Hong Kong Airlines Parent Company Gets $568 Million Loan

by Gary Leff

hongkong airlines plane
Dec 03 2019

HNA Group has been under pressure from China to divest itself of assets and pay down debt. It had racked up over $100 billion in borrowing as it went on a worldwide acquisitions spree. However it has lacked cash to invest in its businesses. And some businesses have found it difficult to make interest payments or even – like Hong Kong Airlines – to pay employees and for fuel.

Hong Kong regulators have been inspecting Hong Kong Airlines for safety every couple of days, given its financial struggles, and finally gave them mere days to come up with cash or risk having the government shut them down. The deadline is Saturday.

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US Government Plans to Require All Citizens Leaving the Country to Get Mug Shots

by Gary Leff

Dec 03 2019

The Department of Homeland Security, along with several airlines, have been testing ‘biometric boarding’ at airports around the country. Error rates are significant as are system outages.

A year ago we learned DHS planned to require all citizens to have their photos taken in order to leave the country. Now it’s become officially part of the agency’s regulatory agenda.

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United Will Freeze Confirmed Upgrades Tuesday Night in Preparation for Launch of New PlusPoints

by Gary Leff

Dec 02 2019

United’s new PointsPlus upgrade program – which replaces regional and global confirmed upgrade certificates – is scheduled to launch on Wednesday.

Overnight on Tuesday nights the ability to confirm upgrades with existing regional and global certificates will be frozen in preparation for this launch. Then upgrades should re-open on Wednesday with a bank of points replacing existing upgrade certificates, and the ability to use those points in a more granular manner.

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Hong Kong Airlines Given 5 Days to Save The Company

by Gary Leff

hongkong airlines plane
Dec 02 2019

Hong Kong’s government gave the troubled airline just 5 days “to find new cash or last-minute investors, or face having its operating licence suspended or even revoked.”

Without a new cash infusion, customers certainly shouldn’t be buying tickets on the airline, which creates its own self-fulfilling challenges.

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The American Airlines Flight Attendants Union Is Cracking Up

by Gary Leff

Dec 01 2019

The battling between American’s independent APFA union and the stalking horse of the national AFA reminds me of Monty Python’s Life of Brian. They’ve seemed to have forgotten they’re supposed to be fighting the Romans (American Airlines management).

The union needs to be building a war chest for its negotiations. Instead they’re cutting costs like accounting systems that allow for electronic expense reports. They’re keeping higher union leadership pay. And they won’t go to the membership for a dues increase – fearing that would put them out on the streets.

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