So Many TSA Screeners are Calling in Sick Miami Will Be Closing Concourse G Early

by Gary Leff

Jan 11 2019

During the government shutdown most employees are furloughed. TSA screeners, however, are supposed to work. They won’t be paid until funding is restored. Screeners have been calling out sick at a higher rate than normal with what’s being referred to as ‘blue flu’ (screeners wear blue uniforms).

At Miami the sick out rate is higher than average, and the airport will close the G concourse checkpoints in the afternoon to compensate. G primarily serves United, Frontier, Sun County, and Bahamasair.

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Etihad Laying Off Pilots

by Gary Leff

airplane docked
Jan 10 2019

Worldwide there’s a significant pilot shortage in commercial aviation. However at Etihad, where the airline has been scaling back from an expansive growth posture, they believe they have too many pilots.

According to an internal memo Etihad will be laying off some of their excess pilots this month.

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Air France Killing Low Fare Carrier-Within-a-Carrier Joon and Millennials Everywhere Rejoice

by Gary Leff

airline promo ad people on plane
Jan 10 2019

It’s been a year since Air France started service under the ‘Joon’ brand. A separate airline with lower labor costs is one thing – and Joon had lower flight attendant costs, but not lower pilot costs. It’s hard enough to pull that off without really being a separate company. Just ask United, Delta, US Airways, and Continental about the airline within an airline experiment.

Pretending that the Air France low cost carrier without low costs was really a different brand for millennials was just silly. It was created by consultants who think millennial means “no money, doesn’t care about comfort, and is into marketing buzz.”

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American Taking Business Class Seats Out of 787-8s, Now They Don’t Know What to Do With the Aircraft

by Gary Leff

american plane
Jan 09 2019

When American ended Chicago – China service they freed up Boeing 787 aircraft and seemingly didn’t know what to do with them. They’re flying 787s now to Cancun and Anchorage.

Then they freed up even more 787-8 flying time. Since they removed business class seats from 787-8 aircraft, with the new configuration featuring only 20 seats up front, the plane no longer works for premium markets.

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