Category Archives for Airlines.
There was a lot of discussion at an American Airlines employee Q&A about the carrier’s fleet.
Airline President Robert Isom confirms that “Newer model used aircraft are absolutely something we have an eye out for. As we take a look at where 319s are available we’re gonna be out there after them, because we want ’em”
United Airlines filed their 10-K annual report to the SEC (.pdf), and a couple of things stood out to me in their disclosures about the MileagePlus program.
Most importantly United just isn’t growing the number of miles it sells to partners.
A passenger flying United from Chicago O’Hare to Newark on United got into an argument with staff over the definition of ‘is’ about whether their purse fit in the bag sizer as a personal item. Even though it clearly fits.
The first employee says it doesn’t fit even while the bag is inside the sizer.
During an airline Q&A session with employees, one pilot says of American’s new standard domestic lavatories “It’s the most miserable experience in the world.”
He continues, “I can’t turn around in it. The sink is the most miserable thing going, and you cram those people in those little tiny seats you just bragged about to the point that I can’t sit back there. As a crew member if I ever have to deadhead back there I’ll refuse because it’s just not practical.”
American is dropping a flight attendant from their Boeing 777-200s in March arguing that the ratio of flight attendants to economy passengers would be the same as before the retrofit product (dropping first class, adding premium economy).
American has more Boeing 777-200s than any other widebody aircraft, and they’re treating premium economy on that plane as economy from a service standpoint even though they’re marketing it as a premium product.
It’s a tough industry to stand alone in, and pressure from financial analysts is fierce. Alaska, completing its merger with Virgin America, now says they’re considering Basic Economy too.
Now jetBlue is looking at Basic Economy, too. As reported by Airline Weekly they revealed in a presentation at a Barclays event in Miami.
Two 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.
The Obama administration’s Department of Transportation indicated they were going to reject anti-trust immunity for the revenue-sharing partnership. They said they didn’t believe there would be greater growth in service compared to what they expected to happen anyway which was a novel approach. Qantas and American withdrew their application rather than having it rejected.
United’s President doesn’t believe you know the difference between high and low value credit cards. You’ll get the United credit card if you like travel and you live in a city where United offers the most service.
I’ve argued that’s wrong, and American Airlines identified the reason why to the SEC.
Delta should have the courage of its convictions. They have a choice. Shut up in the first place. Or if they’re going to make political statements, stand by the them. This mealy mouthed stuff is just silly.
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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 »
