U.S. Airlines Asking The Trump Administration To Scale Back Government’s Role in Consumer Protection

Mar 03 2020

Airline lobbyists are trying to curtail the power of the Department of Transportation to engage in consumer protection. They want to be regulated just like other industries, with definitions employed by the Federal Trade Commission. But this ignores how other industries are regulated by the states and consumers through the courts, which the airlines are frequently excused from by the Airline Deregulation Act.

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After More Than Two Decades Berlin’s New Airport Is Ready, And Lufthansa’s Move-in Plans Were Leaked

ber airport gates
Mar 03 2020

In 1989 David Hasselhof stood atop the Berlin Wall belting out “Looking for Freedom.” Less than a year later East Germans were finally free.

Thirty one years after David Hasselhof stood between East and West Berlin the East’s old airport may finally be freed as the new Berlin Brandenburg airport, replacing Berlin Tegel. It’s a costly reminder of East German-style planning.

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Marriott’s New Promotion Is Out, It’s Weak, But Register Now Before You Forget

outside marriott hotel
Mar 03 2020

The question is whether Marriott is making a big mistake with such a modest promotion as hotel occupancy and rates begin to fall. This was happening even before coronavirus. The argument in favor of spending very little on promotion marketing is that bonus points aren’t going to move the needle when people are scared to travel (it’s why airfares went up after 9/11, only those who absolutely had to travel were taking to the skies).

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$118 Buys One Year Unlimited Asia Travel Pass (And Coronavirus Will Have Passed For Most Of That Time)

Mar 02 2020

Southeast Asian low cost carrier AirAsia has been a success (except for their restaurant chain). AirAsiaX, the long haul version of the airline, has struggled.

The airline had plenty of empty seats even before coronavirus, so they’re selling a one year all you can fly pass for 499 MYR (about US$118) offering “Australia, Japan, India and more.”

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Delta Fires Back At Alaska-American Airlines Partnership With New Seattle Service

Mar 02 2020

Delta has announced new routes and flights out of Seattle showing that they aren’t going to take American’s re-invigorated partnership with Alaska Airlines lying down.

Competition is good, and has been great for Seattle residents since Delta and Alaska began their breakup and Delta built up their own hub at the Pacific Northwest airport. Delta will grow their Seattle service to 190 peak daily departures to 56 destinations for summer 2020, with new service coming beyond that as well.

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Former Delta CEO Out As Head Of Amtrak

Mar 02 2020

Most of the readouts on Anderson’s tenure will repeat the falsehood that Amtrak is covering almost all of its operatings costs and will be profitable in 2020. To accomplish this chicanery Amtrak counts government subsidies from states as ‘passenger revenue’ and excludes depreciation expenses (20% of total expenses).

In fact Amtrak’s 2019 losses are about 35 times greater than reported. In other words they inflate Amtrak’s revenue and ignore costs in a creative accounting scheme to make Amtrak look like a financially responsible operation.

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