Category Archives for Airlines.
Right now there’s reasonably good business class award availability on American Airlines from Dallas to Santiago through summer and Miami to Santiago through end of year. Indeed availability isn’t just for two passengers but possible for four as well.
We know that Atlanta has filed suit against building a second airport in order to protect Delta. And Delta required Atlanta to oppose a new airport as a condition of renewing their airport lease.
But Delta has never publicly admitted to funding the ‘neighborhood groups’ that oppose a second airport. And Delta has gone to court to prevent revealing that it funds those groups.
Mechanics at American Airlines don’t have a new joint contract yet after the merger. There are US Airways and American legacy work groups, and everyone wants the best of both contracts. That would be far more expensive than the airline is willing to pay – and more expensive than what competitors pay.
American Airlines President Robert Isom explained to employees in Philadelphia this week that the raises the company handed out make getting to a new contract harder.
Dine on demand is a great feature. There are many long flights with late departures, some passengers will eat in the lounge and want to go straight to sleep. Others will want to eat on board. However with large business cabins it’s a lot of extra work for flight attendants.
On this morning’s United earnings call Senior Vice President Andrew Nocella announced that they’ll be adding a plane with new Polaris business class seats every 10 days through 2020. If that turns out to be accurate it’s a real acceleration of pace for an airline that’s only retrofitted half a dozen planes in the two years since the product was announced.
Meanwhile two new Polaris lounges will open next month.
JetBlue’s flight attendants voted to unionize and will be represented by the Transport Workers Union. Over 85% of eligible flight attendants voted, and nearly two-thirds of those were in favor.
Southwest Airlines flight 1380 from New York LaGuardia to Dallas Love Field made an emergency landing in Philadelphia after blowing an engine.
Reportedly “Shrapnel hit the window causing a serious injury.” One passenger said “there was bloody everywhere.”
We’ve just learned United’s seating plans for its new Boeing 787-10s. They have 14 on order and are expected to take delivery of 3 this year.
United has also updated seat maps for Boeing 767-300ER, Boeing 777-200 and Boeing 777-300ER planes that show the configurations including premium economy.
American Airlines flew its inaugural Airbus A321T premium transcon flight just a month after its merger with US Airways closed. And this flight symbolized everything that was different between the two cultures.
Legacy American had committed to be the only US airline offering three cabin cross country service. Meanwhile when US Airways emerged from bankruptcy with America West leadership at the helm, its new stock ticker was “LCC” for low cost carrier.
Allegiant is an ultra low cost carrier with a bit of a different business model than Spirit or Frontier. They take Hall of Fame right fielder Wee Willie Keeler’s admonition to “hit ’em where they ain’t” seriously. If you need to fly from Mesa, Arizona to Pasco, Washington at 1 p.m. on a Tuesday they’re your airline. They’re cheap and they fly non-daily leisure routes no one else does.
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 »
