Airline Weekly (subscription only) ran charts this week with data from Diio Mi showing the number of scheduled seats departing various airports for the largest U.S. airlines in the second quarter, and the year-over-year growth (or retrenchment) that represents.
Delta, United, and American have unsuccessfully lobbied for two years to get the government to limit flying by Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar — reducing consumer choice and raising prices. Delta’s CEO actually said his goal was a government rule against lower airfare prices.
And even as Emirates announces a 20% cut in US flights because of passenger drops, they continue to press their case claiming Emirates doesn’t really make decisions based on the performance of its flights. Really?
In 2009 he was flying 700,000 miles per year. Last year he hit 17 million flown, which would mean 7 million in 5 years or 1.4 million per year — twice his earlier pace. That would be 3835 miles per day which would require flying literally a third of the hours in each year.
He has a titanium frequent flyer card and a plane named after him.
Two months ago United Airlines started selling highly restrictive ‘basic economy fares’ on a test bases on routes between Minneapolis St. Paul and the airline’s hubs.
These fares don’t allow advance seat assignments, ticket changes, or a full sized carry on bag. Elites don’t get upgrades or economy plus seats on these fares, and customers don’t earn credit towards status either.
Robert Kuttner has been beating the drum seeking to re-regulate the airline industry for years. He takes whatever the latest news story is as a hook for his cause. In 2009 he argued that safety meant we needed to undo deregulation even though airlines are safer than they’ve ever been, and deregulation didn’t take the government out of overseeing airline safety at all.
Now he’s back completely misrepresenting the industry he wants to regulate, with solutions that he even admits would ban low prices and force airlines to travel with empty seats.
Emirates has announced they’re cutting 20% of flights to the U.S. affecting 5 destinations.
All of this to the benefit of Delta, United, and American which are collectively already the most profitable airlines in the world, calling for protectionism for a mature industry with record high levels of employment.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly says the Visa Waiver Program needs to be revisited after all.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Among all the controversy over United having Chicago Aviation Police drag a passenger off a plane a week ago, and the horrific videos that spread like wildfire in social media, many commenters here suggested that airline were alone in overselling the products.
Of course some restaurants overbook reservations, too, knowing that a certain percentage of guests won’t show up. Rental car companies overbook, and so do hotels.
If passengers hadn’t recorded video of Dr. David Dao being dragged off a United flight, and also of his bloody return, do you think United would have ever changed its story from ‘apologizing for having to re-accommodate passengers’ to declaring the events truly horrific?
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
