here are photos of the new product which begins flying tomorrow.
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 »
