A Scandinavian Flight Landed at the Wrong City in Italy Thursday

by Gary Leff

blq-flr
Apr 12 2019

Late last month British Airways made worldwide news when a flight scheduled from London City airport to Dusseldorf, Germany instead landing in Edinburgh. Apparently the wrong flight plan was used. The plane flew to Edinburgh and back to London City the night before and that’s what was repeated — passengers discovering the error when they were welcomed to Edinburgh upon landing.

Already we’ve seen another European flag carrier flying passengers to a wrong destination, just weeks later.

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Delta is Reducing Seat Recline – and That’s a Good Thing on Short Flights

by Gary Leff

people walking through airplane cabin
Apr 12 2019

Delta plans to cut recline by 2 inches in both first class and economy on their Airbus A320 aircraft. They say this is a move to increase passenger comfort, and I actually agree with this.

We shouldn’t celebrate the need for less recline, because it goes along with less comfortable seating overall. Nonetheless Delta essentially failed to make this change earlier and is coming back and doing something necessary to correct that failure.

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Dallas Fort-Worth Needs a New Terminal. Will American Airlines Let Them Build It?

by Gary Leff

airport map
Apr 12 2019

American Airlines executives have come to love DFW, because they say it’s in their top tier of profitable hubs. They are the dominant carrier by far, and have incredible scale. They’re on their way to operating 900 flights a day from the airport. And with that many flights adding a new city is easy to make profitable as a result of connecting feed from all over the world.

The future of the airport is being hashed out now. Next year the airport’s 10-year use agreement is up, and a new deal is being negotiated. That’s where the broad plan for the future of the airport gets set — what is the airport going to invest in, how much will airlines pay for the space. The biggest airlines get the biggest say. American Airlines is in the driver’s seat.

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What Happens to Your Stuff When You Use Credit Card Return Protection?

by Gary Leff

Apr 11 2019

Many rewards credit cards come not just with travel protections like delayed flight and delayed baggage coverage, but also with protections for the things you buy.

Cyberkit resells items that have been returned. That’s interesting because it reduces the cost of honoring return protection. And if you’re so inclined you can buy returned items online at a discount.

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Why JetBlue’s London Announcement is a Nothing Burger

by Gary Leff

jetblue article
Apr 10 2019

JetBlue announced today that they will start flying Boston and New York JFK – London. That came as a surprise to absolutely no one because they’ve talked about it seemingly in perpetuity.

They’re going to start flying in 2-3 years with indeterminate frequency to an airport to be named later offering an as yet to be determined product.

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Can Brands Turn Away From Social and Get You to Communicate Directly Through Their Own Channels?

by Gary Leff

Apr 10 2019

Companies are frustrated dealing with social platforms, too. They used to invest heavily in building bases of followers, thinking it would pay marketing dividends for years to come.

I remember airlines giving out miles just for following them on twitter or Facebook. What they didn’t realize at the time but seems obvious in hindsight is that it’s tough to make money long term on someone else’s platform. Instead of having an annuity stream of permission-based marketing, those followers are no longer free to communicate to. Platforms can charge to get a message out to followers companies have already paid to accumulate.

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