News and notes from around the interweb:
- Denver ethics board appalled by airport executives’ travel spending. They spent as much as $19,000 per business class ticket roundtrip from Denver to Madrid. You have to try really hard to spend $19,000 on a simple business class roundtrip to Europe. My bet has been they were on a MileagePlus status run on the public dime.
The airport’s CEO said that if he’d known the tickets were so expensive, he never would have allowed the trip. But he approved the cost in writing, in advance. He defended the tickets, saying everyone had to ‘hit the ground running’ but actually didn’t appear on program panels until 2-3 days after arrival. He described attending the annual conference as a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’.
Remember that airport CEO Phil Washington was nominated to run the FAA, but exposed as wholly unqualified for the position. He comes across here as wholly unqualified for this one, as well. But the bigger reason is how the airport’s train system keeps breaking down…
- Solo passenger. Bulkhead window. Checks out.
They must be sociopaths, right‽
byu/Familiar_Eggplant_76 inamericanairlines - Don’t be an idiot and try to bring your stupid tipping to Japan
- The beatings will continue until morale improves (or until consumer behavior shifts away and demonstrates an annual fee upper bound).
Amex’s avg. fee per card has climbed 3.5x since ’07, from $32 to $117
byu/Quartr-app inamex - An airline so bad, even Pakistan’s regulators won’t let it fly.
- New British Airways premium economy seats. Totally generic-looking, to be honest.
Stolen from Linkdln, some picture of the new improved BA World Traveller Plus seat! It’ll be fitted to the -9s at the same time as their Club suites, although I can’t help but wonder why the -8s weren’t done during their refits… pic.twitter.com/kWQoIAnu9S
— Andy Monks ✈️ (@AndythePandy_) October 4, 2025
- Actually, the future would be designated areas that protect other riders and drivers alike from non-autonomous vehicles.
San Jose Airport now has designated pickup areas for autonomous vehicle ridesharing services.
Welcome to the future. pic.twitter.com/cEp6n9fg7e
— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) October 3, 2025
Seems simple: Charge them personally for whatever amount was unreasonable. I don’t care what background, race, ethnicity, gender, partisan affiliation, etc. someone is… corruption is bad. Let’s do something about it. Transparency and accountability is possible, large and small.
I’ve long argued that any government employee (included elected officials) should be required by law to sit in a middle seat in the rear third of the airplane. While we’re at it, bring back the requirement that any accrued “miles” or status upgrades go back to the government as well.
The DIA airport authority is an odd organization. I work in government contracting and they are the single most difficult counterparty I’ve worked with (including the feds). They were unafraid of ad hominem attacks and tactical delays. They have a culture that makes it difficult to solve the obvious problems at that airport.
The Denver Board of Ethics seems challenged.
My company operates restaurants and clubs in airports across the country. Management of this airport is hands-down, the most incompetent of any I have ever encountered which more or less explains why everything takes so long, and doesn’t function when it gets completed. Among other airport managers we deal with, they are the laughingstock of the community. The obvious question: since UA is the airport’s largest tenant and always needs favors from management (at the expense of the airport’s customers), why didn’t united simply grant them 1K status? These days it’s not worth anything anyway, so there’d be nothing for the “Ethics Board” to investigate. Just saying…
My company operates restaurants and clubs in airports across the country. The DIA management is the worst, most incompetent we’ve encountered anywhere. They are the laughingstock of the airport community nationwide. It’s little wonder that every initiative is late and never works when it’s eventually finished. The obvious question: since UA is the airport’s largest tenant and always asks for favors from DIA management (which is rarely good for customers) why didn’t UA simply grant them 1K status? It’s not worth anything anyway..there’d be nothing for the “Ethics Board” to investigate.
@Fatetta — Normally, I’d mock you for posting twice (arguably, Gary messed something up with the site recently and it is glitching when posting comments), however, you spoke truth two times… 1K status is indeed not worth much, other than preboarding, and the ‘free’ snackbox you’ll get in Economy Plus Exit Row when inevitably your PlusPoints don’t clear…
@1990- No worries…Didn’t intend to post twice…I didn’t say anything profound. The site has been glitchy on comments…when it didn’t post within 10 min, I posted again. Mostly it works fine, but sometimes…
Congratulations to the Denver International Airport Chief Executive Officer and your top eight executives for your recent trip from Denver to Madrid, Spain to attend the 2025 Passenger Terminal Expo conference. For flying and spending so much, your group has achieved frequent flyer status with all Star Alliance member airlines. Executives like you typically want to maximize spending, travel in style, and earn status with the other airline alliances, such as oneworld and SkyTeam.
I have researched ways to help you maximize your travel expenditures for a future three-day conference in Madrid, Spain, utilizing oneworld Airlines. The total cost for this trip is $15,608 round-trip. It includes the following flights on American Airlines, departing on October 6, 2025: – DEN – DFW: AA 852, Boeing 737 – DFW – PHL: AA 1781, Airbus A321 – PHL – MAD: AA 740, Boeing 787 This premium ticket provides several benefits, including: – Free access to the Flagship® Lounge and Admirals Club® – Two checked bags at no additional cost – The option to choose a lie-flat seat – Priority check-in and boarding access. For your return flight on October 10, 2025, you can use the following flights on British Airways, also a member of the oneworld alliance: – MAD – LHR: AA 6801, Airbus A321 (Operated by British Airways) – LHR – DEN: AA 6970, Airbus A350 (Operated by British Airways).
As you may be aware, CEOs of airport authorities frequently travel to conferences in pursuit of top-tier status and frequent flyer benefits across all three major airline alliances: Star Alliance, oneworld, and SkyTeam. Fortunately, Delta Air Lines provides premium flights from Denver to Madrid for $14,802, which could be an alternative worth considering, especially since you have a preference for boarding first in Zone 1.
If you’re seeking valuable advice on how to allocate funds for premium travel, don’t hesitate to ask your questions here. The readers of View From The Wing, along with the blog’s author, Mr. Gary Leff, a recognized expert in frequent business travel, would be pleased to share their insights. This guidance will help the executive board of Denver International Airport enhance its travel value ahead of your next conference.
I’m laughing about the problems at DIA because they seem minor compared to those at Berlin Brandenburg, which opened something like 10 years late because of bad designs, cost overruns, etc. Problems you don’t normally associate with German engineering.
@Ken A — Are you the same guy as @Un? No disrespect. I know he has countless personas here and elsewhere. I particularly like your style. Like, please, whoever you are, keep doing this. More.
@fatetta wrote, “Among other airport managers we deal with, they are the laughingstock of the community”
Ouchie!
There is some pretty stiff competition for that title. (It would be inappropriate for me to name names and start slinging mud, lol, the comments under Gary’s blog isn’t really the place for that.)
I can think of a few reasons why someone would choose the seat they did. At the end of the day, everyone’s got their own preferences! I personally would take the singles, like most people I imagine.
Protect @Ken A (and @Matt) at all costs. @1990 — If we’re going there, I daresay you and @Peter are the same person, in just in parallel universes.
@JimC2 — Sling away!
@1990 You wrote: “@Ken A — Are you the same guy as @Un?” No, it’s just me, your friendly neighborhood firefighter, paramedic, and frequent flyer. Thank you for your kind words about my writing style.
@L737 – I believe all American Express Platinum® cardholders with the new $895 annual fee deserve protection from the over one-hour wait before they are worthy to pass through the velvet ropes at the entrance to the overcrowded DFW or PHL Centurion® Lounges.
@Ken A — Aww. You’re the best, sir. Never stop.
@L737 — Likewise, friend. You are also ‘the best,’ too. I am also quite impressed with @Peter’s recent contributions; I hope he’s not @Un, because, in some cultures, ‘peter’ means… Oh dear. If there’s an astute @Richard, etc., anytime soon, I’ll have my guard up. *deep breaths* And, of course, whenever @Matt delivers those ‘consider Delta’ one-liners. *chef’s kiss* (honestly, makes my day.)
Ever own an out-of-warranty German automobile?
@Denver Refugee — This guy gets it. Four years or 50,000 miles, then… *wham* Besides, most new BMWs in the USA are made ‘at-will’ in South Carolina these days…
I recently saw that AAAE has a “instructional” conference in Denver this month. Besides PFC’s will traveling on the taxpayers dollar be discussed? How about the cost to travel from work (DIA) to the conference location (Grand Hyatt Denver).
BTW, I was a dues paying member for quite a few years…these folks have lots of “meet and greet” events so one can travel to various locations.
@One Trippe — It is ironic that there’d be an association of airport executives meeting, not at the airport, or within the Westin at DIA (who’s website promotes: “Home to 21 state-of-art meeting room rentals and 15 breakout venues…”), but, no, in downtown Denver, at that Grand Hyatt… brilliant.
There was no action taken because nothing they did was a violation of policy. Something in the report that I think is worthy of attention – DIA’s travel policy required that a request be made to the city, and it took several weeks to get approval. It’s quite possible, as was stated by Mr. Washington, that by the time the City approved it, the price had gone up substantially.
I once bought a $15K roundtrip business class ticket – it was consistent with our policy, and I had meetings three hours after arrival. Was it a lot? Yes. Did taxpayers pay for it? No, as commercial service airports are self-sustaining.
@1990 It seems seldom do I get to say “well said” with your post, well maybe never, but Well Said!
@Kevin “Did taxpayers pay for it? No, as commercial service airports are self-sustaining.”
That’s misleading.
1. Airports receive federal subsidies
2. It’s publicly owned, and funds could essentially be converted to taxpayer use through a P3 program
Yes, current federal rules that require grant recipients to spend their money on-airport encourages profligacy and waste. But that doesn’t excuse the profligacy and waste!
And it remains tough to spend $19,000 on a business class ticket to Europe. Denver has enough connectivity that alternative flights could have been found for less with near-certainty.