Make a Green Choice Program Still Generating Protests By Marriott Housekeepers

by Gary Leff

marriott poster
Aug 07 2019

Back in the fall when Marriott was facing housekeeping strikes, guests were getting flyers under their doors protesting the Make a Green Choice program.

Marriott encourages you to fly out and visit their hotels, eat beef in the restaurant, extend your stay by flying your family out too, but what you’re really doing that’s harming the environment is having your room tidied. I’ve always found it odd that a hotel chain promotes the idea that their housekeepers are bad for the environment.

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American Airlines About to Drop a Big List of New Routes and Network Changes

by Gary Leff

american plush airplane
Aug 07 2019

I’ve previously predicted Chicago – Krakow and Philadelphia – Casablanca so I’ll still with those. (They weren’t final by any means when I heard about them.) Since there’ll be several routes announced there should be something from the Qantas JV, it’ll include Europe changes, and also bundle small ball North America stuff. I expect that changes will probably be less heavy in South America – even though airline President Robert Isom just made a trip there – pending the LATAM joint venture.

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Asia Fare War, Several U.S. Cities to Several Asian Destinations From $305 Roundtrip

by Gary Leff

Aug 06 2019

There seems to be a major fare war that’s just dropped between the U.S. and Asia.

Departures are available from at least New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Las Vegas (and possibly other cities) to places including Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, and Tokyo. Prices start at just $305 roundtrip and deals are available on airlines in all three alliances.

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Worst Airplane Seat Ever: Passenger Photographed in ‘Backless’ Seat

by Gary Leff

easyjet
Aug 06 2019

Whenever Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary has been out of the news for awhile he suggests charging passengers to use the lavatory or squeezing more passengers into planes by making them all stand up throughout flight. His message is that they keep costs down and flying with them is cheap.

However Ryanair’s primary competitor, easyJet, is reported to have beaten them to the punch with ‘backless seats’.

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When Things Go Wrong With an Airline, It’s the Whole Industry That Suffers

by Gary Leff

southwest plane
Aug 05 2019

David Dao getting dragged off of a United Express flight was a worldwide moment. It focused attention on involuntary denied boardings. It generated outrage. And United, Delta and American all looked closely at their approach. United’s stock recovered quickly, passenger numbers held, and the airline continued to grow. Two years later United suffers no drag at all from David Dao, but it’s the industry that has shifted.

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A New Way to Describe Elites Rushing the Gate to Board

by Gary Leff

Why Charlotte Needs Another American Airlines Admirals Club
Aug 05 2019

There are all sorts of tales and frustrations around passengers crowding the boarding line. Those who line up early, blocking the way for passengers in early boarding groups, are sometimes derisively referred to as “gate lice.” The sort of passenger who doesn’t know the drill, that it isn’t time for them to board yet, is the once a year (at most) flyer sometimes referred to as a “kettle” (as in ‘Ma’ and Pa’ Kettle).

But Ms. Blumenthal turns this elitism on its head, offering us the platinum push off to describe the elite who knocks everyone out of the way as their boarding group is called. Her husband, she says, is a master.

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