American’s Letter to Employees: Taking the Mechanics to Mediation

by Gary Leff

american airlines hangar
Sep 12 2018

American Airlines gave employees across the board raises without insisting that the pay changes be part of a contract. The airline says that’s made it harder to get mechanics to agree to a contract. American mechanics have already gotten much of the money they’re going to get with a new contract, so there’s less incentive for employees to agree to rules changes the airline wants.

American has asked for a federal mediator to get involved and wrap up a contract with mechanics. Here’s the airline’s letter to employees about the move:

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Most Star Alliance Airlines Again Bookable Using Aeroplan Miles

by Gary Leff

Sep 12 2018

Aeroplan has been unable to book award travel on several Star Alliance airlines since late August. I reached out to them to see what was going on and they assured me that the issue was a technical problem, that they were working on it, and that they wanted to get it fixed quickly.

However Aeroplan seemed confident that wouldn’t be the case here. I wanted to see the proof that this would be fixed quickly, rather than taking them at their word. It turns out that they fixed it quickly (mostly).

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American’s First Boeing 787 is in the Shop to Have Some Business Class Seats Removed

by Gary Leff

small airplane seat
Sep 12 2018

The first Boeing 787-8 that American Airlines received is the first one to be receiving a premium economy retrofit, and will become the first one in the fleet with only 20 seats up front.

On September 4, American’s Boeing 787-8 registration number N800AN arrived at Chicago O’Hare from London Heathrow. Then it flew the next day to Everett, Washington’s Paine Field. And it’s been sitting in the Pacific Northwest ever since.

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Coming Thursday: Short-term 35% Transfer Bonus from Marriott to Aeroplan

by Gary Leff

lounge desk
Sep 11 2018

Aeroplan shared that there is going to be a 35% bonus on transfers from the Marriott programs (Marriott Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest, Ritz-Carlton Rewards) running September 13-17. The offer will not appear on the Aeroplan website until Thursday, September 13 but the information is solid and hopefully this extra day gives you more time to think through whether you want to take advantage of this.

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Passenger Shares What It Was Like to Be on United Flight During Reported Bomb Hoax

by Gary Leff

people with hands up in air on plane
Sep 11 2018

Four hundred British schools were evacuated in March and a United flight from London to San Francisco was quarantined because of a rash of bomb threats which a teenager admitted to making. He was also responsible for a denial of service attack on ProtonMail.

One passenger on United flight 949 shares his perspective on the incident, arriving in San Francisco and being take off the aircraft.

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Report: Don’t Expect Much Elite Recognition From Marriott in the Mideast

by Gary Leff

picture with stairs around it in a hotel
Sep 11 2018

Local reader Vineet S. called every Marriott property in Dubai and Abu Dhabi – over 50 hotels – to ask how they’re handling elite benefits. He spoke with each hotel’s front office manager or higher.

Here are his findings about what the new Marriott program means for members. He concludes, “AUH/DXB/Asia regionally had some of the best compliance with T&C, if this is the condition here…”

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