Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

As Alaska Completes Their Merger, Expect Basic Economy & Other Unfriendly Changes

by Gary Leff

alaska airlines plane
Jan 26 2018

Mergers create a brief window where customers are largely protected from devaluations. Airlines are distracted by merger integration, and don’t want to make customers feel like the merger will be bad for them right away. Once American Airlines moved to a single reservation system in October 2015 we learned about a gutting of AAdvantage the next month both for elite status qualification and benefits and for their redemption chart, and then the rollout of basic economy the next year.

Alaska Airlines right now has by far the most lucrative US airline frequent flyer program. Their award chart is far more attractive than that of their competitors. And they’re a better airline to fly. That may change.

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United’s President Doesn’t Believe You Know the Difference in Credit Cards

by Gary Leff

credit card with chains wrapped around it
Jan 25 2018

During United’s investor call airline President Scott Kirby reiterated his belief that the largest airline a market will sign up customers for their credit card. If they grow in a market they’ll get more credit card signups and make more money from Chase.

Nowhere in the discussion is there anything at all about the features or benefits of that credit card.

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Delta Came Back to American Hat in Hand to Be Able to Re-accommodate Customers

by Gary Leff

people walking through airplane cabin
Jan 24 2018

This morning we learned that Delta and American re-started their interline agreement allowing each airline to book seats on the other carrier in the event of irregular operations. It’s limited to this re-accommodation function, but that’s what customers primarily care about and it’s the key item Delta refused to allow in September 2015.

Here’s how that happened.

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Delta Eats Crow, Partially Restores Interline Agreement With American Airlines

by Gary Leff

delta plane runway
Jan 24 2018

Two years ago Delta and American eliminated their interline agreement the most basic level of airline cooperation. That’s the agreement necessary to allow flights on the two airlines to exist on the same time, and that’s necessary for one airline to put its distressed passengers on the other carrier — without literally walking over with a credit card to buy a passenger a ticket.

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United’s President Just Gave an Economics Lecture to Investors About the Airline’s Future

by Gary Leff

Jan 23 2018

As a general matter I think any airline whose operations are being run by Scott Kirby is going to get worse not better for customers in terms of passenger experience. At the same time there’s no one in the industry I’d rather listen to because he’s earnest and thoughtful and lays out more clearly than anyone else his belief about how his business, and the broader industry, works.

He walked through airline economics, United’s positioning, and marginal analysis with a primary goal of convincing investors it is okay for United to grow.

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Changes Coming to United Basic Economy Like Paid Seat Assignments and Buy Ups

by Gary Leff

airport boarding
Jan 23 2018

The point of ‘Basic Economy’ fares — which don’t let you assign seats in advance, upgrade, or make changes for a fee, and at United and American don’t allow you to bring a full-sized carry on onto the plane — is to make the travel experience so unpleasant you don’t want the fare, and will spend more to avoid the restrictions.

The risk is that customers don’t spend more with the airline offering the inferior Basic Economy product, but instead book a different airline instead (or even just decide not to travel). That’s what happened when United launched their basic economy product. They lost business. And they lost about a hundred million dollars.

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Internal Document Shows When American Airlines Will Have Fast Wifi

by Gary Leff

american airline plane
Jan 23 2018

In the middle of last year American started flying its first plane with high speed satellite internet. I lucked into flying the aircraft at the beginning of November, and internet worked though I was surprised it wasn’t faster. I know what Gogo’s 2ku service can do unthrottled and I wasn’t getting anything like those speeds.

I flew American’s inaugural 737 MAX flight at the end of November and the ViaSat satellite internet didn’t work well.

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