The airline world lobby group IATA – the International Air Transportation Association – has been consistently awful throughout the pandemic. They’ve argued for government subsidies and that passengers shouldn’t be entitled to refunds for cancelled flights.
During the American Airlines first quarter earnings call last week they discussed the option to retire their fleet of 15 Airbus A330-200s. I speculated back in March that the A330-200s might leave the fleet.
However American Airlines has told employees that they are parking but not retiring these aircraft. Do not expect them to come back soon, though, because they are being stored “into 2022.”
U.S. airlines are telling Congress they ‘hope’ not to ‘have to’ come back for money subsidies. That means, of course, that they expect to seek more taxpayer money and they’re beginning to sow the ground now.
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United has gotten a lot of attention for taking government money to save jobs while at the same time planning publicly to furlough workers and to terminate non-union employees without severance.
Is United’s Scott Kirby painting a picture of job losses one month before the election to leverage the President to support a second round of bailouts for the airline industry?
Since people aren’t flying, aircraft are parked all over the world. Many of those passenger planes also carried cargo. While the worldwide economic slowdown has limited the amount of cargo being shipped as well, there’s tremendous demand for things like food and personal protective equipment. The reduction in cargo capacity has been greater than the reduction in cargo demand.
That’s created an opportunity to convert passenger aircraft to cargo.
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.
American Airlines suspended all food on flights under 4.5 hours back in March to accommodate social distancing requirements. Then on May 1 they introduced a snack bag and bottle of water for all customers as they board the aircraft on flights that are between 900 and 2199 miles long.
Now American is testing a snack box to bring back some food to first class, that doesn’t require flight attendant preparation. Here’s what’s inside.
The point of shoveling out billions of dollars of airlines was to get airlines through the worst of the depression in travel so that workers all still had jobs, and to keep workers whole until then. That’s not how United Airlines is using the money, and American Airlines CEO Doug Parker calls them out for it.
United is likely correct on the law, Parker correct on the intention behind it. The way the CARES Act was drafted was sloppy, allowing United to take billions in government grants while reducing employee pay, pocketing more money to protect shareholders than the law intended. If airline’s had made clear how they’d behave after getting the bailout, it would never have passed.
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.
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 »
