CEOs of Delta, American and United Take Out Full Page Ad for Protectionism

by Gary Leff

qatarplane
Apr 18 2019

Qatar Airways owns a 49% stake in Air Italy and is attempting to revive what was once Meridiana into the dominant airline in Italy. With Delta partner Alitalia struggling, that seems possible. Although given Alitalia’s challenges, draining subsidies from Air France and then Etihad and the government of Italy the Italian aviation market isn’t a place that’s likely to produce profits. Delta sniffed around looking to invest in Alitalia, but no deal has been done.

US airlines don’t want to compete with Air Italy, though. They don’t want to compete with anyone, and there’s always a chance to go to the administration and complain about foreigners.

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US Government is Going to Clamp Down on Cuba Travel – Again

by Gary Leff

beach
Apr 17 2019

Under the Obama administration the US relaxed rules on citizens traveling to and spending money in Cuba. They even reached an agreement to put air marshals on planes so air marshals could party in Havana and Americans were allowed to bring back unlimited Cuban cigars from their travels.

The new Trump administration though moved to crack down on the ability of Americans to travel there. These travel restrictions required Americans to go as part of organized tours and forbade spending money anywhere owned by the military. Now get ready for a new round of even tougher restrictions on traveling to Cuba.

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No One Knows Who is in Charge at Hong Kong Airlines as Rival CEOs Claim Power

by Gary Leff

hongkong airlines plane
Apr 17 2019

It’s not clear who is in charge at the airline, as the carrier’s third largest owner claims to have been appointed by the board as CEO while the previous head says no such change has been made.

There aren’t just dueling chief executives but also dueling spokespeople. Over a dozen representatives of the new CEO entered company headquarters yesterday “to enforce the message about the leadership change.”

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India’s Jet Airways is Done

by Gary Leff

jet airways plane
Apr 17 2019

The largest private airline of India, which had a fleet of over 120 aircraft, is being grounded amidst debts to lessors, fuel suppliers, pilots, and banks. There’s talk that this is ‘only temporary’ but once shut down airlines rarely start back up (and it’s pretty much never a good idea for them to). At most branding gets purchased out of the ashes and a new carrier with a new business model might operate under the old name.

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