The FAA and TSA Can’t Legally Mandate Masks Or Temperature Checks

by Gary Leff

May 22 2020

It may be a good idea to mandate passengers wear masks, and to take their temperatures as they arrive at the airport. However it’s a bad idea for government to charge TSA with taking temperatures of passengers who are already inside the airport at security checkpoints.

Airlines have lobbied for TSA to do this, and TSA has prepared to do it, however Aviation Policy News points out that neither the FAA nor TSA have the legal authority to mandate masks or take temperatures.

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Southwest Airlines Shares Internal Plan To Voluntarily Reduce Workforce

by Gary Leff

May 21 2020

The late co-founder of the airline Herb Kelleher wrote in 2011 about the airline’s legacy of never having to furlough an employee, saying it was because their employees work hard and never forget the customers paying the bills. In the early 1970s they had to return one of their Boeing 737s due to financial challenges, but they kept their employees on.

Of course we’ve never seen travel demand collapse the way we have with the coronavirus pandemic though Southwest Airlines is actually well-positioned relative to its peers to recover.

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5 Reasons New Hotel ‘Coronavirus Surcharges’ Are A Terrible Idea

by Gary Leff

outside marriott hotel
May 21 2020

Hotels can and should adjust pricing to generate the most revenue they can. That’s called the room rate, and hotels publish numerous different rates every day and vary their rates as needed. They can also incentivize use of on-property facilities, or raise and lower prices at those.

The worst approach would be for hotels to act in a deceptive manner, and undermine trust, when they’re struggling to fill even 40% of rooms and need that trust to get customers to travel let alone choose them for that travel. And raising pricing when occupancy is low, in the middle of a severe recession, seems like the height of stupidity.

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Earning American Airlines Lifetime Elite Status Via Credit Card Spend

by Gary Leff

american plane
May 21 2020

Without people traveling, and with fewer immediate opportunities to spend accumulated miles, the airline has a challenge with its co-brand credit cards. They earn around $3 billion a year in revenue through their partnerships with Citibank and Barclays, but spending is going to fall both because of less travel and also because of the economy in recession.

The airline has an interesting approach to this, encouraging spend on their cards between May 1 and December 31, 2020. Spending on their Citibank and Barclays cards will earn credit towards lifetime elite status. Here are answers to questions not available in American’s original release.

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Should Flight Attendants Be Allowed To Wear Face Shields? American Airlines Says No.

by Gary Leff

May 21 2020

Flight attendants and even passengers are now expected to wear face masks when flying. But what about face shields? Some airlines are outfitting their cabin crew in full personal protective equipment. That provides a consistent look for the airline.

What about a flight attendant taking it upon themselves to wear a face shield, when that’s not something the airline allows? Is it alright during the pandemic, or something the airline should be able to ban?

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Delta and United Both Report: People Aren’t Shifting To Cash Back From Mileage Credit Cards

by Gary Leff

credit cards
May 21 2020

Delta’s CFO acknowledges SkyMiles members taking “a little hiatus when people aren’t going to travel,” but that the program still continues to motivate spend because it gives people “something to look forward to [the] prospect of saving up for something.” Then he offers insight into how the Delta portfolio is performing relative to American Express’s other products.

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