Category Archives for Airlines.
Now that American Airlines is huddling with its flight attendants union in Phoenix this week to wrap up a new contract, without even the help of federal mediators, United Airlines flight attendants are ready to turn up the heat in their own negotiations.
What they lack is – in some sense – fixable by a management who sweats the small stuff to deliver an outstanding customer experience and who articulates a vision that aligns employees with a shared goal to deliver on that experience.
There are (13) things that I believe about American Airlines, from customer experience to business strategy, and they help explain both the outsized potential of this airline to be great and the decisions holding them back.
A passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight fsnapped a photo of an entire row of seats blocked off using a neck pillow and two bags. The passenger who did it wasn’t even seated in the row but nearby, saving those seats for family.
This is a flight departing from California but it could be any – or every – Spirit Airlines flight as a an agent for the airline announces, “Everybody’s attention right now! Right now! Alright, now, [do you all] wanna get on this flight or not?”
She continues her rant to passengers waiting for their flight to Las Vegas, “everyone’s gonna shut up and we’re gonna say this once, and we’ll only gonna say this again ’cause we’re frustrated as hell!” Maybe she’s referring to the flight delay or maybe she’s referring to all of the airline’s fees. Either way, the crowd erupts!
Video from inside the cabin shows a flight attendant yelling at passengers not to take their carry-on bags, and even arguing with a passenger over whether or not he needed to go at all. Passengers can be seen remaining seated. Overhead bins are open. And you can even see people still reaching in to grab their bags, even as they’re being told not to – and to get off the plane! This is literally insane.
American Airlines will drop its third daily Los Angeles – London Heathrow roundtrip effective with the start of the IATA winter season on October 27, 2024. They will also suspend service from Phoenix to London Heathrow for the winter season, from October 27, 2024 through March 28, 2025. These changes will load into the schedule this weekend.
After the City of New Plymouth on the North Island of New Zealand reacted to a change.org petition by considering banning g-string bikinis from public pools, Air New Zealand added flights to the South Pacific to give customers “freedom of choice” in their swimwear.
Vasu Raja staked out bold positions. He felt too strongly that the airline’s schedule was its product – rather than its service and experience. He architected their Sun Belt focus and shift away from managed travel. And he elevated the centrality of the carrier’s loyalty program as part of its core business strategy and not just as a financial instrument.
American Airlines flight 2045 from San Francisco to Miami was forced to evacuate due to a fire inside the aircraft cabin on Friday.
The Airbus A321 was boarding for its trip to Miami at 12:15 p.m. when smoke reportedly filled the cabin, and crew evacuated the aircraft. Passengers exited via both emergency slides and the still-attached jetbridge.
An Alaska Airlines baggage agent at Newark air[port faced off with a customer over delayed luggage, losing it not just on the customer but with another passenger who tried to help de-escalate things.
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 »
