Category Archives for Airlines.
Seven years ago the NAACP issued a ‘travel advisory’ against American Airlines, lifted in July 2018. The civil rights organization says a “troubling pattern of a failure to address harmful behaviors” at the airline has it considering reinstating the warning.
American Airlines is offering a 17% raise and increased profit sharing to its flight attendants immediately, without waiting for a new contract. The union just has to allow them to pay cabin crew more, and doesn’t have to give anything up in return. That’s the message that airline CEO Robert Isom sent in the form of a video directly to flight attendants today.
The union has opened what they’re calling a “Strike Command Center.” To prepare for a strike, the union is telling flight attendants… you’re on your own and expect not to be able to pay credit card bills.
Sara Nelson’s flight attendants union AFA-CWA doesn’t allow crewmembers to directly elect its Master Executive Council officers and international officers.
Ms. Nelson took the issue to its annual board of directors meeting late last month. She lost on voice votes. She said this was “about putting power in each individual member’s hands.” Instead, union power will remain in the hands of insiders.
Delta and Starbucks launched a mileage partnership in fall 2022 where you would link your accounts and then earn 1 SkyMile per dollar spent at Starbucks (2 miles on days you flew Delta). This largely copied an Air Canada – Starbucks program in Canada.
They’ve now ‘optimized’ the program.
Air Canada delayed a flight from Vancouver to Costa Rica for 24 hours in 2020. It took three years, but the Canadian Transportation Agency – which generally didn’t require the airline to offer refunds to customers even when an airline cancelled their flight during Covid – awarded two passengers who complained $1,000 each.
Six months later, Air Canada still hasn’t paid. Instead, they’re suing the passengers.
American Airlines and flight attendants go back to mediation in Washington, D.C. next week for what the union characterizes as a “last ditch” effort to avoid a strike. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants is telling crewmembers to “prepare for” a strike, and there’s certainly a looming threat and with negotiations dragging on that threat becomes more real. But for now it appears mostly posturing, and a deal seems likely.
American Airlines had several terrible days operationally last week as they battled storms around Dallas and ran low on reserve crew.
On Sunday night an American Airlines passenger, stuck on the ground on a plane in Dallas for three hours, reports being forced “to dial 911 for someone to help us get off [the] plane.”
Charlene Carter was fired as a Southwest Airlines flight attendant in 2017 after criticizing her union, TWU Local 556, for spending crewmember dues advocating for political causes like abortion.
According to American Airlines, appealing the JetBlue partnership anti-trust verdict, “We do want to go forward with similar arrangements, obviously JetBlue is not here and cannot speak, we do.”
Pressed further about whether they really are considering this, the lawyer responds “We would seriously consider that, yes, and the injunction prevents us from doing that.”
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 »
