While passenger airline deregulation is controversial (since so many of us fly), air cargo deregulation which happened about the same time is far less so.
Scott Mayerowitz spent one night in Louisville (doesn’t have quite the ring as One Night in Bangkok) to see how UPS sorts up to 4 million packages a night off one plane and onto another. Amazon isn’t quite as impressed.
It started with predeparture beverages, and followed with flight attendants expressing their frustrations with customers.
Delta, American, and United think it’s unfair they should have to compete against the better Gulf airlines because of subsidies (though they’re plenty subsidized themselves). Nevermind that US airlines account for 49% of world airline profits. Nevertheless, good service isn’t expensive, and most US airlines will even complain they spend more on labor than their competitors.
Southwest Airlines suspended 105 ground workers for between 45 and 90 days. Their union, the Transport Workers Union, says Southwest did it to punish them for attending union meetings.
Naturally, the truth is far more complicated than that and paints a far bleaker picture of what the workers did — and relations between Southwest and the TWU (as well as many of their other unions).
When I was a kid I knew that “whether you’re going to heaven or hell, you’ll have to connect in Atlanta.”
It wasn’t until 1971 though that the airport got its first international flights (Mexico and Jamaica on Eastern Airlines). The first non-US airline to fly to Atlanta was Sabena in 1978.
It’s the ideally-located major city for connections throughout the Southeast. United basically cedes this entire region. American didn’t serve it well from Miami. The closest competitor was US Airways, now part of American, in Charlotte.
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.
Earlier in the week I wrote that New York LaGuardia seemed to have an increase in homeless living in its Central Terminal.
LaGuardia is hardly along among airports attracting the homeless. I’ve written about the phenomenon in Frankfurt as well. It’s a public space, they can’t be kicked out. It’s heated, and open 24 hours a day — so no need to leave at closing time.
The basics of recognize and reward make sense across industries. I’ve written about what happens when a blood bank runs a frequent flyer program.
Now an on-demand medical marijuana and munchies delivery service has a rewards and referral program.
On Tuesday I wrote that American is encouraging their flight attendants to offer predeparture beverages in premium cabins.
It’s an ‘optional’ though desirable service element, in that flight attendants aren’t going to take the time to offer beverages if it delays a flight. A late boarding that’s done quickly for instance, the priority is an on-time departure.
And boy do flight attendants commenting on the post hate predeparture beverages and the customers who want them.
American is flying its premium-configured Airbus A321Ts between New York JFK and Boston. Most of its flights between the two airports through January 4 are operated by this plane.
The American Airlines Airbus A321T is a 3-cabin aircraft with economy (including Main Cabin Extra extra legroom seating), fully flat business class, and 1-1 seating first class. It’s the most luxurious, high-end narrow body aircraft and the best plane flying domestically in the U.S. (and I include the Qantas Boeing 747 that flies Los Angeles – New York JFK in that assessment).
Anyone can book available business class seats on the plane for free (even as they charge for extra legroom coach seats)!
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.
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 »
