News and notes from around the interweb:
- Delta owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic and a stake in China Eastern, so is anyone surprised Virgin Atlantic plans to enter a joint venture with China Eastern?
- How the CIA uses Starbucks gift cards as part of their spy craft.
“He gives one [gift card] to each of his assets and tells them, ‘If you need to see me, buy a coffee.’ Then he checks the card numbers on a cybercafé computer each day, and if the balance on one is depleted, he knows he’s got a meeting. Saves him having to drive past a whole slew of different physical signal sites each day [to check for chalk marks and lowered window blinds]. And the card numbers aren’t tied to identities, so the whole thing is pretty secure.”
- Singapore Airlines is soliciting bids to provide business class pajamas
- The top 10 flights from Houston Intercontinental by revenue 8 are United routes, the other two are British Airways (London Heathrow) and Emirates (Dubai).
- Alaska Airlines is pulling their Anchorage lounge from Priority Pass too.
- Al Jazeera special report on the Boeing 737 MAX (HT: Leeham News)
Saw the CIA/Starbucks headline and naturally assumed that the CIA was trying to poison people via Starbucks sugar-laden crap, @ 2000 calories a piece, but unfortunately the real story is less dramatic.
Yea, thought it would be where does the CIA buy coffee type of story.
AF-KLM’s investment in VA was really an end run for CE and DL to invest in VA without running afoul of E.U. airline ownership rules. The investment case was funneled through AF-KLM:
https://www.aircargonews.net/airlines/delta-air-france-klm-virgin-and-china-eastern-deepen-partnerships-with-equity-deals/
Getting close to Halloween so a good time for spooky tales. You can bank on the fact that it was never just MS folk that knew all about magic coin and card tricks. While you cannot get your National Parks Passport stamped at Camp Shady, you can get your stamp at another place where the shady folk learned trade craft. You will find interesting exhibits there. Just type the pass phrase Chopawamsic 16,000 into Google to locate the site.