Category Archives for Commentary.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
As soon as I saw the story of the man who was charged $4600 for a one night stay at a Holiday Inn my immediate reaction was… Expedia.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
The US government is ready to see the 737 MAX re-certified by the end of June — mere weeks from now, as American Airlines CEO Doug Parker predicted. Whether or not that happens may depend on getting some other world agencies to go along. They won’t likely have unanimity, and won’t hold themselves to that standard. But I imagine they’ll hold off until they get Europe and Canada, though not China, to sign off with them.
Once that happens it will take time for airlines to go through steps to bring the plane back into their schedule, which makes cancellations through mid-August taken weeks ago by US carriers seem wise — and suggests that the process to bring the MAX back to the skies is proceeding as expected.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Icelandic punk rock band Hatari was flying Tel Aviv – London on El Al after performing in the ‘strictly non-political’ Eurovision Song Contest where they held banners that said “Palestine” in the colors of the Palestinian flag while voting was announced. And in a possibly related matter they wound up assigned to middle seats in the back of their aircraft.
If Congress refuses to fund $1.1 billion that the administration is requesting for “border operations,” the Department of Homeland Security has asked agencies to come up with how they would re-allocate funds to pay for it, each essentially paying a ‘tax’ out of their budget.
The TSA has proposed taking loose change passengers leave behind at airport security and using it to fund ‘border operations’.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
On Thursday, May 23rd the FAA is convening a meeting in Dallas with regulators from around the world. That’s what American Airlines CEO Doug Parker told the airline’s employees in his most recent Crew News question and answer session.
He explained “at that time the FAA is going to show the other regulators their views on the fix.” He says that the FAA “will be at least very close to re-certifying the aircraft, weeks not months.” He says not every country will go along and blames “politics are at play” for any reluctance.
United Airlines introduced the first ‘non-smoking section’ on its planes in 1971. Smoking on US domestic flights was first banned in 1988 (for flights up to two hours) with all domestic and international flights required to be smoke-free by 2000. Since passengers sometimes disobey the law you’ll still find ashtrays in lavatories.
Usually though passengers aren’t so brazen as to just sit at their seat and light up. But our hero on a Spirit Airlines flight decided to throw caution to the wind. And it was captured on video.
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 »
