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United Puts Unaccompanied Minor on Flight to the Wrong Country

by Gary Leff

united-plane
Jul 01 2019

Last night Brenda Berg reported on Twitter that her son had flown as an unaccompanied minor on United Airlines from Raleigh Durham to Newark, intending to connect on to Stockholm on SAS. However United put him on a Eurowings flight to Germany instead.

I can only imagine this woman’s horror because she couldn’t even get through to United. If you don’t have elite status telephone wait times are interminable, and that’s just to get access to an agent without much motivation or empowerment to do anything that requires more than keystrokes on their computer.

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Free the Slots: Stop Subsidizing Airlines and Protecting Them from Competition

by Gary Leff

british airways plane
Jun 29 2019

Government-granted airline privileges are a driver of industry consolidation. The primary reason Alaska Airlines acquired Virgin America was for access to gates and slots at congested airports. Badly run carriers, that provide poor passenger experience, are protected from market discipline because more innovative startups aren’t permitted to compete and incumbents can continue earning off inferior products because passengers lack other options.

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The Second Toughest Job at American Airlines

by Gary Leff

blonde white woman
Jun 28 2019

Management focus at American Airlines has been on working to convince its employees that they’re cared for and so it’s de rigueur to say that the hardest job at the airline belongs to front line team members. And it’s probably even true if you’re talking about the people working the ramp in Phoenix during the height of summer time.

But what about the second toughest job at the airline?

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What the Boston Red Sox Ate On Board Their Luxurious Private Jet to London

by Gary Leff

red sox plane
Jun 27 2019

The Crystal Boeing 777-200, from the same company as Crystal Cruises, is an especially luxurious private jumbo jet. It seats just 88 passengers in business class in a flat 2-2-2 configuration, and features a wow-factor bar and dining area.

The Boston Red Sox charted this plane to get to London where they’ll play the New York Yankees this weekend.

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