Leaked United Airlines Confidential Corporate Sales Stats (Someone’s in Deep Trouble)

by Gary Leff

airline cabin
Jan 13 2019

Apple is by far United’s biggest corporate account. They spend $150 million with the airline. Focusing on California-specific accounts the biggest are Facebook, Roche, and Google which spend ‘over $34 million’ and then Deloitte, McKinsey, PwC, Cisco, Oracle and Applied Materials in the $12 million to $17 million range.

Apple’s spending on San Francisco – Shanghai though is shocking, even accounting for all of the manufacturing done in China — one quarter of total company spend, 50 business class seats a day. That’s presumably 25 business seats in each direction.

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At Least 200 American Airlines Regional Jets Will Get Seat Power This Year

by Gary Leff

american eagle plane
Jan 12 2019

Over the last couple of years American Airlines has been aggressively adding seat power and satellite internet to their fleet. They’ve made a strategic decision not to offer seat back video on demand the way that Delta does. Since customers need to use their own devices for entertainment, they need to power those devices.

And with the mainline fleet well underway for these modifications, the airline is now in the process of add seat power to two-cabin regional jets — Embraer ERJ-175s, Bombardier CR7s and CR9s.

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60,000 Marriott Points for Europe in Business and Free Private Jet Flights is Bad Business, Who Knew?

by Gary Leff

Jan 12 2019

News and notes from around the interweb: Looks like all your can jet private flight app company JetSmarter is imploding. In the beginning they offered amazing deals (and burned tremendous cash). I only ever used them when they gave free trial memberships to customers with elite status and big mileage balances. The LAX Tom Bradley Terminal finally has PreCheck Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on flying coach: When speaking to the Royal Aircraft Association back in 2002, Prince Philip commented on the British royal family’s air travel conditions. “If you travel as much as we do, you appreciate the improvements in aircraft design of less noise and more comfort,” he said, “provided you don’t travel in something called economy class, which sounds ghastly.” Pan Am 103: Robert Mueller’s 30 year search for justice bet you…

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Why Window Shades Should Be Kept Closed On Your Next Flight

by Gary Leff

Jan 12 2019

I always prefer an aisle seat but the person in the window gets to decide whether the shade is up or down. And more often than not shades should be closed.

Window shades as well as cabin lighting get adjusted for takeoff and landing for safety, to improve reaction time of both passengers and crew. And when you land in a hot city you’ll often be asked to close the window shades before getting off the aircraft, to keep the plane cool for the next flight. But what about when you’re in the air, mid-trip?

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Air Zimbabwe Is Shutting Down For Several Days Because They Have No Planes That Can Fly

by Gary Leff

Jan 12 2019

Air Zimbabwe is shutting down for several days because they have no aircraft suitable to operate.

On December 30 their Boeing 737-200 went out of service. It reportedly needs 45 days of maintenance, though may not return to the fleet. Their only other aircraft, a Boeing 767-200, needs maintenance that’s expected to take several days.

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American Airlines Will Introduce Premium Economy Awards This Month

by Gary Leff

airline seat
Jan 11 2019

American Airlines should be close to introducing premium economy awards. They’ve retrofitted much of their widebody fleet of Boeing 777s, 787-9s, and now some 787-8s to offer a premium economy cabin. However they have not had an option to redeem premium economy seats for miles.

I expect to see premium economy awards introduced this month, at least that’s what’s been confirmed to me by two well-placed sources at American.

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