Category Archives for General.
Apparently they have a significant problem with pilots leaving the airline. 98 pilots quit to join other airlines between April 2014 and October 2015. Pilots get their training, and then leave to go work for another airline because who wants to fly for Air India?
So Air India has taken the bold step of firing 3 co-pilots who have already left the airline, in a move that they say will somehow deter pilots from quitting.
Lufthansa has added several new long haul leisure destinations include Mauritius, the Maldives, and Cancun — on top of recent new flights to Tampa and Nairobi.
Flights to the Maldives generally, and with Star Alliance miles in particular, used to be really tough to get as recently as four years ago. There was once-weekly Austrian service from Vienna (that’s now been upgauged to a Boeing 777 and flies twice weekly). Otherwise you’d fly Singapore Airlines or you’d Thai Airways to Colombo, Sri Lanka and buy the short flight to Malé.
Earlier in the week I wrote about 3 Boeing 747-200 cargo planes that had seemingly been abandoned at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The airport had taken out an ad seeking the owner of the planes, indicating that if the owner wasn’t found the aircraft could be sold off to cover the costs incurred to the airport for having stored them there.
Cigarette lighters, soda, we had everything a guy could want… Those were the best years of my life.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker is an astute observer of US Presidential politics. And he called out Donald Trump.
So did business travel writer Joe Brancatelli, who points out that Trump Hotels really are managed by the family — and the hotel business is actively courting Muslims from the Middle East to come to the US.
His airline business experience undermines his claims of success, and his loss of navigational points named for him points to a lack of diplomacy.
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.
Air Europa is launching its own frequent flyer program, Suma on Monday, December 14.
Like Copa and United, Air Europa has decided to build its own program rather than renting the loyalty engine of a larger partner carrier.
Sort of like the development of the atomic bomb, Southwest’s reservations system upgrade project’is a dangerous technology and we promise not to use it’.
Getting in bed with and cutting deals with politicians brought down former United CEO Jeff Smisek. Smisek had – alongside the CEOs of Delta and American – been complaining that Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar get sweetheart deals from their own governments.
So I’m struck by the gall of United, in their news that they’ll be ending service to Dubai on January 23, they’re blaming the decision on the loss of subsidies from the US government.
Three years ago American Airlines introduced pre-order meals. Premium cabin customers can pre-select their meal choice either online or over the phone within 30 days of (and up to 24 hours prior to) travel.
American took the feature down off of its website back in September in advance of moving US Airways onto the American reservations system. But the feature is now back.
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 »
