United and Delta are both allowing flight attendants to wear masks. Now American has reversed its policy. Flight attendants now have the option of wearing masks, and will not be disciplined for doing so.
Airlines that aren’t providing transportation that was purchased are trying to keep customers’ money, even as they seek more of their customers’ money in the form of government bailouts. While the international airline trade group is trying to get governments to legalize this theft, some carriers are doing it on their own regardless of the law.
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.
Today Emirates announced they would suspend all passenger flights. They have already walked that back, and flights to several countries including the U.S. will continue.
Emirates CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum has announced that the airline will shut down passenger operations by Wednesday, March 25. Cargo flights will continue. They had already announced a 70% scale-back of flights.
Singapore is implementing a ban on both short term visitors and transit passengers, starting Monday at 11:59 p.m. local time.
As of this writing Singapore has 432 confirmed cases. The city-state is doing a good job of containing the virus. A concern here is resources, having to identify, monitor and treat incoming cases when their health care system stretches thin.
After furloughing tens of thousands of hotel employees Marriott is set to furlough two thirds of its corporate staff both from among its 4000 employees at corporate headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland and abroad.
After just yesterday announcing the end of all long haul services, United Airlines on Saturday evening changed their mind and reintroduced several flights through their May schedule. They’ll fly to Europe, to Israel, to Tokyo, Sydney and even into South America.
American Airlines won’t allow flight attendants to wear masks. They also still give ‘points’ which count towards discipline and termination for a flight attendant who calls out sick unless they’ve actually tested positive for coronavirus.
Flight attendants with mild symptoms who haven’t flown internationally still report being ineligible for testing. And calling out sick when you aren’t is a firing offense.
A voicemail is making the rounds from this past Tuesday when a flight service manager called out a flight attendant for wearing a mask on a trip, and suggested they just ‘use sick time’.
The usually very reliable JonNYC, who has a lot of inside sources at major airlines but especially at American Airlines, relays a rumor that American may announce a complete shutdown for a period of 2-3 weeks.
American Airlines can’t really front-run their bailout requests with layoffs now. And since it’s in American’s interest not to shut down completely pending a government bailout, I’ve assumed the rumors are false.
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 »
